Press Release: Climate Friendly Zone Launch

Press Release
Saskatchewan Environmental Society
Thursday, January, 29, 2015
For Immediate Release

Saskatchewan: a Climate Friendly Zone

The Saskatchewan Environmental Society announces the official launch of the Climate Friendly Zone campaign, a crucial step towards reducing our province’s dangerous greenhouse gas emissions. Saskatchewan’s per capita emissions are three times as high as the Canadian average and ten times as high as the world average.

The Climate Friendly Zone project invites Saskatchewan individuals, households, businesses, and institutions to sign a statement that they will take action to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their own activities and that they will support responsible public policies to protect the climate. Participants will then display a decal on their property to demonstrate their commitment. The project will build awareness of the global climate crisis, will highlight climate-friendly actions undertaken by individuals, and will communicate the willingness of Saskatchewan people to support public policies that are needed to reduce the province’s emissions.

The devastating impacts of rising levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are already being felt in many regions of the world: longer serious droughts, destructive flooding, frequent major hurricanes, rising sea-levels, and acidification of oceans. Globally, the year 2014 was the hottest year since documentation began, and as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, impacts are becoming more and more difficult to manage. Saskatchewan’s high per capita emissions come largely from the oil and gas extraction industries and our coal-burning power stations, but also result from our inefficient use of energy in buildings and transportation.

Both individual actions and public policies are needed to get the problem under control. Many Saskatchewan residents are already demonstrating their individual commitment to reducing the emissions associated with their own lifestyle by making their homes and vehicles more energy efficient, by using renewable energy, by using active transportation and public transit rather than driving, and by reducing waste. Every action is significant. The Climate Friendly Zone will celebrate these behaviors and will provide information to encourage others to adopt them. The grand display of Climate Friendly Zone decals will reassure public decision-makers that Saskatchewan people will support responsible climate protection policy.

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