EnerGuide for Houses is dead
Sat, May 13th 2006, In the Vancouver Sun (and around the country), we are learning of the immediate demise of the EnerGuide energy efficiency rebate program. More than 230,000 Canadian households have accessed the program since it started in 1998, receiving up to $3,300 for energy efficiency improvements. Last year alone, 80,000 homes received energy audits.
There follows below an extract from CBC. It is important to note that for homeowners that have already initiated the EnerGuide process, they have until March 2007 to complete the energy efficiency improvements.
Department of Finance officials are confirming that a whole new list of environmental programs are losing their funding as a result of this week's federal budget.
Among the best known is the Energuide program, in which Canadians who have their homes renovated to save energy can qualify for a federal grant of several thousand dollars.
A home retrofitted under the program cuts its energy use by an average of 30 per cent.
But Energuide has had its budget slashed by $227 million over the next five years. Groups that run the program say it will be a shadow of its former self and a lot fewer people will be able to take advantage of it
There's also a similar Energuide program for low-income households. Its entire budget of more than $550 million is cut, meaning that program is now gone.
Four other environmental programs have lost most, or all, of their funding. They include everything from money to develop new kinds of renewable energy, to a program to help people switch to more efficient furnaces.
The cuts add up to just under $1 billion over the next five years.
The federal departments that run the programs have refused to comment. They simply say the government is developing its own environmental plan, which will be announced later this year.
On Friday, Natural Resources Canada, which oversees the program, are referring all media calls to Minister Gary Lunn who was not available for comment.
David Suzuki's "Science Matters"
In his May 12 weekly column, Science Matters, David Suzuki is convinced that Canadians are really starting to get angry about environmental issues. He belives Canadians are concerned about the proliferation of environment-related news stories (all of them bad) and want to do their part to help. They have burning questions that demand answers: Why do cars still burn so much gas? Why can't I buy a home that uses less energy? Why do small things come in such big, wasteful packages? Why doesn't more electricity come from clean sources, like wind?
In other words, they want to know why it's so hard to make the least damaging, most socially and environmentally aware consumer choices. This is consistent with the SBC’s findings and those of James Hoggan and Associates. The latter has recently concluded a public opinion poll (funded by Suzuki and many others) of 2,500 Canadians on the topic of sustainability. The on-line survey is one part of the largest research initiative on sustainability ever conducted in Canada. Hoggan found that more than 90 per cent of Canadians fear that over consumption of the world's natural resources threatens the health and welfare of our children.
The SBC is working to provide helpful and practical solutions to homeowners and professionals. Staff and volunteers will be on hand at the Granville Island resource centre and answers to frequently asked questions will appear on our website.