OTTAWA, Ont. - June 30,
2009 - The Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister
of the Environment, today delivered closing
remarks at the first Canada-U.S. Clean Energy
Dialogue (CED) Roundtable meeting in Washington.
The CED represents the first stage in Canada-U.S.
collaboration on clean energy and climate
change.
Following two days of
discussions between the CED working groups
and close to fifty private sector, academic,
and non-governmental experts, both Minister
Prentice and U.S. Energy Secretary Stephen
Chu were optimistic about the progress made.
"The work being
done under the Clean Energy Dialogue will
allow our two countries to work together
to build a new clean energy economy even
as we move ahead with our broader economic
recovery and reinvestment efforts,"
said Minister Prentice. "We are cooperating
to encourage the development of clean energy
technologies, to advance our respective
environmental and energy objectives, and
to reduce greenhouse gases."
The Clean Energy Dialogue
was established by Prime Minister Stephen
Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama following
the President's first visit to Canada in
February 2009. It is designed to advance
collaboration in three key areas:
Clean energy research
and development;
Development and deployment of clean energy
technology, and;
Building a more efficient electricity grid
based on clean and renewable energy.
Continental action is an important part
of Canada's climate change plan and will
reinforce Canada's domestic goal of reducing
greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent from
2006 levels by 2020. The CED will also contribute
to the creation of a Canada-U.S. clean energy
sector that will further lend support to
Canada's commitment to ensuring that 90
percent of electricity be provided by non-emitting
sources by 2020.
At the Roundtable meeting
participants began developing an Action
Plan that will be presented to Minister
Prentice and Secretary Chu in mid-July.
Over the next couple of months, working
groups will continue to consult with provinces
and private sector leaders to finalize a
joint Action Plan on clean energy that will
be presented to Prime Minister Harper and
President Obama in August 2009.
