Andrea Hatley, Thompson’s climate change Community Led Emissions Reduction (CLER) pilot program co-ordinator, is zoning in on how the business community can help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the city. She was at the Thompson Chamber of Commerce lunch meeting on March 3 to discuss the issue with businesses throughout the city.

The city of Thompson is participating in the provincial government’s CLER program with the goal of reducing GHG emissions. Thompson is the only Northern community in the entire program, with most of the other ones being agricultural-based towns and cities. The program has set goals of a 20 per cent decrease in GHG emissions from municipal and city operations, and a six per cent reduction on the community level, looking at baseline levels from 2003.

Hatley says that communities involved in the program must undergo action plans that meet two basic principles: they must have collected benefits for the whole community, and they must be implemented within three months of being approved and be finished or almost finished by Jan. 1, 2012. She points out that the type of projects Thompson is looking at include those which would create jobs and help bolster the economy.

The program is regulated by the Province of Manitoba’s Department of Local Government, who provides training and financial resources for the communities involved. Each communities gets funding on a per capita basis but communities can also compete for funding based on the amount of GHG emissions their projects look to reduce. All plans are evaluated by a technical consultant group. Hatley says the main things the projects should focus on are waste reduction, the purchase of low impact products such as post-consumer recycled products and products with minimum packaging, recycling and composting and cutting down on transportation, including a possible seasonal anti-idling campaign in Thompson.

Hatley says it’s very important that Thompson take part in this project.

“We know the climate is changing. There are visual clues as well as scientific data. We can clearly see that the greatest changes have occurred in the last hundred years or so,” she explains. She says she is hopeful that the CLER program will help communities reach their reduction goals and help make Manitoba a greener place.