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ecoEnergy plan will help environment Last month I provided an overview of our government's Chemicals Management Plan, a tough new $300-million plan to curb the use of toxic chemicals in Canada. This month I would like to provide an overview of another element of our environmental approach, our government's ecoENERGY plan. This plan contains three initiatives to help Canadians use energy more efficiently, boost renewable energy supplies and develop cleaner energy technologies. The first initiative is the ecoENERGY Efficiency Initiative, a $300 million investment over four years to promote smarter energy use. Part of this initiative is the ecoENERGY Retrofit Initiative that will offer financial incentives to homeowners and businesses who retrofit homes, small buildings and industrial processes to improve energy efficiency. Only one to two per cent of Canada's housing supply is built new each year. Therefore, an important way to reduce household energy use is to make existing Canadian homes more energy efficient. The average grant is expected to be more than $1,000 and will yield an average 30 percent reduction in energy use and costs. It is expected that up to 150,000 homeowners and 800 small and medium-sized businesses will take advantage of these incentives to cut their energy use and costs. The second initiative is the ecoENERGY Technology Initiative, a $230-million investment to fund the research, development and demonstration of clean energy technologies. New technologies are the key to solving two of our biggest environmental challenges-air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. With the technologies of today, we cannot overcome these challenges. To meet them, we need to develop the technologies of the future that will focus on key priorities, such as CO2 sequestration, carbon capture and storage and clean oil sands production. That is why our government is investing $230 million over four years in this Michael Chong initiative. The third initiative is the ecoENERGY Renewable Initiative, an investment of more than $1.5 billion to boost Canada's renewable energy supplies. This money will be used to boost Canada's supply of clean electricity from renewable sources like wind, biomass, small hydro, and ocean energy. The purpose of this initiative is to bring clean energy prices more in line with those of conventionally generated electricity, and to encourage the adoption of renewable technologies for water heating, space heating, and space cooling in buildings. As it currently stands, the heating and cooling of buildings consumes 30 percent of our energy and is responsible for almost 30 percent of greenhouse gases emissions. If owners of those buildings install renewable thermal-energy technologies, we can reduce national emissions substantially, and save owners a considerable amount of money. These are initiatives that will have a real impact on our environment and our health. Program details about all three ecoENERGY initiatives, including information about how to apply for ecoENERGY grants, can be found at http://www.ecoenergy-ecoenergie.gc.ca As always, I can be reached at chongm@parl.gc.ca or at 866-878 5556. --Michael Chong is the MP for Wellington-Halton Hills Going to the dogs Ward 4 Councillor Bob Inglis receives a $2,000 cheque from Kathy Dorbeck, of Halton Hills Dog Owners Group. A total of $5,500 has been donated by the group to the Town of Halton Hills for fence costs at the Cedarvale Park off-leash zone. The zone opened Sept. 24, 2006. Joe Johnston is turning 70! His family would like to invite you to come and celebrate with us on March 10th at 7:00 pm. For more information call 905-877-9131 905-873-0698