Several months after the provincial government announced their Climate Change Action Plan the New Brunswick Green Party is calling for the implementation of many of its listed measures, such as electric vehicle initiatives.
Green Party Leader David Coon is concerned that the December 2016 announcement, which he applauded at the time, isn’t being addressed quickly enough which could limit New Brunswick’s ability to meet its carbon reduction targets.
“Where’s the implementation strategy? There’s an urgency here.” Coon said.
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With the recent federal government initiative to add 15 fast charging stations throughout the province allowing for an improved capacity for electric vehicle travel, Coon is adamant that putting initiatives in place that will help ensure more people make the switch from traditional vehicles to electric cars is of the utmost priority.
“There are many, many commitments in it and one of the commitments was an electric vehicle program that would include incentives, that would include regulations, policies,” he explained. “That has not seen the light of day yet.”
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The provincial government says they continue to look at ways to implement some of the strategies they committed to, indicating they have already begun ordering electric vehicles and expect to have 12 in their fleet by the end of the year.
The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development expects to have two electric school buses before the summer is out, although whether they will be used in the coming school year is unknown.
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