Manitoba Liberals on the Environment, on Lake Winnipeg, Feed-in-tariffs, Greenhouse Gas reduction, Composting and Community gardens

On Lake Winnipeg:
After 12 years of neglect by the NDP, Lake Winnipeg is being called a dying lake.  Manitoba Liberals are focused on improving Lake Winnipeg.   When Lake Erie was in trouble, phosphorous was removed from laundry detergent, and work on small lakes was instrumental in helping with solutions.  Today we announced we will phase out phosphorous in dishwasher detergents in commercial operations, and act to work on smaller lakes to help sort out the best approaches to help Lake Winnipeg.  We have previously announced we will put a Lake Winnipeg Authority in place to help with the effort to restore Lake Winnipeg to health.

Phasing out phosphorous in automatic dishwasher detergents used in commercial operations. Currently, phosphorous has been eliminated for residential automatic dishwasher detergents, but an exemption was provided for commercial operations which contribute about half the phosphorous in automatic dishwasher detergents. Liberals will work with Commercial operators and provide a time line for phasing our use of phosphorous in commercial automatic dishwashers.

A Model Small Lakes Initiative: Liberals will support a model lake initiative to provide the research base on small lakes like Killarney Lake, to enable much improved measures to reduce phosphorous in the waters draining into Lake Winnipeg and improve the quality of water in Manitoba lakes. Information from these studies will enable science based actions to reduce phosphorous levels in small lakes and in Lake Winnipeg. ($1,800,000)

A Lake Winnipeg Authority: See our previous announcement - http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/08/manitoba-liberals-commit-to-establish.html

Building Green Businesses in Manitoba: We will build green businesses in Manitoba and make Manitoba more sustainable through introduction of a feed-in-tarriff to allow Manitobans to generate and sell renewable energy to Manitoba Hydro.
A feed-in-tariff for Manitobans: Building Green Businesses in Manitoba: Liberals will introduce a feed-in-tariff which will allow Manitobans to sell power to Manitoba Hydro at a set price to facilitate local renewable energy production.

Reducing Green House Gases:  Liberals put a top priority on rapid transit, will introduce a workplace transportation plan, will assist Peg City Car Co-op and help reduce agricultural green house gases.

Putting a top priority on Rapid Transit: See our earlier announcement - http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/09/rapid-transit-for-winnipeg-manitoba.html

Workplace Transportation Plan: A Liberal government will provide a matching grant, up to $35,000, to qualifying employers for the implementation of measures aimed at reducing driving alone by promoting use of transit, carpooling/vanpooling, biking and walking. ($450,000)

Peg City Car Co-op Support: A Liberal government will work with Peg City and MPI to facilitate peer-to-peer car sharing. Liberals work with Peg City to expand its program throughout the city and especially into low-income areas. ($50,000)

Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Reduction Initiative: A major reason the NDP has not reached its greenhouse gas reduction targets is increased production of the agricultural greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide. Liberals will work with Keystone Agricultural Producers to develop and implement an effective win-win plan to reduce these agricultural greenhouse gases which helps agricultural producers and helps the environment. ($500,000)

Promoting Composting and Community Gardens:
Composting Initiative: The Liberal Party is committed to composting which keeps organics our of the landfill and provides citizens and farmers with high quality compost to use in their home gardens and farms. A Liberal government will set up a Composting Program Fund to assist communities with start up costs for composting programs as well as with ongoing operational costs. ($1,000,000)

Community Gardens: Manitoba Liberals strongly support the development of additional community gardening capacity. Liberals will provide financial support to encourage non-profit organizations to set up and maintain gardens through a community garden initiative. ($200,000)

See our full platform at: http://mlp.manitobaliberals.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Strong-Families-Healthy-Communities-Platform.pdf