News release - Canada and the U.S. work together on clean energy dialogue

Canada And The U.S. Work Together On Clean Energy Dialogue

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.