Tories quietly reviewing support for renewable energy technologies

Companies say Canada needs to urgently develop a national strategy for clean energy. 

 

The Harper government is quietly reviewing its support for renewable energy technologies, something industry insiders hope will see the Conservatives finally live up to their branding of Canada as a "clean-energy superpower."

As countries such as China, the United States and Germany plow billions of tax dollars into renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, Canadian energy companies say the federal government urgently needs to develop a national strategy to grab a piece of the global clean-energy market, which attracted $162 billion US in investment last year.

"We are going to be behind the rest of the world," said Elizabeth McDonald, president of the Canadian Solar Industries Association. "We don't have a plan. We seem to be protecting what we have, rather than looking at what we can do."

The review includes an evaluation of the government's ecoEnergy programs, which have offered subsidies on everything from energy-saving renovations by homeowners to investments in biofuels. But the Conservatives are holding the details -- and which way they are leaning -- close to the vest. Internal updates at Natural Resources Canada, which is leading the review, have been classified as "secret."


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