Green Budget Petition Launched By Local Citizens Group
urges Ottawa City Council to commit to environmental protection

NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release:

January 17, 2007 (Ottawa) - People will have a vehicle to voice their environmental concerns to Ottawa's City Council, as Ecology Ottawa launches its Green Budget Petition today. The petition calls on City Council to keep its environmental promises and fund its environmental plans, including the City's Air Quality and Climate Change Management Plan.

"People in Ottawa do not have to wait for the next federal election to let politicians know that they care deeply about environmental issues such as air quality and climate change,"" says Graham Saul, a volunteer with Ecology Ottawa. "Cities, like all other governments, must invest in a sustainable, healthier future for all."

Around 300 people die every year in Ottawa due to air pollution, and 750 are admitted to hospital, resulting in $80 million in direct health costs, estimate numerous studies. Ottawa has committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 20% below 1990 levels by 2012. Instead emissions have been rising. Yet last year, City Council removed almost $1.3 million in environmental initiatives from its budget and refused to provide funds for Ottawa's Air Quality and Climate Change Management Plan. Hundreds of businesses in the city are also under pressure when the tens of thousands of tourists that usually flock to Ottawa for Winterlude stay away because the Ridean Canal remains closed to skaters.

"We believe that when people in Ottawa voted for 'zero means zero' in the last city election, they were not talking about zero action on the environment," says Liz Bernstein, a volunteer with Ecology Ottawa. "An investment in the environment is an investment in the health of our families and the long-term prosperity of our city."

The Green Budget Petition is available online at www.ecologyottawa.ca. It will be presented to City Council before the vote on the budget next month.

Ecology Ottawa is a group of citizens coming together to be a voice for the environment at City Hall.


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For more information contact:
Graham Saul 613-558-3368 or Liz Bernstein: 613-262-1969
www.ecologyottawa.ca