Earth Hour highlights Manitoba’s green future

As the fifteenth annual Earth Hour keeps energy usage top of mind, a new report suggests Manitoba's green future is obtainable with a lot of work.

An initiative from the World Wildlife Federation, Earth Hour occurs at 8:30 local time around the world on Saturday.

People are asked to turn off their lights and discuss climate change for an hour.

"Well after I get home tonight, we are probably just going to light some candle and read a book or do something like that. I just got to make sure I turn the lights off," said Matthew Guidry, one of the many Winnipeggers participating in Earth Hour.

In Winnipeg, buildings like City Hall and the Manitoba Legislative Building are participating.

"We all have a role to play in increasing awareness and protecting our environment to build towards a better tomorrow for our planet and for generations to come," said Environment, Climate and Parks Minister Jeff Wharton in a press release.

According to a recent study from Climate Change Connection, there's still a long way to go.

"We need to virtually improve the efficiency of every building in this province by 65 per cent, and we need to connect all of our buildings to geothermal and connect a whole bunch of solar panels," said Curt Hull, the report's author.

According to Hull, about 70 per cent of the province's power for heating and transportation currently comes from fossil fuels.

The good news, though, is Hull thinks it is possible for the province to go completely green by diversifying the power grid.

"We believe we need a crown corporation to take on a massive undertaking of building ‘deep energy retrofits,’ and that is going to include geothermal at a district heating scenario," he said.

The study suggests in order to become net neutral within a few decades, systemic change needs to start happening now.

"Realize this is an emergency and is going to require a tremendous effort from the government on the part of businesses, on the part of everyone when it comes to the changes that are needed," said Hull.

Change that events like earth hour help to bring.

"There's a lot of stuff going on right now. The world is a little bit on fire. I feel like it's just better if you just take some time to reflect and think about how we can make a little difference," said Guidry. "I think energy conservation is a good idea."