Stopping Sprawl, Slowing Emissions, Improving the Economy

By shifting away from sprawling development patterns, Canadian metropolitan areas could reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and save money in the long-run.

"The study, published by a coalition of industry and government stakeholders, warns that a business-as-usual scenario could wind up costing billions of dollars and lock the country into a path that ensures higher energy consumption and pollution.

'Unlike many other GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions reduction strategies . . . many of these policies and actions can be enacted effectively and independently by local (municipal) governments, provided that they are empowered to do so,' said a summary of the report, obtained by Postmedia News. 'This allows our communities to make a substantial contribution to GHG emission and energy use reductions, even in the absence of significant federal action.'"