COWICHAN VALLEY – New Democrat MLA Doug Routley says $47,000 in funding from the provincial government will continue to help people in the Cowichan Valley Regional District area to upgrade from wood stoves to cleaner heating sources.
“Reducing air pollution is a big concern in our community and one of our priorities in the fight against climate change,” said Doug Routley, MLA for Nanaimo-North Cowichan. “This funding is great news for the Cowichan Valley because switching older wood stoves to cleaner heat sources will help reduce our community’s carbon footprint.”
The Cowichan Valley Regional District is one of 21 communities across the province that are receiving funding for the 2021-2022 year, or have sufficient funding from previous years, to continue offering rebates to residents who replace or upgrade their wood stoves. The Regional District of Nanaimo is one of the communities with sufficient funding from previous years to continue offering rebates to residents.
Burning wood creates significant air pollution by increasing fine particulate matter in the air, which can cause health problems. The exchange program reduces local air pollution by helping people transition to cleaner sources of heat.
Considering B.C.’s climate commitments and new policies outlined in the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030, 2022 will be the final year that propane and natural gas stoves will be eligible for rebates from the Wood Stove Exchange Program. Although these appliances reduce particulate matter pollution relative to wood stoves, they burn fossil fuels and therefore produce carbon emissions that contribute to climate change.
Consistent with the CleanBC Roadmap, the program will continue to offer rebates towards electric heat pumps, high-efficiency gas heat pumps and hybrid-electric heat pump gas systems, as well as emissions-certified wood and pellet stoves.
Learn More: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2022ENV0002-000059
To learn more about the Wood Stove Exchange Program and eligibility for residents, visit: www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/air/air-pollution/smoke- burning/exchange