Trees, bees and buses among Watson's green election promises

Jim Watson is promising to launch anelectric bus pilot project, plant treesand open the door to backyard beehivesif he'selected as Ottawa's mayor for a third consecutive term.

Watson released his environmental platform through a statement on Wednesday.

He pledged to expand the mandate of Hydro Ottawa so that the utilitycould collaborate with not-for-profit social housing providers to retrofit buildings. He also promised to work with the federal government to look at connecting Ottawa City Halland the new central library to a district energy system.

As well, Watson said he would introducea bylaw and zoning review that would allow for urban beehives. Bees across North America have been in decline in recent years.

Some pledges sound familiar

A number of the initiatives that Watson included in his environmental announcement, however, are not new.

He pointed to the light rail system as the largest green project inthe city, as it will take dozens of diesel-poweredbuses off the the road.

Watson also mentioned the combined sewer storage tunnelbeing built underthe downtown which will prevent the overflow of raw sewage into the Ottawa River as a major environmental initiative that started under his watch.

Both these projects, however, have been underway for years.

Watson also promised in his statement he wouldspend $3 million annually to retrofitcity buildings. Speaking to reporters Thursday after casting a ballot in the special advance polls, Watson amended that promise, sayinghe didn't have the exact figurebut that it would be "less than that."

He also vowed toplant 125,000trees a year over the next term, which is what the city's been doingfor the past four years.

Watson promises electric bus pilot project if re-elected

7 years ago

Duration 0:31

Jim Watson released his environmental platform on Wednesday. Among the commitments is to test electric buses as a potential replacement for diesel in Ottawa's public transit fleet.

As for the electric bus pilot project, only a few hours after Watson unveiled his environmental platform,OC Transpoannounced it would be hosting a "partial" demonstration of one such bus Friday afternoon.

Watson said he would also look at opportunities for converting waste to energy, such as capturing methane gas from the solid waste collected at the Robert O. Pickardwastewater plant and converting it to energy.

He said he'snot considering an incinerator for Ottawa at this time.