MEDICINE HAT, AB – The City of Medicine Hat has taken a step to become greener.
At Monday’s meeting, city council approved strategic planning that will go toward the development of an environmental framework for the city.
The framework will serve as a guide to city policies, and create a vision of the city’s environmental values.
Coun. Alison Knodel expressed her excitement for the initiative and said the framework will not only support environmental sustainability within the city, but residents who are already taking steps to reduce their environmental footprint.
“We heard a lot about environmental sustainability during the campaign a lot of us did, and if that in itself is an indicator that we should support it because the community is looking is looking for it that’s enough for me,” Knodel said.
This isn’t the first time the city attempted to create an environmental framework.
Back in 2006, the Community Environmental Roadmap was published which provided targets and updates on the city’s environmental goals. But the plan was scrapped in 2015 in order to reconfigure goals to be more realistic and to align better with city policies.
The new environmental framework will focus on renewable energy, land use, energy conservation, water security, and waste and recycling.
Coun. Cassi Hider said she’s excited to see the framework in place and believes it is an important step to open new doors of economic development.
“We do have to look at new ways to bring industry to the community, and we have been such an oil and gas city forever, but we need to think differently and plan for the future,” she said
