May 17, 2022, 1:09pm
The first energy and environmental summit held at Lambton College in over a decade has exceeded expectations and Sarnia’s mayor hopes it will become an annual event.
The Lambton College Events Centre hosted the Sarnia-Lambton Environment and Energy Summit Tuesday morning.
The four-hour conference was held in partnership among various stakeholders and industry experts, including Bluewater Association for Safety, Environment, and Sustainability, Sarnia Lambton Economic Partnership, Chamber of Commerce, and representatives of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation.
This was the last time it happened Summit was held at the college in 2004.
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said a summit wasn’t held for so long as many “things were in motion” with Lambton College, the research park, and industries.
“We’ve had such a good run achieving some successes in the last few years that we didn’t have to do this,” he said. “But now it’s time to regroup and strategize because the world is changing so quickly on us with climate change and legislation We don’t have the luxury of sitting back for five or 10 years, we need to act now.”
One of the goals discussed during Tuesday’s summit was how Sarnia-Lambton plans to embrace Canada’s goal of moving toward net zero emissions by 2050.
Bradley stated that there was a general excitement among attendees to offer input and ideas in regards to respecting existing industry while taking an active approach from an environmental perspective.
“The industry that’s part of that discussion says ‘you have got to keep moving, you’ve got to find other solutions, you’ve got to look at the net zero economy, you’ve got to look at the green economy.’ We’re doing that but I think what I’m hearing today is we need to move quicker,” said Bradley.
The summit attracted approximately 50 people.
