SPEAKING OUT FOR A 100%…

SPEAKING OUT FOR A 100% RENEWABLE ONTARIO

While the Ontario government is holding a public review of its next energy plan, it isn’t asking the right questions to put Ontario on the course to 100% renewables.

This is intentional: the government’s current energy policies are designed to protect Ontario’s existing outdated and dirty power system. We want a new energy system that empowers citizens and communities to switch to 100% renewable energy.

Clearly, most of the questions are designed to discourage people from speaking out in favour of renewable energy. For example, it asks how we can “harness” nuclear power to meet future energy needs. Whenever faced with such questions, the government needs to be told  “That’s the wrong question to get us to 100% renewables.”

Here are some key messages the government needs to hear:

•Ontario should join the global movement toward 100% renewable energy.

•Ontario’s next energy plan needs to come clean on the true cost of nuclear power and help citizens and communities to empower themselves with renewable energy.

•Ontario’s next energy plan needs to remove barriers to citizens and communities becoming energy self-sufficient.

•I want Ontario to take the renewable path to a low-carbon future.

•Going 100% renewable is the right path for Ontario to fight climate change and end our reliance on risky and costly nuclear power.

On nuclear power:

•The next energy plan needs to plan for replacing our existing reactors with renewable energy.

•The next energy plan should require nuclear projects to be compared to renewable energy options.

•All future nuclear projects should be independently and publicly reviewed.

•Nuclear power creates radioactive waste and the risk of a Fukushima type accident.

•Ontario’s next energy plan should acknowledge that operating nuclear plants on the Great Lakes and in the Greater Toronto Area is an unneeded risk.

On Conservation:

•The top priority of the next energy plan should be reducing energy demand wherever possible.

•The next energy plan should pursue all affordable conservation.

•A recent government study found Ontario could cost-effectively reduce electricity demand by 30% by 2035.

On Renewables:

•Ontario’s next energy plan needs to ensure Ontarians can take advantage of the declining cost of renewables.

•After conservation, renewable energy should be the top priority of Ontario’s next energy plan.

On the electrification of transportation and heating:

•I support electrifying transport and heating to displace fossil fuels, but conservation and renewables should be used to address any increased electricity demand.

[Original Comment ID: 205016]