As a professional physicist…

As a professional physicist I am primarily concerned with maintaining a secure Ontario in a healthy planet for the very long term.  Current rates of resource extraction, carbon use and climate warming, species extinction and loss of biodiversity, coupled with the looming spectre of ocean acidification, amount to an absolutely unsustainable trajectory towards a fundamentally altered and dramatically less robust state.   At the same time, geopolitical forces and "populist" trends threaten to derail coordinated international responses.

Given this situation, the most responsible course of action by the Province of Ontario is to gird ourselves for a long and difficult battle toward both environmental and economic sustainability.

On the topic of energy security and sustainability, critical immediate steps are:

(1) to use the dramatically reduced prices of renewable energy sources to double down on distributed zero-carbon sources.  The FIT and MicroFIT plans are an excellent start, but more along these lines could be done to encourage rapid up-take, e.g. low-interest loans for solar installations.   In addition, provincial-scale renewable energy projects would be very timely.

(2) to further stimulate energy conservation, especially involving heating and air conditioning of old buildings, while continuing to encourage construction of energy-efficient buildings.  Heating through the Ontario winter requires significant energy at the time of lowest insolation, so it must be minimized.

(3) to dramatically accelerate the transition from low-efficiency vehicles to low-carbon or zero-carbon alternatives, by tightening and enforcing standards, providing incentives for removal of inefficient vehicles and purchase of hybrid and electric vehicles, while also dramatically expanding the province's capacity for electric-vehicle charging.

(4) to engage with other regional governments to support emissions-reducing protocols and economies, such as carbon taxes and cap-and-trade systems, in a collaborative manner.

(5) to support municipal governments in energy-related initiatives, including zoning decisions, public transport, zero-emissions passes for HOV lanes, etc, and to extend similar support to First Nations communities.

(6) to work in the political arena to bulwark national and international efforts around energy use and climate change, and to oppose the forces and economic interests attempting to roll back progress.

(7) to diversify the provincial economy away from energy extraction, especially by discouraging the construction of pipelines to carry shale oil.

(8) to encourage the training and employment of lower and lower-middle income Ontarians in new industries related to renewable energy.

(9) to maintain a strong tradition of excellent teaching and learning, and an open and fair environment for research and public debate, so that the fruits of past research do not

All in all, this list conforms to the mantra of "100% renewable Ontario", with one major exception: I do not recommend shuttering our nuclear power plants at this stage.   Fission power remains a vast resource and one that cannot be continued without the maintenance of technology and expertise. It comes with significant risks and the responsibility for  ongoing waste management; but the risks are easily overstated, and in my view pale in comparison to the costs of carbon-based energy extraction.   The role of nuclear power in the provincial energy budget must be constantly reviewed along with re-assessment of the risks of accidental or intentional breaches.  But it would not be wise to remove it -- especially not before we have made the sort of transition to renewables that one sees in places like Germany.

[Original Comment ID: 206631]