I am a citizen representing…

I am a citizen representing only myself, not any lobby group. I feel the Ontario government's public review of its next energy plan (LTEP) is not asking the right questions to put Ontario on the course to 100% renewables. Rapid and destructive climate change, a booming human population always demanding more energy, finite fossil fuels and extremely dangerous nuclear fuels all point us inexorably toward a 100% renewable energy future. Ontario should seize this opportunity to move away from fossil and nuclear once and for all, and invest massively in renewable energy.

Ontario can no longer protect its existing outdated and dirty power system. We can no longer “harness” nuclear power to meet our future energy needs, simply because it has been proven over and over again, all around the world and most recently in Fukushima, just how devastating a nuclear accident is. It would be just as devastating here in South-Eastern Ontario where our nuclear power stations are located in Canada's most populated corridor.

The way forward is as follows:

1. Ontario must join the growing global movement toward 100% renewable energy - those nations who start the transition early and massively will reap the benefits in very little time. Ontario cannot afford to be left behind with dangerous and finite energy sources;

2. Ontario’s LTEP must come clean on the true cost of nuclear power, and help citizens and communities to empower themselves with renewable energy. Nuclear creates radioactive waste and is simply too dangerous. The cost of maintaining and refitting aging stations is already much too high. Ontario must reinvest these precious funds into renewable, which by definition will eventually pay for themselves. Renewables are the right path for Ontario to fight climate change AND end our reliance on risky and costly nuclear power.

3. Ontario’s LTEP needs to remove barriers to citizens and communities becoming energy self-sufficient. This means investing in local solutions and energy sources, so that every region can harness it sown potential and not be burdened by the energy costs of others. In other words, Ontario must take the renewable path to a low-carbon future, and this means local power and empowerment.

4. Nuclear power:

- The LTEP must plan to replace existing reactors with renewable energy.

- The LTEP must require nuclear projects to be compared to renewable energy options.

- Any future nuclear project should be independently and publicly reviewed.

- The LTEP must acknowledge that operating nuclear plants in the Great Lakes/GTA is an unneeded risk.

5. Conservation:

- The top priority of the LTEP must be to reduce energy demand wherever possible.

- The LTEP should pursue all affordable conservation options (a recent government study found that Ontario could cost-effectively reduce electricity demand by 30% by 2035.)

6. Renewables:

- The LTEP must ensure that 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. - I support electrifying transport and heating to displace fossil fuels, BUT conservation and renewables should be used first to address any increased electricity demand.

Thank you.

[Original Comment ID: 205135]