I encourage Ontario to plan…

I encourage Ontario to plan for and begin shifting toward 100% renewable energy to power our communities. Continuing to rely on fossil fuels and nuclear fission to power our communities is short-sighted, fiscally dubious, and dangerous.

Relying on fossil fuels for our energy will put a strain on Ontario's budget as these scarce resources continue to diminish and become more expensive. Additionally, use of fossil fuels produce harmful emissions. which put our communities at risk both in the short-term due to pollution, and over the long-term as emissions continue to accelerate climate change, leading to an increased incidence of destructive/disruptive extreme weather events and other consequences for future generations.

Disasters such as Fukushima and Chernobyl have shown us the inherent danger in continuing to rely on nuclear fission for our energy, particularly when the current state of our aging nuclear infrastructure is taken into account. Repairing that infrastructure would, of course, be extremely expensive and would not negate the risks involved in nuclear power generation.

The move to renewable energy is inevitable as fossil and nuclear fuels continue to diminish and other economic giants, like China, begin to shift more aggressively toward renewables. Consequently, it is not a question of if Ontario will shift toward 100% renewable energy, but when. Beginning to shift now and investing in industries and technology to enable this shift would position Ontario as an expert and leader in this area. Countries such as Germany have shown us that this expertise and technology can be lucrative and create good jobs, when commodified and sold to other countries. Additionally, shifting to renewables would allow Ontario to save money on healthcare as emissions are reduced, and allow us to avoid spending the billions of dollars required to refurbish our nuclear infrastructure.

For all these reasons, I strongly encourage Ontario to comit to and begin moving toward 100% renewable energy now.

[Original Comment ID: 205299]