Dear Editor:
Ontario’s extra needs for energy can be met by combining local solar, local battery storage, energy efficiency programs, and strategies that respond to the demand for energy.
Ford must not end the contract with Hydro Quebec but should import more hydroelectricity from them, which is extremely cheap and abundant. Is there a good reason for not doing this? Has the Ford government been able to offer a clear explanation for saying no to clean, cheap electricity?
The government needs to lower peak demand by offering incentives to use power outside of peak hours. It needs to invest more in energy efficiency and conservation. These measures would drastically diminish our consumption.
Ontario’s gas plants have joined the province’s worst greenhouse gas producers If Ford expands the plants, extends their contracts, or uses them at greater capacity, he will dramatically increase their emissions. If he builds new gas plants, it could lead to abandoned production sites in the near future which we will have to clean up with our tax money.
Alternative energy production will provide a fully clean electricity grid, and will attract new businesses to Ontario. Many companies now want access to clean power and are making the commitment to 100 per cent renewables. They see the writing on the wall!
With outrageous ease, the Ford government cancelled conservation and renewable energy programs just a year after they were first elected in 2018. We have lost five crucial years!
The recent projects that qualified for Ontario’s next phase in energy production do include some renewable energy, but the current plan heavily relies on existing natural gas plants. This cannot be tolerated.
To meet our 2030 climate targets Ontario must increase its renewable energy assets. These clean technologies help us keep our fridges cold and the lights on! Ontario must examine ways to benefit from more connections to the Quebec grid.
Green jobs have outpaced and will continue to outpace oil and gas jobs. An insightful report calculates that the second-biggest job generator in Canada will be clean energy. Several reports by David Suzuki, the Toronto Atmospheric Institute and academic experts, show that in Ontario, supplying clean energy will produce 130,000 jobs by 2050, in wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, tidal, and electricity grid infrastructure.
Will we, in Ontario, be the leaders or will we drag our feet behind more enlightened provinces who will be leading us?
Gerry Walsh,
Erin