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Select
Committee on Alternative Fuels Proposes a Comprehensive
Green Energy Strategy |
The
Select Committee on Alternative Fuel Sources released its final
report in June. The report is available on the internet at Legislative
Committee web site .
The
government is receiving comments through to the end of September,
so please take time to show your support for conservation and
clean energy! Send a letter to Premier Ernie Eves, with
copies to the Minister of Environment and Energy, Chris Stockwell,
and to the Select Committee Chair, Doug Galt. See below for the
addresses.
Our initial review of the report
shows an excellent step in the right direction for both green
energy and conservation. Many of the Conservation Council's
recommendations to the Committee were included in the report, in
particular
- developing a provincial green
energy strategy
- establishing a nominal surcharge
on electrical bills to offset the premium for green energy and
conservation (recommendation #17 of the committee's report)
- establishing a solar roofs
campaign, similar to the Million Solar Roofs campaign of the US
government (recommendation #107 calls for a 25% rebate for
solar panels on 100,000 homes)
The report contains
a total of 141 recommendations covering both the policy framework
and specific alternative fuel sources.Here
are some highlights from Section A of the report (the policy
framework), and a quick analysis based on the Conservation
Council's recommendations for a Green Energy Strategy.
Some Key Recommendations for the
Policy Framework (Section A)
1. Develop a coordinated
alternative fuel and energy strategy (#s1, 2)
2. Establish an Ontario Energy
Research Institute with a $40 million budget per year for at least
ten years (#3). The Institute would promote research, policy
development, technology demonstration, and education.
3. Incorporate priorities for
alternative fuels and conservation into government core businesses
and legislation. (#s 4, 5)
4. Offer tax incentives for
investment in alternative fuel/energy technology, including the
Ontario Renewable and Sustainable Energy Development Tax Incentive
whereby companies can deduct 25% of the capital cost in each of
three years following the purchase of renewable and alternative
fuels equipment (#9)
5. Establish a Renewable Portfolio
Standard by June 2003. (#16)
6. Eliminate carbon-based
electricity generation by 2015, with strict controls on coal-fired
generation in the interim (#s16, 30-37)
7. Establish a nominal charge of
0.1 cent per kWh to electricity bills to fund an Ontario renewable
energy trust that would subsidize renewable electrical energy
programs and projects. The funds would be allocated as subsidies
to manufacturers, utilities and consumers (#17).
8. Develop a carbon tax in
conjunction with the Renewable Portfolio Standard (#18)
9. Require electrical utilities and
distribution companies to implement demand management
(conservation) programs (#s 38, 39), with 0.2% of gross revenues
for electrical utilities to be spent on energy conservation.
10. Improve provincial and
municipal government procurement policies and alternative fuel/
energy conservation programs (#s 50 - 65).
11. Incorporate alternative fuels
and energy conservation in land use planning and development,
including the provincial Smart Growth initiative (#66), the
Building Code (#67), the Planning Act and Provincial Policy
Statement (#s 69, 70), and municipal Official Plans (#71)
12 Link provincial funding for
public transit to alternative fuel sources only (#s 72, 73)
...cont'd next column
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Coming
Soon...
The
Green Ontario Survey
We'll be
asking up to 200 provincial organizations for their
priorities, activities, and how we can build a stronger
cooperative movement
The
Greensteps Report
Our survey results will be published as an update of "Greensteps",
our 1994 publication on NGO activities
The
CCO 50th Anniversary Dinner
November
26, 2002, The Royal York Hotel
Help us celebrate 50 years, and look ahead to the future of
conservation in Ontario.
Ontario's
Eco Summit
November
27, 2002
A one-day
meeting for environmental leaders on cooperation, leadership
and action for a healthy environment.
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Our Initial Analysis
A Green Energy Strategy
The
Committee picked up on the Conservation Council's recommendations
for a green energy strategy, but only as an interministerial
government strategy. Our recommendation for a multi-sector
strategy, however, was not picked up.
Establishing a multi-stakeholder
Green Energy Task Force
We had recommended that a
special multi-stakeholder task force be convened in support of the
development of a provincial strategy. This recommendation was
partly adopted by the committee:
- The report calls for a
stakeholder task force to be convened around the development
of a Renewable Portfolio Standard (Recommendation 16).
- A Technical Advisory Group will
report to the Minister of Environment and Energy on
alternative fuel/energy technologies and levels of assistance
to individual technologies
- an Ontario Energy Research
Institute will be established
Incorporate alternative fuels and
conservation into Ministry Business Plans and core businesses
This is a welcome
recommendation (#5), consistent with our findings of our annual
review of business plans (the Missing
Values series).
Eliminating the Price Gap
While most of the financial
incentives are directed at promoting investments in alternative
fuels, the committee has included a recommendation to establish a
provincial fund apply revenue from a surcharge on conventional
electricity to reducing (if not eliminating) the premium that
consumers are required to pay for green energy. This is consistent
with the principle that people should not have to pay more for
clean power.
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Does
Ontario Need a
Smart Growth Network? |
Smart
Growth Survey now online
www.greenontario.org/smartgrowth/
A year and a half
ago, the provincial government launched its “made in Ontario”
Smart Growth Initiative as a new approach to growth management.
The initiative is based on American programs of the same
name that are intended to curb urban sprawl and viable and livable
cities.
On one level,
Smart Growth” is nothing new.
As a series of planning principles, it reflects the same
ecological, community, and economic principles that have always
defined good planning (and have rarely been put into practice).
Ontario’s NGO community has a long history of promoting
the principles of sound planning as they relate to developing
healthy communities, controlling urban sprawl, promoting community
economic development, and tackling air and water pollution.
What is new is
the window of opportunity that Smart Growth provides into the
municipal and provincial planning processes.
The provincial government has established four regional
smart growth panels, several ministries are developing plans
consistent with the provincial smart growth initiative, and many
municipalities are looking to incorporate smart growth terminology
into their Official Plans.
Ontario’s
non-government organizations need to ensure our voices are heard,
and that we are equal partners in planning Ontario’s future.
We have a wealth of resources that can be brought to bear
on the issues, and we have expertise that needs to be included in
the development of a vision for sustainable and healthy urban
development in Ontario.
Like many
non-governmental organizations, the Conservation Council has been
actively involved in these issues for years.
We helped found the Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition,
we’ve developed our own community action program for the
environment, and, over our fifty-year history, we’ve expressed
ongoing concern about the impact of poor urban development on
farmland, natural areas, public health, and environmental quality.
In response to
the provincial government’s Smart Growth Initiative, the
Conservation Council of Ontario is proposing to establish an
Ontario Smart Growth Network, borrowing from the U.S. model where
like minded organizations have come together to promote a common
vision of smart growth, based on clear principles.
We have been invited by the Metcalf Foundation to submit a
project proposal to cover the initial costs of setting up the
network.
We've posted a survey
on the Smart Growth section
of our website to gauge the potential structure and activities of
a smart growth network, and the level of interest and support for
establishing one in Ontario.
The
survey is designed for groups (both large and small), but we'd
also like to hear from individuals. Drop us a line at cco@web.ca
and tell us what you think a Smart Growth Network can do to help
stop sprawl and create healthy community development in Ontario.
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Other
Smart Growth News
Here's
a couple of new documents we'll review in the next issue of
Green On. News:
You
can find both documents at the provincial Smart
Growth website. |
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