Election time is always complicated for planet-conscious voters. But this time around, energy platforms have cracked open deeper tensions amongst enviros, and that’s leading to some of the most heated internal debates in years.
It all started when NDP leader Andrea Horwath began talking about curtailing the cost of hydro, heating and gasoline by cutting the HST, which many ecos charged would undermine conservation. Tensions rose when she hinted at changes to the Libs’ Green Energy Act. Soon, David Suzuki came out with an official endorsement ad for the act, and policy player Hugh Mackenzie noted,”The party has essentially turned its back on its previous identification with the environmental movement.” Ouch.
But the release of the NDP’s green platform has won back some good vibes. Mackenzie says the new transit plank is the most important green move on the table and that the HST issue isn’t reason enough to vote against the party. Others, like Jack Gibbons at the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, laud the NDP’s commitment to ditching the Liberals’ pricey nuclear refurbishing. Still, some fume that Horwath’s green promises are a mere afterthought.
Clearly, there’s a minefield of green energy issues to wade through. At the end of the day, you’ll have to decide what matters most to you. All I can do is tell you where everyone stands in the green muck, and wish the planet luck.
ONTARIO NDP
GREEN POWER The NDP generally backs the Green Energy Act and feed-in tariffs but takes a different tack than the Grits, emphasizing individual, community-based and publicly owned power over large corporate-owned generation.
Andrea Horwath would honour current contracts like the $7 billion Samsung deal, but all projects over 20 to 30 megawatts in the future would be publicly owned.
The NDP also wants renewable energy targets set at 10,700 MW by 2018, similar to the Lib plan, but goes one better by advocating an additional 5,000 MW by 2030.
Some enviros worry that renewables will decline if large private development is discouraged. Debate rages on, too, about whether a new role for Ontario Power Generation would hurt or help the cause.
CLIMATE ACTION The NDP says it would aim for climate targets of 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, which beats Lib commitments by 5 per cent. The party wants to join Quebec and California in the upcoming inter-jurisdictional cap and trade alliance – the Western Climate Initiative. (Ontario’s already co-chair, but see Libs for more info.) Money raised would go toward further carbon slashing.
CONSERVATION NATION The NDP is tops for conservation, pledging a cool $1 billion toward making homes more energy-efficient. They’d set up $5,000 in rebates and $10,000 in low-interest loans paid back on hydro bills for those retrofitting their homes. Plus, it would put $150 billion toward the Energy Star program.
HYDRO BILL HYSTERIA Horwath wants to keep energy bills artificially low by slashing the HST on hydro, heating and, sigh, gasoline. The Suzuki Foundation calls it “good politics but terrible policy.” Note, the HST cut would only come into effect in 2016.
WIND SPIN Despite the fact that Peter Kormos is a turbine disser and some NDP candidates have spoken out against wind, enviro critic Peter Tabuns says the party platform support for wind would be NDP law of the land. Horwath says communities need to be encouraged to host wind farms, that the backlash is “needless” and the solution local consultation. Some green observers are antsy that too much attention paid to local concerns might lead to municipalities vetoing turbine projects.
NUKE REBUKE No new nukes in the pipe for this team, and any future decisions about nuclear power would have to undergo proper environmental assessment. The NDP promises $1 billion for home retrofits out of the possible $26 bil it estimates would go to the Lib’s Darlington refurbishing. Where are we going to get baseload power? Tabuns points to a mix of conservation, heat/power cogeneration and hydro from Quebec, the winning combo favoured by environmental orgs.
TRANSIT PUSH The NDP might just wow enough tree-huggers with its transit plank to win back love lost on the HST debacle. Promising the largest transit subsidy that the province has ever seen, the party would fork out for half the cost of municipal transit operating systems, which it says will help guarantee a four-year fare freeze and expanded transit. Cyclists will love their proposed law around cars staying 1 metre from bikes, not to mention plans for a province-wide cycling infrastructure fund.
COAL CLOSURES The NDP promises to snuff out coal use ahead of schedule by putting our plants on standby reserve and only firing them up if they’re needed to keep the lights on. Wise move, considering we’re already generating 20 per cent more coal-free power than was needed this hot, sweaty summer.
ONTARIO LIBERAL PARTY
GREEN POWER The Libs are chugging along with their celebrated Green Energy Act, which was championed by the likes of Al Gore and David Suzuki as the strongest renewable energy plan on the continent. The party says it should deliver 50,000 jobs by the end of next year and 10,700 megawatts of wind, solar and biogas by 2018. (Critics say that’s the point at which a moratorium on green energy comes in to make way for nukes – though Liberals say the 10,700 is not a cap but a target for their forecast supply mix.)
CLIMATE ACTION The term “climate change” is oddly missing from the Liberal platform, but the party does point to its coal phase-out plan as the biggest greenhouse gas reduction initiative to date in North America. Libs say they’re still readying themselves for cap and trade, but they, like nearly every other jurisdiction in the Western Climate Initiative, have delayed participation until the scheme gets its shit together. The province is more than 85 per cent of the way to 2014 greenhouse gas reduction targets of 6 per cent below 1990 levels.
HYDRO BILL HYSTERIA With the NDP and PCs playing the populist violin on the HST rebate, the Libs caved to pressure and came out with the Ontario Clean Energy Benefit last January. Households and small biz get a 10 per cent energy bill rebate until 2015. Too bad bigger energy hogs end up with bigger rebates.
CONSERVATION NATION Libs say they brought in the strongest conservation targets in North America, having saved 17,000 megawatts of power since 2003, as well as tougher building codes, but eco groups like the Ontario Clean Air Alliance say they’re only scratching the surface on conservation, and the enviro commish says they can go further on transport and buildings. Shame there are no plans to revive the popular ecoEnergy Retrofit program, though they’ll still pay for half your audit and hook you up with a few energy efficiency coupons.
WIND SPIN These guys are full speed ahead with land-based wind, giving 13 cents a kilowatt hour to big wind and more to micro-wind. The Libs did, however, surprise a lot of folks when they reimposed a moratorium on off-shore wind projects until further study. Call it vote pandering, when all of Ontario’s wind projects to date are land-based anyway.
NUKE REBUKE The Grits’ green Achilles’ heel. Their argument that no jurisdiction in the world has phased out both coal and nukes and that they’re reducing our reliance on nuclear by shutting down Pickering, replacing only two-thirds of those megawatts with new reactors at Darlington, doesn’t wash. Greenpeace says the plan for new nukes diverts billions from green energy and that Japan’s lesson isn’t being heeded.
TRANSIT PUSH The Liberal platform talks up the $10.8 billion they’ve already allocated to public transit (“the largest transit investment in 40 years,” says McGuinty) and plugs plans for a $6.8 billion full-day, two-way GO train service on all corridors. They’ve also committed $8.4 billion to the Eglinton-Scarborough LRT. The big outstanding beef is that the Libs aren’t coughing up enough for the TTC’s day-to-day operating budget, which would keep the system from crumbling. On the bright side, they’re gunning for 5 per cent of cars being electric by 2020, investing $80 million in electric car rebates and charging stations.
COAL CLOSURES Okay, fine, so McGuinty first promised to close all our dirty coal plants by 2007, then by 2009, but the Libs are still on track to be the first jurisdiction to permanently snuff coal by 2014. (It’s already 94 per cent phased out.) Enviros will tell you, though, that enough power is produced today without coal plants, so it should be sent packing, like, yesterday.
GREEN PARTY OF ONTARIO
GREEN POWER These guys support a feed-in tariff program that prioritizes locally owned and community-based energy projects over mega-deals with multinationals like the one with Samsung.
CLIMATE CHANGE Finally, an Ontario Party that isn’t scared to bring in a carbon tax! The Greens would prioritize a price on carbon, modelled on the BC system.
CONSERVATION NATION Conservation is the Greens’ religion. They pledge $600 million for retrofit tax credits for homeowners and tenants, and want to turbo-boost the Building Code, mandating solar-ready houses, green mortgages and more, while giving incentives for local hydro companies to meet aggressive conservation targets.
WIND SPIN Wind isn’t explicitly mentioned in their platform, but it’s obviously part of the favoured energy mix. The Greens called for minimum local ownership targets and heavy local input, with tighter protections for wind farm landowners and their neighbours. As with the NDP, enviros worry that greater local input puts wind at risk.
HYDRO BILL HYSTERIA The only party not playing the populist card – but then, the Greens have less than 6 per cent support from voters. They say the Ontario Clean Energy Benefit – the 10 per cent rebate – will cost us $1.2 billion per year and that it’s just paying people to waste power.
NUKE REBUKE Nuclear-free zone. These guys would boost energy efficiency, conservation, combined heat and power, and look at buying cleaner Quebec hydro energy.
TRANSIT PUSH Greens would dole out $400 million in tax credits over four years for affordable commuter benefits to support ride sharing and carpooling
COAL CLOSURES Calling for an immediate coal phase-out. Like, duh, obviously.
ONTARIO PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVES
GREEN POWER Kiss it goodbye. Hudak wants to rip up the Green Energy Act’s feed-in tariff program and its world-class rebates to solar and wind (although he now says he’d honour existing contracts). He’d squash the “secret, sweetheart” Samsung deal for solar, worth $7 billion, and along with it 16,000 projected jobs.
CLIMATE ACTION Wow, change gets a cursory mention! PCs promise their efforts on this front would be “meaningful and practical,” about as vague as you can get, with no greenhouse gas reduction targets in sight.
CONSERVATION NATION Fuhgeddaboudit. Hudak would pull the plug on smart metres and has no other conservation plan in sight. Oh, wait, the platform does mention something about making government buildings more efficient.
HYDRO BILL HYSTERIA Wants HST permanently nixed on hydro and home heating, asap. Doing so, the Libs charge, would create a $14 billion gap in funds, where the PCs say it’s more like $1.6 billion. Either way, eco groups consider it a billion-dollar oil and gas subsidy and a major conservation dissuader.
WIND SPIN Call Hudak the anti-wind whisperer. This is the man who officially tried to push a moratorium on all, yes, all wind projects through the legislature. Oh, sure, he’s softened his death grip by now, saying he’ll bring in some sort of vague alternative financing for renewables. But in truth, by ending the feed-in-tariffs for wind projects, he’s holding the nail gun for the coffin.
NUKE REBUKE The Tories would “stop the dithering and delays” and speed up investment in nuclear power, which proudly gets top billing in Hudak’s “clean energy supply mix.” By the way, Hudak is also the only candidate for preem who has refused to sign the Electricity Consumer Protection Pledge against passing nuclear cost overruns on to electricity consumers.
TRANSIT PUSH If you call putting an end to “the war on cars” a transit plank, then Hudak’s your man.
COAL CLOSURE Finally, an environmental policy Hudak won’t snuff out with his bare hands. He’s sticking to a 2014 coal phase-out despite some grumbling from his caucus.
