Thursday, April 9, 2009
Smitherman appears as Green Energy Act hearings heat up
Good thing the air conditioners were working in committee room 228 at Queen's park on Wednesday, because the Green Energy Act hearings warmed up as deputants pressed for combined heat and power to be included in the Green Energy Act.
In response to a question from the committee, Energy and Infrastructure Minister Smitherman suggested that combined heat and power might have a home in the Green Energy Act. Good timing, as the Minister's comments were followed by a series of deputants echoing the need for combined heat and power as a means of allowing industry in Ontario to benefit from greening their current operations and generating electricity to feed into the grid.
Following the Minister’s comments, Green Energy Act Alliance Campaign Chair Deb Doncaster and Lawyer David Poch praised the Act for being world class and a first in North America. They did however, make numerous recommendations on how the Act could be improved. These recommendations included: how to charge project developers and communities for connecting to the grid, the need for combined heat and power to be included in the Act, and that the Act itself should require renewable energy FITs and not leave this crucial element to the Minister's discretion.
Upgrading our 8-tracks to Ipods
A defining moment of the hearings was at the expense of the Clean Affordable Energy Alliance, well known for supporting coal and nuclear power. "We're at a point of technological change," said Peter Tabuns, energy critic for the NDP, after the deputant's presentation suggesting that renewables weren’t up to the challenge. Tabuns’ statement clearly illustrates the opportunity the Green Energy Act is going to capitalize on. Let's not be last to upgrade our 8-tracks to Ipods.
Winner, Most Dramatic Cliché
PC MPP O'Toole wins today’s award for dramatic use of a cliché for joking that Europeans must be "shivering in the dark" as a result of their energy conservation. Clearly, the Green Energy Act will return us to the stone age and efficiency is tantamount to taking a step backwards in time. Personally, efficiency looks a lot more like progress.
Nuclear, blowing in the wind!
In anticipation of the committee hearing, Greenpeace brought a banner on a U-Haul trailer to Queen’s Park, urging the minister not to invest in nuclear at the expense of renewable generation. The wind was so powerful Wednesday that it threatened to blow the banner away. Proving that once again, wind power can overcome nuclear.
Mike Layton
Mike Layton is a program manager for Environmental Defence, a founding member of the Green Energy Act Alliance.
In response to a question from the committee, Energy and Infrastructure Minister Smitherman suggested that combined heat and power might have a home in the Green Energy Act. Good timing, as the Minister's comments were followed by a series of deputants echoing the need for combined heat and power as a means of allowing industry in Ontario to benefit from greening their current operations and generating electricity to feed into the grid.
Following the Minister’s comments, Green Energy Act Alliance Campaign Chair Deb Doncaster and Lawyer David Poch praised the Act for being world class and a first in North America. They did however, make numerous recommendations on how the Act could be improved. These recommendations included: how to charge project developers and communities for connecting to the grid, the need for combined heat and power to be included in the Act, and that the Act itself should require renewable energy FITs and not leave this crucial element to the Minister's discretion.
Upgrading our 8-tracks to Ipods
A defining moment of the hearings was at the expense of the Clean Affordable Energy Alliance, well known for supporting coal and nuclear power. "We're at a point of technological change," said Peter Tabuns, energy critic for the NDP, after the deputant's presentation suggesting that renewables weren’t up to the challenge. Tabuns’ statement clearly illustrates the opportunity the Green Energy Act is going to capitalize on. Let's not be last to upgrade our 8-tracks to Ipods.
Winner, Most Dramatic Cliché
PC MPP O'Toole wins today’s award for dramatic use of a cliché for joking that Europeans must be "shivering in the dark" as a result of their energy conservation. Clearly, the Green Energy Act will return us to the stone age and efficiency is tantamount to taking a step backwards in time. Personally, efficiency looks a lot more like progress.
Nuclear, blowing in the wind!
In anticipation of the committee hearing, Greenpeace brought a banner on a U-Haul trailer to Queen’s Park, urging the minister not to invest in nuclear at the expense of renewable generation. The wind was so powerful Wednesday that it threatened to blow the banner away. Proving that once again, wind power can overcome nuclear.
Mike Layton
Mike Layton is a program manager for Environmental Defence, a founding member of the Green Energy Act Alliance.
Labels: committee hearings, conservation, Green Energy Act, nuclear
¶ 4:51 PM
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