Green Energy Action
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Green Energy Act Committee Hearings Power Up
Rarely has a Queen's Park committee heard so much agreement from such a diverse range of stakeholders. On Monday, the first day of the committee hearings in Toronto, an overwhelming number of presenters from environment groups, industry associations, and the investment community filled a committee room, singing the praises of the Green Energy Act. These groups are not only agreeing on the positive direction of the proposed Act, but on changes that should be made to improve it.
Scholar and environmentalist Dr. Jose Etcheverry praised the Act as the most effective climate change mitigation action being taken in Canada and perhaps North America. While this is not surprising to many of us, it is a good reminder of the importance of the Green Energy Act as Ontario leads Canada’s charge to Copenhagen, where the world will gather to lay out the post-Kyoto plan to combat climate change.
The cement sector showed up to support the Act and make the push for expanding it to include sources of green heat, such as combined heat and power and geothermal, to reduce the impacts of their operations. The aggregate industry wants to go green!
Excited about all the possibilities the Green Energy Act holds, the investment community suggested the use of green bonds to ensure that investing in renewable energy is accessible to the public, no matter how novice the investor.
While supportive of the Act's direction, former MPP Ruth Grier was present to ensure that the environment and natural systems where protected under the Act. There is still some concern about the level of protection the regulations will provide for wildlife and fish. Hunters and anglers echoed the need to protect sensitive habitat and sensitive ecosystems.
SHOW ME THE REPORT... - Opposition report filled with assumptions and unsubstantiated estimates
Shortly before the committee hearings began, Progressive Conservative members Bob Runciman and John Yakabuski released the Executive Summary of a report commissioned by the PC caucus, written by the consulting firm London Economics International LLC. According to the Executive Summary, the report refutes many of the Act's fundamental components. (Executive summary available here).
Since the full report is not available for evaluation, the broad claims made in the Executive Summary about the cost to consumers remain unsubstantiated. The estimates used to calculate the cost to consumers include: the cost for all conservation programs (but not the savings that will be incurred), planned nuclear and gas fired power plants (that may not be required), and an estimate of cost overruns associated with upgrades to the transmission grid (possibly required with or without the Green Energy Act). We await with great interest the full report so that we can understand the underlying assumptions used to calculate these figures.
Whose got the biggest…Energy Savings!
PC MPP John Yakabuski, who began the debates on the Green Energy Act boasting about the energy conservation measure in his own household, marvelled at the energy savings outlined by Chris Winter (Executive Director of the Conservation Council of Ontario) in his deputation. When Yakabuski invited Winter to explain how he was able to make such savings, Chris simply gave a list of well-known, energy conservation tips, nothing drastic or surprising, proving that there is still some low hanging energy savings fruit in households that think they are doing all they can.
Mike Layton
www.greenenergyact.ca
Mike Layton is a Program Manager for Environmental Defence, a founding member of the Green Energy Act Alliance.
Scholar and environmentalist Dr. Jose Etcheverry praised the Act as the most effective climate change mitigation action being taken in Canada and perhaps North America. While this is not surprising to many of us, it is a good reminder of the importance of the Green Energy Act as Ontario leads Canada’s charge to Copenhagen, where the world will gather to lay out the post-Kyoto plan to combat climate change.
The cement sector showed up to support the Act and make the push for expanding it to include sources of green heat, such as combined heat and power and geothermal, to reduce the impacts of their operations. The aggregate industry wants to go green!
Excited about all the possibilities the Green Energy Act holds, the investment community suggested the use of green bonds to ensure that investing in renewable energy is accessible to the public, no matter how novice the investor.
While supportive of the Act's direction, former MPP Ruth Grier was present to ensure that the environment and natural systems where protected under the Act. There is still some concern about the level of protection the regulations will provide for wildlife and fish. Hunters and anglers echoed the need to protect sensitive habitat and sensitive ecosystems.
SHOW ME THE REPORT... - Opposition report filled with assumptions and unsubstantiated estimates
Shortly before the committee hearings began, Progressive Conservative members Bob Runciman and John Yakabuski released the Executive Summary of a report commissioned by the PC caucus, written by the consulting firm London Economics International LLC. According to the Executive Summary, the report refutes many of the Act's fundamental components. (Executive summary available here).
Since the full report is not available for evaluation, the broad claims made in the Executive Summary about the cost to consumers remain unsubstantiated. The estimates used to calculate the cost to consumers include: the cost for all conservation programs (but not the savings that will be incurred), planned nuclear and gas fired power plants (that may not be required), and an estimate of cost overruns associated with upgrades to the transmission grid (possibly required with or without the Green Energy Act). We await with great interest the full report so that we can understand the underlying assumptions used to calculate these figures.
Whose got the biggest…Energy Savings!
PC MPP John Yakabuski, who began the debates on the Green Energy Act boasting about the energy conservation measure in his own household, marvelled at the energy savings outlined by Chris Winter (Executive Director of the Conservation Council of Ontario) in his deputation. When Yakabuski invited Winter to explain how he was able to make such savings, Chris simply gave a list of well-known, energy conservation tips, nothing drastic or surprising, proving that there is still some low hanging energy savings fruit in households that think they are doing all they can.
Mike Layton
www.greenenergyact.ca
Mike Layton is a Program Manager for Environmental Defence, a founding member of the Green Energy Act Alliance.
Labels: committee hearings, Green Energy Act, Queen's Park, stakeholders
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