Not enough done to encourage less fossil fuels: environment commissioner

Ontario's conservation efforts ‘lopsided’ in reducing electricity use, not fossil fuels, says Saxe, as Environment Minister Murray promises incentives.

Thestar.com
May 31, 2016
By Rob Ferguson

Ontario has a “lopsided” energy conservation strategy that focuses heavily on electricity and is shy on encouraging people to reduce their use of fossil fuels, Ontario’s new environment commissioner says.

But Dianne Saxe acknowledged Tuesday that her concern will likely be addressed when the government releases its climate-change action plan in the next week or two.

“Maybe quite a bit,” she told a news conference after tabling her first report. “The action plan, I suspect, is going to be extremely important.”

Saxe said her 153-page report went out for translation into French and printing a couple of months ago, before it became known Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government would reveal its action plan in early June.

“Things are changing at warp speed,” Saxe said.

In the report, titled “Conservation: let’s get serious,” she noted that aside from coal, which has been phased out as a fuel for electricity generating stations, Ontarians use more fossil fuels such as gasoline, diesel and natural gas than they did in 2007.

“Transportation is typically our largest and fastest growing use of energy, and it depends almost exclusively on fossil fuels that cause air pollution and climate change.”

More than 80 per cent of the province’s energy needs are met by fossil fuels while conservation efforts have been targeted at electricity, which is “the smallest and cleanest of our major energy sources.”

About half Ontario’s electricity is from nuclear generation, which does not pollute the air, and other power comes from hydroelectric sources such as Niagara Falls, along with natural-gas fired power plants, wind and solar.

While the province has improved rebates for motorists buying electric and hybrid vehicles, more moves are expected in the climate-change action plan.

Saxe called on the government to set targets for reducing fossil fuel consumption and said the province is “very late getting to the party” on electric cars as there are just 5,800 of them on the road, which is less than one per cent of all vehicles.

That makes it unlikely Ontario will meet its target of having five per cent of all cars on the road be electric by 2020. Indeed, the government has fallen short of its own promise to buy 500 electric vehicles.

“So far they’re at 70 and 14 of those are essentially golf carts,” Saxe said.

Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli said the government is investing $20 million in electric vehicle charging stations and that overall conservation efforts are a way for consumers to “reduce their bills and greenhouse gas emissions.”

Under the climate change action plan, gasoline prices are expected to rise by 4.3 cents a litre and the average monthly natural gas bill will jump $5 in 2017.

The measures will cost the typical household about $13 a month.

Environment Minister Glen Murray said last week that most government measures to fight climate change will be “completely voluntary” and relatively painless.

“This is a plan with a big basket of carrots and no sticks,” he told reporters.

In measures already announced, the government has earmarked $500 million to retrofit social housing apartments with better insulation and energy-efficient windows.

A similar program sets aside $400 million in incentives for private residential apartment buildings to implement energy-saving renovations.