Climate Action 2009-2010

ONTARIO Is leAdINg The fIghT
AgAINsT clImATe chANge
By eliminating coal-fired generation, encouraging energy
conservation and efficiency, adding more green renewable
energy, and taking an economy-wide approach to effective
long-term energy solutions, Canada’s most populous
province, Ontario, is the North American leader in the fight
against climate change.
Under its Climate Change Action Plan, Ontario is committed
to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to six per cent
below 1990 levels by 2014, 15 percent below those levels
by 2020, and 80 per cent by 2050. Initiatives to achieve
these goals include legislating a new cap and trade system,
expanding rapid transit, promoting green technologies,
further enhancing the protection of Ontario’s green spaces
and moving off coal.
By the end of 2014, Ontario will eliminate dirty coal-fired
generation from its supply mix as part of a comprehensive
While phasing out coal, Ontario has aggressively added
new sources of renewable supply. In 2008, nearly 80
per cent of Ontario’s electricity came from non-emitting
sources of power such as nuclear, water and wind.
Since 2003, Ontario has increased its online wind capacity
80-fold, going from 15 megawatts (MW) of wind power
to over 1,100 MW. That’s enough capacity to power more
than 300,000 Ontario homes. Earlier this year George
Smitherman, Ontario’s Deputy Premier and Minister of
Energy and Infrastructure, accepted the 2009 World Wind
Energy Award for his “outstanding achievements in
making Ontario the leading wind energy jurisdiction in
North America.”
To further accelerate efforts to help Ontario go green and
protect the environment, Ontario’s Legislature passed
the Green Energy and Green Economy Act, 2009 this past
spring, which includes a stand-alone Act known as the
“ ONTARIO’s gReeN eNeRgy AcT RepReseNTs NORTh AmeRIcA’s mOsT
AmbITIOus ANd fAR ReAchINg eNAblINg legIslATION ANd wIll plAce
ONTARIO As A wORld leAdeR IN ReNewAble eNeRgy develOpmeNT,
INdusTRIAl INNOvATION ANd clImATe pROTecTION.”
dR. heRmANN scheeR, geNeRAl chAIRmAN Of The wORld cOuNcIl fOR ReNewAble eNeRgy,
membeR Of The geRmAN buNdesTAg
plan to modernize and green the provincial electricity
system. Eliminating coal will be the single biggest contributor
to reducing Ontario’s greenhouse gas emissions. The net
result to the atmosphere: a potential reduction of up to 30
megatonnes of GHG emissions. It will be the single largest
climate change initiative in North America. Ontario is on
track to become what is believed to be the first jurisdiction
in the world to rid itself of coal-fired electricity generation.
In 2008, carbon dioxide emissions from Ontario coal
plants were 33 per cent below 2003 levels and fossil
plant emissions of acid-rain causing pollutants reached
25-year lows.
Green Energy Act, 2009 as well as amendments to several
statutes. The new legislation is a bold series of coordinated
actions with two equally important thrusts:
• Making it easier to bring renewable energy projects to life
• Fostering a culture of conservation by helping homeowners,
government, schools and industry transition
to lower energy use.
One of the cornerstones of the Green Energy Act, 2009
is North America’s first comprehensive feed-in tariff
program (FIT). It is designed to encourage new renewable
energy projects from a diverse range of producers including
First Nations and Métis communities, homeowners,
cooperatives, schools, stores, factories, office towers and
larger-scale commercial generators.