Published in The Toronto Star (March 12, 2007)
Provincial governments possess powerful tools for addressing global warming. And although the current flurry of federal eco-spending announcements cannot paper over the lack of a national climate change plan or how the federal government's poor performance on the climate change file is jeopardizing both our international reputation and the environment, it has been heartening to see Manitoba and Quebec step up to the plate with their own climate plans, and to hear what was in British Columbia's Speech from the Throne.
So where is Ontario? Last week, Premier Dalton McGuinty signalled to a friendly Liberal audience that fighting global warming will be a key plank in his election platform, and other parties are also drafting climate strategies.
What constitutes an "adequate" climate plan looks very different if you want to actually reduce pollution sufficiently to solve the problem, as opposed to merely slowing its rate of growth. And if you take the science seriously, then being adequately ambitious means making the strongest possible effort to meet Kyoto targets by 2012, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2020 relative to 1990 levels, and getting to 80 per cent reductions by 2050.
No one is saying this will be easy. Ontario's greenhouse gas emissions come from our coal-fired electricity plants, from our cars and trucks, from heating our houses, from factories and farms. We are indeed "addicted" to fossil fuels, even though we know that burning them blankets the Earth with heat-trapping gases. And due to the lack of any real action to date, Ontario's emissions have grown 15 per cent since 1990.
On the other hand, the alternative - doing little or nothing - is not only irresponsible, but ultimately will be more costly, according to the recent report by the World Bank's former chief economist, Sir Nicholas Stern, that was commissioned by the British government and endorsed by a who's who of global economists. It says failure to check global warming will likely wreak greater havoc with human societies than both World Wars and the Great Depression put together. This is corroborated by the UN science report released last month that found that the pace of warming and the impact on ecosystems is growing and potentially catastrophic.
The good news is that the faster that Ontario acts, the less it will cost. And given that our energy use is already much more wasteful than other industrialized countries like Germany, the U.K. and Japan that use half the energy per dollar of output that Canada does, many of the solutions will save us money as we burn less fossil fuel in more efficient homes, power plants, vehicles and workplaces. It will be a win-win scenario when we act and the quicker we act, the more we will benefit.
Once we commit to Kyoto and longer-term pollution reduction targets, there are some basic ways Ontario can tackle global warming.
First, focus on energy conservation. The Ontario government must create policies aimed at reducing energy use, such as regulations that dramatically increase energy efficiency standards for buildings, appliances and equipment, promote education programs, and provide economic incentives to rapidly improve existing stock. This is the cheapest, fastest and cleanest solution to our energy needs. But instead of taking these actions, there is currently more than six times as much money and attention going to unsustainable mega-projects in Ontario, like nuclear plants.
Ontario can also join the parade of U.S. states, Quebec and B.C. in adopting California vehicle fuel efficiency standards that slash emissions from cars, while laying the groundwork for building the energy efficient vehicles of the future here in Ontario. Efficiency standards lag behind Europe, Japan, Australia, California and even China. Ontario needs to improve efficiencies drastically to remain competitive globally.
Second, switch off of coal by 2009. At the same time as we make our economy more energy-efficient, we must switch onto Ontario's abundant sources of clean, low-impact energy from the wind, sun, small-scale hydro, geothermal and sustainable bio-energy.
We also need to better utilize our largely untapped potential to generate electricity from industrial and commercial waste heat.
Third, design our cities to be energy efficient. Climate-friendly requirements for development, including fast, effective and affordable public transit, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure that is safe and convenient, as well as tough limits on urban sprawl, will reduce pollution from cars and trucks. To make this happen will require significant, sustained and predictable funding from senior levels of government for municipal transit.
Fourth, stop subsidizing the things we don't want, such as dirty energy from Ontario coal power plants. We must bring the prices of products and services into line with their true costs - including environmental and health costs - so that climate-friendly behaviour is rewarded.
Fifth, protect the carbon stored in our forests and soils. Protecting large tracts of boreal forest, ensuring truly sustainable forestry management, and requiring soil-building agricultural practices will avoid massive greenhouse gas releases. Recent reports show that global warming threatens to undermine the health and viability of Ontario's forest ecosystems, so we must avoid additional stresses.
And since some climate change is inevitable - in fact, we are already feeling it - actions to protect our communities and ecosystems must be deployed in tandem with actions to minimize these climatic changes. For example, we will need programs to improve public infrastructure and protect vulnerable members of our society against heat waves and to provide transition programs for affected workers and communities.
When those pesky pollsters call, people are taking the time to say how concerned they are about global warming, how frustrated they are with government bickering, how upset they are with industries that seek to evade pollution controls, and how anxious they are to do something, anything, if only they had some help with what and how.
We know that politicians read the polls, especially in the lead up to an election. The question now is whether the climate plans on offer for the coming provincial election add up to a credible Ontario-based solution that gets us to Kyoto and beyond, or simply more hot air.
Keith Stewart is the lead author of this Op-Ed and manager of the Climate Change Campaign for WWF - Canada. The following organizations support this position: Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, David Suzuki Foundation, Environmental Defence, Forest Ethics, Greenpeace - Canada, Ontario Clean Air Alliance, Ontario Nature, Pembina Institute, Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario, Sierra Club of Canada - Ontario chapter, Sierra Legal Defence Fund, Wildlands League and WWF - Canada.
Mark Winfield was director of the Pembina Institute's environmental governance program until 2007.
