[getsmart-l] THE CLOTHESLINE DEBATE - Finally! Movement on a No-Brainer!!

[John O'Gorman]

"La-di-da," he sneered. "Five years into the government, they want to debate making clotheslines legal. They should have done that in the first two months of government."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080122.CLOTHESLINE22/TPStory/?query=clothesline
THE CLOTHESLINE DEBATE

Ontario says it's time to let it all hang out
CHINTA PUXLEY 

The Canadian Press

January 22, 2008

TORONTO -- The province is determined to lift the ban on clotheslines in Ontario communities in time for the summer sunshine, ending what many have called a "Draconian" practice that discourages energy conservation, Energy Minister Gerry Phillips said yesterday.

"We have a clothesline - both at our home and at our cottage," Mr. Phillips said. "My neighbour has her clothes out all winter long. ... Let's get on with it."

Outdoor clotheslines are banned under some municipal bylaws and contracts with home builders. But Mr. Phillips said Ontario is looking at allowing them for anyone who lives in a freehold detached, semi-detached or row house.

Before clotheslines can become legal, he said, the province is asking for public input on how to lift the ban over the next two months. The consultation will not include condominiums or high-rises, which will be examined separately.

Clothes dryers use about 900 kilowatt hours of electricity a year on average, or about 6 per cent of residential electricity consumption. By hanging one-quarter of their laundry loads out to dry, Mr. Phillips said consumers could save about $30 a year on electricity bills.

The Liberals passed an energy-conservation leadership law shortly after their election in 2003 that included a clause that allows the province to abolish local bans on clotheslines imposed by developers through sale agreements and residential associations.

But they have never taken advantage of the clause, so it remains against the law in some communities to hang clothes out to dry.

The province's chief conservation officer recently stepped up the pressure to end clothesline prohibition, calling on the Liberals to allow them back by taking advantage of their own law. Peter Love said the bans were passed at a time when priorities were different.

But critics are wondering what took the Liberals so long to make such a simple gesture. Conservative John Yakabuski said the Liberals have had more than four years to lift the ban, but did nothing.

NDP Leader Howard Hampton scoffed at the fresh Liberal rhetoric on clotheslines and took the government to task for taking so long. 

"La-di-da," he sneered. "Five years into the government, they want to debate making clotheslines legal. They should have done that in the first two months of government."
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