<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <head> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)"> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="State"/> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"/>  <style>  </style>  </head> <body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple> <div class=Section1> <img width=322 height=41 id="_x0000_i1025" src="cid:image001.jpg@01C64F7D.8A448350"><o:p></o:p> <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Ontario</st1:State></st1:place>’s Conservation Movement <o:p></o:p> To subscribe or unsubscribe to this listserve, go to <a href="http://www.weconserve.ca/">www.weconserve.ca</a><o:p></o:p> This article can be found at <a href="http://weconserve.ca/articles/?p=17">http://weconserve.ca/articles/?p=17</a><o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> An Empty Budget for Conservation<o:p></o:p> Chris Winter,<o:p></o:p> Executive Director<o:p></o:p> The Conservation Council of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Ontario</st1:State></st1:place><o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On any other day, I would have cheered a budget that put $838 million into a new transit line, doubled the subsidy for hybrid cars and maintained the operating budgets of the lead conservation ministries.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> The absence of any fiscal incentives for electricity conservation, however, was both disappointing and troubling.  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Granted, it’s not fair to expect the moon in a budget – there are many competing interests and priorities that the government needs to manage.  But in this instance, the omission was significant.  The <st1:State w:st="on">Ontario</st1:State> government is poised to make a decision on <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Ontario</st1:State></st1:place>’s power supply future.  There are two options: follow the advice of the Ontario Power Authority and invest heavily in nuclear power or follow the overwhelming public support for conservation.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> If the Province intended to give conservation a chance to prove itself, you would have expected to see fiscal instruments in the budget that would contribute to a coordinated provincial conservation plan.  There was nothing: no tax rebate on conservation products and no interest-free loans to implement conservation audits and other professional advice.  In other jurisdictions, from <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State> to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">South Australia</st1:State></st1:place>, these measures are the financial cornerstones of a coordinated plan to engage the public, provide tailored advice, and offer fiscal and regulatory support for conservation.  Earlier this year, for example, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">New Brunswick</st1:State></st1:place> introduced an interest-free loan program tied to the Energuide for Houses program. (<a href="http://www.efficiencynb.ca/Promo/FAQ2-e.asp">http://www.efficiencynb.ca/Promo/FAQ2-e.asp</a>).  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> I would normally be a little more lenient, and take heart in the slow and steady progress that is being made, but time is running short.  If the government isn’t putting its fiscal weight behind conservation, then it is leading us inexorably down the path towards investing in new nuclear plants.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> We know the political will for conservation is there.  The Premier’s announcement earlier this week of a Standard Offer Contract for renewable power placed <st1:State w:st="on">Ontario</st1:State> at the leading edge in <st1:place w:st="on">North America</st1:place> in its support for renewable power. It was truly a banner day.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Conservation and renewable power go hand in hand.  What we need now is an equivalent financial commitment for conservation, an integrated provincial conservation plan, and a postponement of any decision on new nuclear plants in order to give the culture of conservation time to take root.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Ontario</st1:State></st1:place>’s claim to being a leader in conservation is at stake, and time is fast running out.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <a href="http://www.weconserve.ca/">weconserve.ca </a><o:p></o:p> <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ontario</st1:place></st1:State>'s conservation movement<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> </div> </body> </html>