• Home
  • Actions
  • Events
    • Upcoming In-person and On-line Events
    • Fridays For Future Climate Strikes
    • Ontario Election June 2, 2022
  • The Challenge
    • Community Carbon Challenge
    • Climate Change – 9 Lesson Unit
    • New Challenges
    • Business Carbon Challenge
    • Pledge List
    • Carbon Challenge Videos
    • Quick N Delish
    • Carbon 101
    • Sustainability Tool Kit
  • Our News
    • Weekly Newsletter
      • Fridays For Future Climate Strikes
    • Meanwhile in Ontario
    • Muskoka Drawdown
    • Our News – Media Releases
    • Re-Imagining The Future
    • Building Back Better Column
    • Land Acknowledgement
    • What Is Climate Action Muskoka
  • Sectors
    • Education
    • Buildings
    • Transportation
    • Food and Agriculture
    • The Stuff We Buy
    • Land Use
    • Energy
    • Economics
  • Media
    • Local Media
    • Podcasts-Books-Movies
      • Books
      • Movies
    • Climate News Ontario
    • Climate News Canada
    • News From Around The World
    • Focus On The Science
      • IPCC Sixth Assessment Report on Climate Change
  • Others
    • Communities Taking Action Feature
    • Local Climate Groups & Initiatives
    • Climate Action Initiatives in other Communities
    • Indigenous Peoples – Canada
      • Indigenous Peoples Around the World
    • Young women on the front lines of the climate movement.
    • Seniors In Action
    • Climate and the Law
  • Resources
    • Real Climate Facts And Figures And Solutions
    • EV Charger Map
    • Muskoka Water Web
    • Renewable Energy in Muskoka
    • Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
    • Governments at Every Level
      • Governments at Every Level
      • Our Provincial and Federal Representatives
      • Our District Government
    • Climate Emergency Declaration
      • Climate Emergency Declaration
      • Invitation to Endorse CAM’s Declaration of Climate Emergency Resolution
        • Endorsements — Climate Emergency Declaration
      • The Back Story
Skip to content

Climate Action Muskoka

  • Home
  • Actions
  • Events
    • Upcoming In-person and On-line Events
    • Fridays For Future Climate Strikes
    • Ontario Election June 2, 2022
  • The Challenge
    • Community Carbon Challenge
    • Climate Change – 9 Lesson Unit
    • New Challenges
    • Business Carbon Challenge
    • Pledge List
    • Carbon Challenge Videos
    • Quick N Delish
    • Carbon 101
    • Sustainability Tool Kit
  • Our News
    • Weekly Newsletter
      • Fridays For Future Climate Strikes
    • Meanwhile in Ontario
    • Muskoka Drawdown
    • Our News – Media Releases
    • Re-Imagining The Future
    • Building Back Better Column
    • Land Acknowledgement
    • What Is Climate Action Muskoka
  • Sectors
    • Education
    • Buildings
    • Transportation
    • Food and Agriculture
    • The Stuff We Buy
    • Land Use
    • Energy
    • Economics
  • Media
    • Local Media
    • Podcasts-Books-Movies
      • Books
      • Movies
    • Climate News Ontario
    • Climate News Canada
    • News From Around The World
    • Focus On The Science
      • IPCC Sixth Assessment Report on Climate Change
  • Others
    • Communities Taking Action Feature
    • Local Climate Groups & Initiatives
    • Climate Action Initiatives in other Communities
    • Indigenous Peoples – Canada
      • Indigenous Peoples Around the World
    • Young women on the front lines of the climate movement.
    • Seniors In Action
    • Climate and the Law
  • Resources
    • Real Climate Facts And Figures And Solutions
    • EV Charger Map
    • Muskoka Water Web
    • Renewable Energy in Muskoka
    • Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
    • Governments at Every Level
      • Governments at Every Level
      • Our Provincial and Federal Representatives
      • Our District Government
    • Climate Emergency Declaration
      • Climate Emergency Declaration
      • Invitation to Endorse CAM’s Declaration of Climate Emergency Resolution
        • Endorsements — Climate Emergency Declaration
      • The Back Story
News

Natural Gas Subsidies In Muskoka

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 18, 2021

MUSKOKA – On June 13, 2021 Climate Action Muskoka (CAM) sent an open letter to MPP Miller and Premier Ford to raise awareness of a misguided Ontario policy – the expansion of new gas lines. The goal of affordable home heating is a good one. However, adding more greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere is not the way to go. Muskoka must reduce GHG emissions 50% by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2050.

CAM advocates practical, workable solutions. We suggested four obvious ways to eliminate the need for natural gas heating: 1) super-insulated buildings require far less energy to heat; 2) advancements in heat pump technology make them the most energy efficient form of heating available (and they function well to -20C); 3) solar panels can help reduce the need for grid electricity; and 4) cash rebates can offset electrical energy costs. CAM also opposes the use of natural gas to generate electricity.

Our letter cited the government subsidies for Burk’s Falls and Hidden Valley. The cost: $3.1M for 144 buildings ($21,500 per unit!). We did not include the cost of the full Natural Gas Expansion Program (NGEP). In 2018 the Ford government put aside $234M to fund new gas distribution to 8,750 buildings ($26,000 per unit!).

It is provincial tax contributions that are funding the installation of natural gas lines by private companies. However, residents will be required to purchase natural gas furnaces themselves, committing them to the use of GHG-emitting fossil fuels for the next decade.

CAM believes that the NGEP is a misguided use of our Provincial resources. The policy does not reduce heating costs for the majority of Ontarians, and causes significant harm to our environment.

The Ford government is not responding to the urgency of the climate crisis and taking appropriate steps to address it. In fact, the government has already spent $231M to cancel over 750 renewable energy projects. As well, they have proposed legislation (within Bill 276) to repeal the existing requirement to give priority consideration to renewable energy production.

CAM calls on the provincial government to:

1.  Halt and reverse the expansion of natural gas distribution.

2.  Phase out gas-fired power plants by 2030.

3.  Spend the previously allocated funds on energy solutions that reduce GHGs.

4.  Distribute the benefits of the spending more equitably.

Oliver Klimek

On behalf of Climate Action Muskoka

Post navigation

Muskoka and Gravenhurst Climate Emergencies on the World Stage
Kudos to Huntsville Town Council for Passing a Climate Emergency Resolution
Let's take action together in 2022

Our Weekly Newsletter

View
Subscribe

Regular Features

Political Action of the Week -Watch this 21-minute excerpt from Doug Ford’s Climate Crimes: A SCAN! “Indictment on 33 Counts”

Upcoming Events -Monday, May 16 – 6:30-8:00 pm – Provincial party leaders debate

Muskoka Drawdown - The radio Show and Podcast
May 14, 2022 – “Dr Laurie Houston: Greening Healthcare”

Feature Podcast - Taking stock of Doug Ford’s climate change record with David Robertson from “Seniors for Climate Action Now”

Quick N Delish - Planet Friendly Recipes
Vegetarian Chili

Search

Quote Me

On extreme weather events - “Our leaders seem incapable of anticipating these events, grasping their significance, or imagining how much worse things will get. They live in a dream world that no longer exists” 

Kai Nagata, Dogwood BC

On The Road To Zero

Bring back the train
Bring back the train.

Our News

  • Climate Action Muskoka among 150+ group coalition launching Ontario Climate Emergency Campaign
  • CAM Partners with Retired Teachers of Ontario to Deliver Climate Curriculum to Muskoka Students
  • March 25 — Special Fridays For Future Global Strike #PeopleNotProfit
  • March 2, 2022 — The High Price of Bad Energy Choices
  • “Posing as Canadian: How Big Foreign Oil Captures Canadian Energy and Climate Policy”

Centre For Truth and Reconciliation

For more information click on the logo

Our Weekly Newsletter

View
Subscribe
Donations
Powered by WordPress Theme: BlogX by wpthemespace.com