OrilliaMatters received the following letter from Konrad Brenner in response to the province’s environment plan.
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The provincial government published this week its alternative to “carbon tax.”
The government’s 54-page document is entitled “A Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan.” The document is full of how to improve many things, but in the absence of monetary commitments they tend to be motherhood statements. Most of these actions have limited impact on carbon dioxide emissions.
However, there are several noteworthy statements. One is that the government supports the conservation authorities and the second one is that the Greenbelt will be left untouched.
Another statement is the possibility the province may take over the Toronto Transit Commission. That would put the province in local transit. The fourth idea is to place waste recycling/recovery cost on the original manufacturer of the product. A good concept but how is small Canada going to dictate China, where a lot of the stuff is coming from, what to do?
The largest item in the plan is a $350-million “investment fund in clean technology” and a $50-million fund for subsidies to companies which agree to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The clean technology fund appears to envision an up to 20 per cent subsidy. The other fund does not indicate a percentage. The money for both of these funds appears to come out of the general taxpayer’s pockets. Both actions will help reduce pollution.
The overall effect of this 54-page plan, in the writer’s opinion, will be a slow reduction of greenhouse gas emissions with the bulk of the cost of implementing the plan being carried by the general taxpayer.
Konrad Brenner
Ramara Township
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