Premier Kathleen Wynne releases plan to combat climate change

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Premier Kathleen Wynne officially released details this morning of her governments plan to combat climate change. It includes continued financial incentives to get cleaner, more efficient cars on the roads and to convince homeowners and businesses to lower their carbon footprints. In total the province plans to spend between 6 to 8 billion dollars on climate change initiatives over the next five years. While many environmentalists are praising the plan there are some concerns over what the costs will be for average Ontarians.

Premier Kathleen Wynne says that the plan, among other things, will give families and businesses the ability to lower their carbon footprint through subsidies and incentives granted to those who install green technology, but what exactly those incentives are has not been made clear.

The Liberals are also pushing for the switch to electric vehicles, continuing to offer up to $14,000 in rebates, but the electric car comes with challenges. The Kia Soul Ev has a limited range of about 100km on a full battery and here in Hamilton there are just 10 recharging stations. Part of the government’s plan is to increase the number of stations in city centres, apartment buildings and condos but the opposition has its concerns.

“What we heard today was a laundry list of Liberal promises based on money they don’t even have. Climate change is a serious issue, we all agree on that, but we need a cost benefit analysis completed,” says Lisa Thompson, MPP for Huron-Bruce. Premier Wynne argues that climate change is too big a problem to ignore. “The costs of doing nothing are enormous and we are not willing to impose those costs on future generations.”

The plan will be funded in part by a hike in gas prices starting next year of 4.3 cents a litre. So instead of paying the nearly $1.07 now it would be paying $1.11 per litre. Drivers are already paying 13% in HST, plus 10 cents a litre in Federal Excise tax and another 14. 7 in Ontario road tax.The bulk of the money the government says will come from effectively charging companies who want to burn more than their share of carbon.

The plan seems to be a hit with environmentalists. Greenpeace says Ontario is on the right track by trying to phase out fossil fuels. The David Suzuki Foundation praises the plan’s support for electric vehicles, regional express rail, and bicycle lanes.