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Ontario's Green Energy Debacle


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I thought this was an interesting article. I've been saying a lot of the things it says for years now, particularly the folly of imposing carbon taxes and green energy programs in the absence of trade tariffs on countries without similar measures in place.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/wynnes-green-scheme-could-deal-massive-blow-to-ontario-and-canada/article24233437/

"many factories and industrial plants, already struggling with high power costs, found it more profitable to shut down and sell their carbon credit allocation in the carbon trading market. As a result, the bulk of Europe’s emissions reductions have been achieved by the departure of energy-intensive industries to overseas locations...And since European industry was already among the world’s most energy efficient, the emissions embedded in most of those imported goods are higher than when the same goods were produced domestically."

"Adding irony to this job-exporting fiasco, some European countries, including Germany, have implemented subsidies in an effort to keep the remnants of their industrial sector from shutting down. German electricity consumers paid some €20-billion ($27.2-billion) in green power subsidies last year, while at the same time their government spent billions of euros to help industrial plants survive the combination of high electricity and cap-and-trade costs that made them uncompetitive in the first place."

I know lots of people disagree, but these measures don't appear to do much more than export our industry and pollution off-shore. If we're going to implement these measures ourselves, we need to be forcing the places we do business overseas to do the same.

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The real problem is, this simple issue is to complex for our population to grasp intellectually.

It's too complex for the idiots in the Ontario Liberal Party to grasp in any way, shape or form.

As the article points out, we went from having one of the lowest rates for power in North American to one of the highest, and it's only getting worse. For example, the taxpayer 'clean energy' rebate Ontarions have been getting to soften them up to vote Liberals ends this year. That will effectively increase energy rates by another 10% all by itself. And as more of these 'green energy' projects comes on line the amount we have to pay will get higher and higher. Meanwhile, Kathleen Wynne's newest tax on industry will force what manufacturing survives to leave the province.

Note this from the Toronto Star last year. Not that the idiot voters of Ontario paid it any heed.

Magna International Inc. says it has no plans to open any new plants in Canada despite a lower dollar, chief executive officer Don Walker says. The nearly 10 per cent decline in the Canadian dollar relative to the U.S. greenback has helped make the Aurora-based global auto parts supplier more cost competitive, Walker told the company’s annual general meeting Thursday.

But the company said it’s concerned about Ontario’s industrial electricity rates and proposed pension plan, along with the future of its auto assembly plants.

“I’m worried about electricity prices in Ontario, where all of our plants are located,” Walker told a press conference after the meeting at The Westin Prince Hotel in Toronto. Magna operates 46 auto plants in Canada, all in Ontario where the major auto makers’ assembly plants are located.

http://m.thestar.com/#/article/business/2014/05/08/magna_says_no_new_plants_for_canada_cites_ontario_energy_costs.html?referrer=

Edited by Argus
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....I know lots of people disagree, but these measures don't appear to do much more than export our industry and pollution off-shore. If we're going to implement these measures ourselves, we need to be forcing the places we do business overseas to do the same.

Good luck with that...just because Canada/Ontario want to commit economic suicide, there is no reason for other nations to do the same.

There won't be any "forcing" of anything.

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Good luck with that...just because Canada/Ontario want to commit economic suicide, there is no reason for other nations to do the same.

That's kind of my point thanks. All of these cream-puff ideas demonstrate a flabbergasting lack of world/economic perspective.

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End of the day I think you are all giving Wynne too much credit.

The Liberals have spent too much and want a new tax. They cannot add a new tax so she is creating a new cap and trade policy which will raise money.

A carbon tax would make the most sense and may actually reduce emissions but to do that the pressure would be to make it revenue neutral by cutting income taxes. That is not the Liberal way.

A cap and trade is a way too get money and if prices go up she can blame the industries for polluting.

I voted for Hudak. I really did not like him or hi campaign but to vote Liberal was betraying everything that has to do with common sense.

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A carbon tax would make the most sense and may actually reduce emissions but to do that the pressure would be to make it revenue neutral by cutting income taxes.

It would reduce emissions by driving industry out of the province and to China...as seen in Europe.

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It would reduce emissions by driving industry out of the province and to China...as seen in Europe.

where they probably emit more, so it would actually increase emissions?

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where they probably emit more, so it would actually increase emissions?

Yep. But greens don't care if the policies work. They only care that the policies are in place so they can massage their egos and tell themselves how wonderful they are because they are "doing something" (more accurately forcing other people to pay for their useless policies). Edited by TimG
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  • 2 weeks later...

where they probably emit more, so it would actually increase emissions?

India plans to build 600 new coal fired generating plants to power all the new industries which are springing up there. Needless to say, none have much in the way of pollution controls. Wynne and her Liberals are going to destroy Ontario's manufacturing to save a thimbleful of CO2 emissions which will be swamped by the ocean of new emissions from India alone.

Edited by Argus
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