Ontario Budget: Will Climate Action Make the Cut?

1. A clear indication of how the government will put a price on carbon.

Making carbon pollution pay at least some of its costs right across the economy is an effective means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and stimulating investments in energy conservation and renewable energy. While he has rejected calls for a BC-style carbon tax, Premier McGuinty has indicated that Ontario would develop a greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program (which BC, Quebec and Manitoba are also planning to do).

Given the broad economic implications of such a measure, one would expect it to be announced in this year’s budget.

2. More money invested in transit than highways.

Highway expansion fuels sprawl and greenhouse gas emissions, whereas smart transit investments (coupled with good urban planning) reduces them.

The 2007-2008 Ontario budget invested almost twice as much ($1,703 million) in highways as in transit ($992 million). This ratio needs to be reversed if the province’s commitment to public transit is to be taken seriously.

3. A major energy conservation investment program.

Energy efficiency investments such as building retrofits are one of the lowest-cost and most effective options for reducing greenhouse emissions.

Currently, there is no significant provincial investment program in energy conservation outside of the electricity sector (where the costs are paid via the Ontario Power Authority or the Ontario Energy Board from the rate-base, and hence are not part of the provincial budget – while more needs to be done there, we are addressing the electricity sector investments, in particular the disparity between proposed investments in nuclear power versus conservation and renewables, via the Ontario Energy Board hearings on the Integrated Power Supply Plan).

The province should implement a program comparable to Toronto’s Better Building Partnership and Better Transportation Partnership that help finance the up-front costs of energy conservation investments, with the investment repaid over time out of fuel savings.

4. Sufficient resources for key Ministries to implement provincial climate plan.

In April 2007, Environment Commissioner Gord Miller said that the Ministries of Environment and Natural Resources were “starved of funding for core functions” and that “at a time of unprecedented public concern for the health of the planet, Ontarians may find it hard to believe that these two ministries are today struggling with fewer resources than in the early 1990s, but that is unfortunately the case.”

Without adequate resources, key government Ministries (e.g. Environment, Energy, Natural Resources, Municipal Affairs and Housing) will be unable to develop the new regulations on energy efficiency and greenhouse gas caps that are a key part of the province’s climate plan, nor will they be able to enforce existing regulations.

5. Enable municipalities to implement local climate solutions.

To date, many of the most innovative and successful greenhouse gas reduction programs have been implemented by municipalities, and some of the key policy tools (e.g. transportation and urban planning, public transit, local utilities, etc.) are largely under their control.

The key to facilitating effective municipal action is adequate and predictable funding, so that they can implement their own climate plans, and this will require provincial action.

by Keith Stewart