Ontario's Energy Plan Unchanged Post-Election

摘要

The recent come-from-behind election win by the Liberal Party premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty, means that Canada's most populous province is unlikely to see a radical shift in his green energy policies, including the phasing out of coal-fired plants in favor of more sustainable forms of energy.In fact, with the socialist NDP party holding the balance of power due to McGuinty falling one seat short of winning a majority government, the province may actually tack to the left during McGuinty's third term as premier.When Ontario's antiquated coal-fired power generation fleet began to reach the point that it had to be upgraded or replaced, McGuinty gambled on a policy to eliminate all the province's coal-fired capacity (NGW Oct.6'08). While cleaner gas-fired power generation has been enlisted in that effort, McGuinty is aggressively developing alternative energies, based on his expectation that the province will eventually get slammed in a carbon-taxing global economy.