The debate, hosted by Toronto Greenhouse and moderated by yours truly, took place this evening. Please come back after noon on Wednesday for access to a transcript of the event and to post any followup questions you may have. Candidates have been invited to visit this site and answer questions. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: After a sincere attempt to transcribe last evening’s Green Government debate, I have decided to not proceed because certain parts of the debate were inaudible on my digital recorder. It would be unfair to post a transcript in which the comments of certain candidates are not accurately recorded. My apologies. I will, however, soon have access to a link where people can watch the full video of the debate.

In the meantime, I will post here the four questions I asked and candidates have the opportunity, if they choose, to respond more clearly and concisely on this blog. Their responses can be sent to tyler@cleanbreak.ca and will be posted soon after they are received. (NOTE: Sarah Thomson has replied. Read below for her comments.)

Question #1: What are the top three environmental issues facing the city today and how do you plan to address them?

Question #2: Building on past efforts, how can a major municipality like Toronto do a better job of reducing its greenhouse-gas emissions?

Question #3: Can the green economy be a future economic engine for Toronto? If so, in which areas should Toronto focus its efforts and how would you, as mayor, support emerging green businesses?

Question #4: Where does each candidate stand on the use of energy-from-waste technologies, both as a way to manage municipal waste and generate electricity for the city?

Here are some links to coverage of last evening’s event — the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, and the National Post (and here).

Also, check out Toronto Star columnist Catherine Porter’s account of the evening on Twitter.

If you attended the debate, I welcome your comments. Who won? Which particular responses stood out?

To read candidate answers received so far click for more… (more…)

Joe Romm’s Climate Progress has a lengthy post on the benefits of creating a public green bank that could work with the private sector to ease the transition toward a clean energy economy. The post is actually reproduced from the Center for American Progress, which praises proposed amendments to the U.S. Waxman-Markey bill that would create a clean energy bank within the Department of Energy. According to the amendments, the Clean Energy Deployment Administration, or CEDA, would direct loans, letters of credit, loan guarantees, insurance products and other financing options to support clean energy production, transmission, storage and other projects that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions or save energy. The administration would take a “portfolio investment approach” and “ensure no particular technology receives more than 30 per cent of the total funding available.” And all of this would be on top of existing loan guarantees and incentives offered by the feds.

Sounds like something Ontario could use, because even though our new Green Energy and Green Economy Act is an ambitious and progressive piece of legislation, and even though a newly proposed feed-in tariff program offers a huge incentive for developers, I’m still not convinced there won’t be a capital constraint that will ultimately slow down development. This is particularly true if, as the Ontario government has said, it wants to encourage community co-op and First Nations projects. I would even argue the federal government should consider creating such an institution, but that is not likely to happen under our current Conservative government, so no point in asking. (more…)

I had a chance to absorb some of the elements of Ontario’s Green Energy Act and, despite the many programs and policies that still need to flow from it over the coming months — assuming it passes, which is likely — I think it’s a progressive document. Most media outlets have been dwelling on the mandatory home-energy audit that would be required every time somebody sells a home, but this is a minor part of the overall legislative package and could easily be modified or eliminated to address people’s concerns.

On the energy audit, I have to admit I’m surprised by the outrage. (more…)

Tomorrow — Monday — is a big day in Ontario, and potentially across Canada. The Ontario government will be tabling comprehensive green-energy legislation that, if it lives up to promises, will blow open the market and make Ontario *the* place in North America to develop renewable-energy projects and establish manufacturing and supply chains to support them. It will equally emphasize energy conservation, putting Ontario potentially in the league of Denmark, Germany and California.

What to expect:

• The act will amend at least 15 existing statutes, including the building code, to put greater emphasis and priority on renewables and conservation.
• It will upload zoning authority regarding wind-turbine placement to the province, which will set an Ontario-wide standard. The government essentially wants to pre-screen areas considered “environmentally sensitive” and will establish firm set-back distances from residential areas that will fast-track projects that are often delayed at the municipal level, on a project-by-project basis, by NIMBY groups.
• Establish a “one-stop, one-window” approvals process so developers don’t have to navigate through so much red tape. Also, a guarantee to grant permits to project developers within six months.
• The standard offer contract, which pays a set feed-in tariff for small-scale renewable projects (under 10 megawatts), will be replaced by a more ambitious program that sets no limits on project size but will set tariffs based on the specific technology being used and size of the project.
• For the first time, the province will aim to eventually set feed-in tariffs for offshore wind in the Great Lakes and pump storage projects.
• Homeowners will soon have access to direct grants and low-interest loans to help pay for technology and appliances that make their homes more energy efficient.
• New policies will flow from the legislation that support co-operatives of farmers, homeowners and businesses that want to invest in renewable-energy projects.
• All homes being sold — resale or new — will have to have an energy audit conducted so buyers know the energy efficiency of the home up front.
• There’s also talk, not yet confirmed, that the government aims to socialize the cost of feeder lines that need to be built to enable renewables. Local-content requirements are also being considered, though this is very preliminary. The government is also looking at possibly supporting the bulk purchase of turbines and solar panels to make it easier for individual community co-ops to get product at competitive prices and without having to wait in line behind bigger projects that are given higher priority by manufacturers.

The bottom line is that the government — and particularly Energy and Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman — appears quite serious about turbo-charging Ontario’s renewable-energy sector in a way that will attract investment and jobs. In a speech he gave on Friday, Smitherman used the word “certainty” several times, with emphasis, to get across the point that Ontario through this legislation will be the place for development, manufacturing and investment.  “If passed, it will propel Ontario forward to be the North American green energy leader,” he said. “With this single bold move, we join global green power leaders like Denmark, Germany and Spain.”

In an interview after his speech, Smitherman said the goal is about “making sure we’re moving in a way that gives Ontarians the opportunity for jobs in the green economy. The jurisdictions that get there first and have certainties associated with the processes are going to benefit first. We’re taking Ontario to the front of the pack.”

It’s a good target to have. All eyes will be on the details released Monday, and the policies that will flow from this framework over the coming months. Ultimately, however, it’s about putting words into action.

I had the honour of moderating a discussion on Tuesday evening between Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki and Ontario Energy and Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman. The event, aimed at promoting the creation of a Green Energy Act for Ontario, included a free showing of The Suzuki Diaries (you can watch it in full online). It’s an entertaining and insightful one-hour documentary that follows the European travels of Suzuki and his daughter Sarika as they explore the creative use of renewable-energy technologies in Germany, France, Spain, and Denmark. In addition to the focus on renewables, there’s a message in there about the need for parents to give their children hope that we have the means today of changing the world for the better.

If you’re interested in learning about the Green Energy Act initiative in Ontario, click here. The envisioned act would give renewables and conservation priority in electricity system planning and grid access, make advanced renewable energy tariffs the primary mechanism for developing green energy in the province (as opposed to RFPs), aim to support such projects with low-interest financing, promote development of the smart grid, and stimulate community and First Nation projects, all with a mind to creating green-collar jobs.

Environmental groups are introducing the envisioned act on Friday in hopes the Ontario government will adopt parts or all of it. So far Smitherman, who appears to have a genuine interest in raising the bar on renewables and conservation, has indicated his support for such legislation and is apparently making steps toward that goal. It will be interesting to see how far the government does go, but if this initiative ever does make its way into legislation it would make Ontario THE hotspot for renewable energy development in North America.

If you’re interested in seeing some YouTube video clips of the Q&A with Suzuki and Smitherman, then click through to the next page. Thankfully somebody in the audience shot the videos (I haven’t a clue who, but probably with a BlackBerry) so pardon the quality. (more…)