Green Propserity is a joint effort by 23 of Ontario's leading environmental organizations to outline an action agenda for the province that we believe will help make Ontario a world leader in green practices and programs. For more information on the groups involved, click here.

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment

Canadian Environmental Law Association

Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy

Citizens Environment Alliance

Community Power Fund

Conservation Council of Ontario

David Suzuki Foundation

Earthroots

Ecojustice

Environment North

Environmental Defence

Forest Ethics

Great Lakes United

Greenpeace

Local Food Plus

Ontario Nature

Ontario Smart Growth Network

Ontario Sustainable Energy Association

Pembina Institute

Sierra Club

Toronto Environmental Alliance

Wildlands League

World Wildlife Fund

Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar have lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions than nuclear plants and can help us reduce greenhouse gas pollution much more quickly.

Green energy is a key global warming solution and a rapidly growing economic opportunity.  Retire the Pickering B nuclear plant and replace it with renewable energy along with greater efficiency and conservation as a first step toward fulfilling the tremendous potential of a fully implemented Green Energy and Economy Act.

The Green Energy and Economy Act has created the conditions for a rapid expansion of clean renewable power in Ontario.  It is also likely to spur the creation of tens of thousands of jobs in manufacturing, fabrication, and installation over the next few decades. 

Retiring the Pickering B nuclear plant will create the room renewable energy needs to grow in Ontario.  Previous retrofits of Pickering nuclear units have proven to be costly mistakes, running hundreds of millions of dollars over budget, years behind schedule, and resulting in mediocre performance by the repaired units.  Pickering B can be replaced with green energy sources that are quicker to deploy and less costly than building new reactors or repairing old ones.  Let wind, solar and other renewable sources show what they can do by staying on track with a well-supported implementation of the Green Energy Act.

The Green Energy Act should also power up conservation, energy efficiency and clean energy technologies like combined heat and power, all part of a powerful green energy and jobs portfolio for this province.

Supporting communities and municipalities in the development of local renewable resources is particularly important to ensure local benefits from projects.  The province should help municipalities to create community energy plans and should reserve 200 megawatts of grid capacity for community-owned and First Nation projects. The province should make an equal commitment to improving efficiency and conservation by helping Ontario businesses to become more productive and by helping citizens become true conservers.  The result will be more vibrant communities and more competitive industries in a climate sensitive world.

Further resources:

There Has Never Been a Better Time Not to Buy a Reactor: Groups urge McGuinty to delay buying new reactor and instead replace aging reactors with green power

Renewable is Doable - A smarter energy plan for Ontario

Ontario's Green Energy Act - Envisioning a green energy system for Ontario