[cseblist] After the Blackout -- Conservation Priorities
- From: ecoworld <ecoworld@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: cseb ontario list <cseblist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 22:16:34 -0400
After the Blackout:
Emergency conservation
and
A 20% Conservation Action Plan
If there is a bright side to the blackout, it is that in the past few
days alone we have heard politicians use the word “conservation” more
times than they have over the entire past decade. I wish the
circumstances had been better, but it's good to have them back!
Ontario now faces two conservation challenges. The first is to weather
the immediate power crisis through emergency conservation measures. The
second is to re-build Ontario's capacity for conservation. In this
issue, we address both the immediate and long-term conservation needs:
1. Please join us in the Two Fan Challenge -- a challenge to all
homeowners to surf the next heat wave with two fans and a ten minute
daily conservation routine.
2. Support our Four Point Action Plan for Energy Conservation -- a 0.7
cent per KWh staggered surcharge on electricity, a $1 billion green
energy and conservation fund, support for community-based outreach, and
regulatory and infrastructure changes to create a more energy-efficient
economy and society.
The Two Fan Challenge
See http://www.greenontario.org/solutions/twofans.html
On behalf of the Conservation Council of Ontario, I'm challenging
Ontarians to meet the next heat wave head on with two fans and a
ten-minute daily conservation routine. Most homes can be kept cool for
days with just two fans if you follow these simple steps.
Start this routine on the cooler days before a predicted heat wave
1. Trap the cool air in each morning.
Close all windows
Close the blinds and drapes except where needed for natural light.
Conserve energy to minimize the heat generated by lights and appliances.
2. Let the cool air in each evening.
Open all drapes and windows
If there’s no breeze, use one window fan to bring air in or expel warm air
Use a floor fan to keep the air moving through the house, or blow cooler
air up from the basement
We’ve used this method for years in our family, and it’s kept our two
storey, semi-detached house cool for at least two to three days into a
heat wave. Conservation was never about freezing in the dark, and it
isn’t about sweating in the heat either. It’s about eliminating the
wasteful ways and living a comfortable, efficient lifestyle.
Ours is a typical urban home. There’s nothing we are doing that cannot
be done by nearly every homeowner in Ontario. I’ll be monitoring the
outdoor, top floor and basement temperature during heat waves for as
long as the Ontario is experiencing a power crisis and in need of
emergency conservation measures.
A Four Point Action Plan for Energy Conservation
See http://www.greenontario.org/solutions/energyplan.html
The public has done its part admirably by voluntarily cutting back on
electricity consumption. Now it’s time for provincial leadership in
implementing an aggressive long-term energy conservation plan that will
reduce our overall electrical power consumption by at least 4,000
Megawatts, or twenty percent of the current average demand.
The key step is to re-establish the provincial role in promoting energy
conservation. Provincial funding for conservation was an early casualty
of the Common Sense Revolution in 1996. Not surprisingly, electricity
consumption in Ontario grew about 8% between 1995 and 2000.
Only with the recent crises over electricity prices and supply shortages
has the provincial government come up with a conservation “action plan”
of voluntary actions and a provincial tax rebate on energy efficient
appliances. The Province’s action plan does not involve Ontario’s any
conservation organizations, nor does it include any long-term commitment
to restoring a conservation ethic in Ontario’s society.
Our Action Plan for Energy Conservation
The Conservation Council of Ontario is a fifty-year-old association of
provincial organizations and individual conservation leaders. We have
long espoused a strategic approach to conservation issues that combines
regulatory, economic and voluntary measures to achieve our common goals.
For energy conservation (both electricity and other forms of energy),
these are the four key elements of our conservation action plan:
1. Price energy to promote conservation
2. Create an Ontario Green Energy and Conservation Fund
3. Support community-based conservation outreach and education campaigns.
4. Plan for long-term energy efficiency.
Price energy to promote conservation
Should energy prices rise to reflect the true cost of production?
Absolutely, but even more important is to make conservation an
economically-viable alternative. Any increase on the base 4.3 cents per
kilowatt hour for electricity should be directly earmarked for
conservation and alternative energy. We estimate that each 0.1 cent per
kilowatt hour would result in $150 million per year for conservation
incentives and support programs. A 0.7 cent per KWh surcharge would
generate in excess of $1 billion annually for conservation and
alternative energy incentive programs. There is already a surcharge to
retire Ontario Hydro’s stranded debt, so the concept is already in
practice. Further, the surcharge could be structured to exempt a base
consumption rate in order to promote conservation, avoid adding to the
energy costs of low-income families, and allow the government to
maintain its commitment to capping basic electricity rates.
Create an Ontario Green Energy and Conservation Fund
The federal government, under the Climate Change Strategy, recently
announced a $1 billion program to promote greenhouse gas reductions,
including energy conservation. The Toronto Atmospheric Fund (established
by the City of Toronto to fight smog and climate change) uses its $25
million fund for low-cost energy efficiency loans and outreach projects.
It’s time Ontario stepped up to the plate and use a conservation
surcharge on electricity to establish its own $1 billion green energy
and conservation fund.
Through an Ontario fund, municipalities would be able to finance
programs for building and street-lighting efficiency, wind and solar
power could be subsidized, and homeowners would be eligible for
subsidies for energy-efficiency renovations and rooftop solar units. It
would stimulate investment and improve Ontario’s long-term energy security.
Support conservation outreach
Government advertising alone won’t create a conservation ethic in
society. We need to involve as many community groups, schools, cultural
and faith associations, and provincial organizations as possible in
promoting conservation. Media advertising needs to be supported by
community workshops, door-to-door marketing by community groups,
incentives (such as low-cost efficient lightbulbs), homeowner support
services (like the Green Communities home energy audits) and other
services such as green power cooperatives and car-sharing. There are
tremendous resources available in the non-government organizations that
can help turn conservation values into action. It’s time we put them to
work.
Plan for long-term efficiency
We need to increase energy efficiency in appliances, our homes,
automobiles, and in urban design. Regulatory instruments such as the
Ontario Energy Efficiency Act and the Ontario Building Code can
strengthen minimum performance standards, and the provincial government
needs to rethink its “smart growth” initiative to turn away from
highways in favour of compact, energy efficient urban design. Ontario
and North America lag far behind Europe in energy efficiency. We need to
become leaders in conservation technology and urban design.
All in all, it’s not that difficult to create a conserver society in
Ontario. We estimate that if people contributed even one percent of
their gross income and one percent of their time to conservation
measures, we can achieve tremendous results.
It sounds like the public is ready to make that commitment. We’re just
waiting for the right economic incentives and leadership from the
provincial government to make it happen.
A Special Appeal -- Support Conservation Now!
Like most charitable organizations, the Conservation Council of Ontario
lost its provincial funding in 1996, and we've been living on a
shoe-string ever since. We depend on member and public donations to
cover our minimal core operating expenses and my salary.
Right now, our bank account is dangerously low. We need your
contributions, or the Conservation Council of Ontario faces the very
real prospect of having to fold at the very time when we are needed the
most.
Please send a cheque payable to "The Conservation Council of Ontario",
43 Sorauren Avenue. You can also make a secure online donation through
the services of CanadaHelps.org, a registered Canadian charity. Simply
go to www.greenontario. <http://www.greenontario.org/>org
<http://www.greenontario.org/> and follow the link at the top left
corner. It will take you to our donations page on CanadaHelps.org. All
contributions, no matter how small, will help.
Many thanks.
Funding Matters
Go to: http://www.ccsd.ca/pubs/2003/fm/
While on the subject of fundraising, there's an excellent report you
should read by Katherine Scott of the Canadian Council on Social
Development. It's called "Funding Matters: the Impact of Canada's New
Funding Regime on Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations" It documents
the dramatic changes in financial support for charities over the past
decade, including the shift from core funding to project funding and
sponsorships and the desire for a significant return by way of
recognition.&n bsp; The consequences of these changes have included
volatility in funding sources, a tendency to "mission drift" in order to
secure funds, a loss of core infrastructure, reporting overload,
collapse of related funding sources (the house of cards), advocacy
chill, and human resource fatigue.
I found it strangely reassuring to find there are so many other
organizations experiencing the same woes.
Stay cool.
____________________________________________
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***************************
Promoting conservation leadership, cooperation, and action for over 50 years
The Conservation Council of Ontario
43 Sorauren Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M6R 2C8
(416) 533-1635
www.greenontario.org <http://www.greenontario.org/>
Chris Winter, Executive Director
Lois Corbett, President
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