Debora Kelly
Columns
July 10, 2008 12:53 AM
Who wants a dumpsite in their back yard? Nobody?
How about a plant that transforms sludge from waste water treatment plants into biofuel? Or a four-lane highway extension? Nobody?
How about a recycling plant in your neighbourhood? Or hydro transmission towers? Come on, anybody?
Who wants a natural gas-fired peak-demand power plant?
Nobody? Nobody at all?
It’s no surprise residents don’t want these things in their back yards and neighbourhoods. The rational part of our brains understands the need for plants, towers, hydro lines and roadways to process our waste, supply our power and get us from one place to the next faster, but our emotions scream, “Not in my back yard!”
It’s the same old drill, again and again, in York Region. Somebody in the neighbourhood gets wind of a plan, from a brother-in-law or second cousin or somebody who works in the local planning department.
Before you know it, we are signing petitions, sending out e-mails, knocking on doors, organizing committees and cramming ourselves into town council chambers to loudly register our opposition, causing local politicians to hastily capitulate.
Typically, little information, if any at all, is provided by “officials” about such proposals, so it’s no wonder citizens don’t trust them.
Rumours run rampant and exaggerated claims — backed up with “facts” from the Internet — often turn legitimate debate into paranoid, fear-mongering rants. Save our children!!
The ongoing controversy regarding the location of a $250-million 350-megawatt natural gas-powered plant in northern York Region followed this pattern to a T.
Hydro One tells us we face a future with brownouts and blackouts if our electricity supply isn’t bolstered to meet not only growth but our thirst for power that eclipses the rest of the province.
First, transmission towers were proposed to carry more power from the region’s south end to the north. Petitions were signed, e-mails sent, a committee called STOP formed and citizens protested. Save our children!!!!
That plan was abandoned, only to be replaced by an Ontario Power Authority proposal for a peak-demand power plant to be built in three years. Limited information was provided about seven potential sites.
No surprise, Aurora, King, Georgina and East Gwillimbury said thanks but no thanks. Did they expect the OPA would just turn and run, its tail between its legs?
Instead, it is running large newspaper ads explaining why the plant is needed.
The developers are proceeding with applications and one has said he won’t go without a fight, taking East Gwillimbury’s rejection to the Ontario Municipal Board.
York Region’s chambers of commerce and boards of trade are endorsing the plan, warning it is crucial to the continued economic vitality of the region.
Can the solution be as simple as reducing demand, particularly during peak periods, as some citizens and the Ontario Clean Air Alliance urge?
The province, despite ordering massive growth throughout the GTA, has simply downloaded the responsibility for energy conservation to the municipalities.
Turning off lights when we leave the room and being more careful about when we run the dishwasher and washing machine won’t cut it.
However, a carefully devised, co-ordinated provincial plan for significant energy-saving measures- to counter the demand created by development could make the difference.
We deserve more leadership on this issue, much more than this piece-meal effort on behalf of the province indicates.
I don’t for a minute believe anything but opposition was expected to both plans to bring more power to York Region. Now that the charade of local input has been put aside, the province has the big stick it needs to simply mandate where the plant will be built, or even bring transmission lines back into the picture.
Rather than put an effort into solving York Region’s energy woes, Queen’s Park finds it easier to tell us to “FLICK OFF” --— if you’ll excuse my use of the province’s own words in its minor effort at an energy-conservation media campaign.