Liberals go nuclear
Peterborough Examiner: SHAWN-PATRICK STENSIL Greenpeace Canada - September 22, 2007
Re "Campaign issues; Add, stir briskly"
Your editorial downplays the McGuinty Liberals' commitment to nuclear power when
it says the Liberals have said "no new nuclear plants, but will expand existing
ones."
The McGuinty Liberals have already begun the approvals process to build eight
new nuclear reactors. In total, the McGuinty Liberals have committed to spend
over $40 billion to build or rebuild 14,000 MW of nuclear power at current
reactor sites. This is arguably the biggest nuclear construction boom in the
world and shows the McGuinty Liberals have favoured nuclear power over cleaner
energy options.
While the Liberal platform touts its commitment to green energy, it curiously
omits any mention of the government's significant support for nuclear power. In
reality, the McGuinty Liberals have capped the development of renewable energy
in Ontario at less than 5,000 MW over the next 20 years and blocked the
development of wind power on the Great Lakes.
Public opinion surveys show Ontarians want green energy to be aggressively
developed and studies show that we have clean energy potential to shut down coal
and nuclear over the next 20 years.
Maybe it is time to give more scrutiny to energy in this election debate.
A clean, modern energy future is possible. Don't let any politician tell you
it's not.