A
AlvinofDiaspar
Guest
From the Star, by Hume:
Dim-bulb idea for port lands
Jul. 31, 2006. 08:37 AM
CHRISTOPHER HUME
The news on the waterfront has been so good for so long now, it's easy to forget the one thing that could mess up redevelopment, namely the plan to build a $700 million, 550 megawatt power plant on Unwin Ave. beside the old Hearn Generating Station.
This is land the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. has slated for a new residential neighbourhood complete with parks and public amenities.
The last thing the area needs is the enormous industrial fixture that Premier Dalton McGuinty is determined to build.
Many experts have tried to tell McGuinty and his cabinet that such a move must be part of a more comprehensive strategy that includes conservation and energy demand management, but so far the province has not taken that message seriously.
Even if Toronto weren't facing rolling blackouts by 2008, which is why the McGuinty government is in such a state, conservation must be a major element of any responsible energy policy.
Which is why the scheme is so misguided. Indeed, it's exactly the sort of thing we shouldn't be doing as a city and a province. And what makes the proposal especially appalling is that there are alternatives.
Experts tell us that just by using electricity intelligently, we could cut 8 per cent of provincial energy use. That may not sound like much, but consider that on a peak day we use about 25,000 megawatts and you can see that it translates into significant savings.
And this reduction could be increased to as much as one-third or more if aggressive energy-saving incentives were introduced.
Until then, the residents of Ontario will remain happily indifferent to the problem. So much for the Canadian image of ourselves as the world's nice guys. In fact, we are the worst per-capita polluters on the planet.
Ironically, one of the most important principles of waterfront regeneration is energy efficiency. Perhaps we won't achieve the same levels of sustainability as have the Swedes, for example, but the intention is to be much smarter than the Toronto norm.
However, despite opposition from Mayor David Miller, city council and the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp., the province has refused to budge.
To add insult to injury, it will build this mega-plant not in the Hearn Generating Station, which now sits empty, but beside it. This is folly. But already trees are being cut down to make way for the construction.
If there's a quick way to kill a neighbourhood, even before it has been built, this could well be it. Who would want to invest — or live — in a development located next to a large industrial complex?
The Independent Electricity System Operator claims that Toronto will need an extra 250 megawatts of power by 2008, 500 megawatts by 2010.
And every summer, it seems, temperatures grow hotter and the demand for power grows with it. We find ourselves trapped in a deadly spiral: increased energy consumption leads to increased emissions, which leads to increased temperatures, which leads to increased energy consumption.
Rather than break that cycle, McGuinty's policy will simply perpetuate it. As well as the port lands proposal, the Liberal government will invest billions in nuclear plants.
And where is Toronto in all this? We don't have much to be proud of. When the calls go out to cut back, most of us ignore them. It's left for the big industrial energy users, the gun pointed squarely at their heads, to do the right thing.
If the waterfront is important to Toronto, it's because it represents our best chance to get it right. The docklands need all the help they can get. The power plant must go somewhere else, perhaps the east side of Leslie St. or the Ashbridge's Bay public utility campus.
Let's hope the light goes on before the electricity goes off.
AoD
Dim-bulb idea for port lands
Jul. 31, 2006. 08:37 AM
CHRISTOPHER HUME
The news on the waterfront has been so good for so long now, it's easy to forget the one thing that could mess up redevelopment, namely the plan to build a $700 million, 550 megawatt power plant on Unwin Ave. beside the old Hearn Generating Station.
This is land the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. has slated for a new residential neighbourhood complete with parks and public amenities.
The last thing the area needs is the enormous industrial fixture that Premier Dalton McGuinty is determined to build.
Many experts have tried to tell McGuinty and his cabinet that such a move must be part of a more comprehensive strategy that includes conservation and energy demand management, but so far the province has not taken that message seriously.
Even if Toronto weren't facing rolling blackouts by 2008, which is why the McGuinty government is in such a state, conservation must be a major element of any responsible energy policy.
Which is why the scheme is so misguided. Indeed, it's exactly the sort of thing we shouldn't be doing as a city and a province. And what makes the proposal especially appalling is that there are alternatives.
Experts tell us that just by using electricity intelligently, we could cut 8 per cent of provincial energy use. That may not sound like much, but consider that on a peak day we use about 25,000 megawatts and you can see that it translates into significant savings.
And this reduction could be increased to as much as one-third or more if aggressive energy-saving incentives were introduced.
Until then, the residents of Ontario will remain happily indifferent to the problem. So much for the Canadian image of ourselves as the world's nice guys. In fact, we are the worst per-capita polluters on the planet.
Ironically, one of the most important principles of waterfront regeneration is energy efficiency. Perhaps we won't achieve the same levels of sustainability as have the Swedes, for example, but the intention is to be much smarter than the Toronto norm.
However, despite opposition from Mayor David Miller, city council and the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp., the province has refused to budge.
To add insult to injury, it will build this mega-plant not in the Hearn Generating Station, which now sits empty, but beside it. This is folly. But already trees are being cut down to make way for the construction.
If there's a quick way to kill a neighbourhood, even before it has been built, this could well be it. Who would want to invest — or live — in a development located next to a large industrial complex?
The Independent Electricity System Operator claims that Toronto will need an extra 250 megawatts of power by 2008, 500 megawatts by 2010.
And every summer, it seems, temperatures grow hotter and the demand for power grows with it. We find ourselves trapped in a deadly spiral: increased energy consumption leads to increased emissions, which leads to increased temperatures, which leads to increased energy consumption.
Rather than break that cycle, McGuinty's policy will simply perpetuate it. As well as the port lands proposal, the Liberal government will invest billions in nuclear plants.
And where is Toronto in all this? We don't have much to be proud of. When the calls go out to cut back, most of us ignore them. It's left for the big industrial energy users, the gun pointed squarely at their heads, to do the right thing.
If the waterfront is important to Toronto, it's because it represents our best chance to get it right. The docklands need all the help they can get. The power plant must go somewhere else, perhaps the east side of Leslie St. or the Ashbridge's Bay public utility campus.
Let's hope the light goes on before the electricity goes off.
AoD