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Backgrounder

May 10, 2006

ONTARIO’S ACTIONS TO ALLEVIATE DOMESTIC SMOG-CAUSING AIR POLLUTION

The Province of Ontario has taken dramatic action to reduce the air pollution emissions that originate within its own boundaries.

• The provincial government is committed to replacing Ontario’s coal-fired plants with cleaner, greener forms of energy.
• The province has recently entered into agreements to purchase power from 19 new renewable energy projects, including three waterpower projects, three landfill gas and biogas projects and 13 wind farms. To date, the province has contracted for a total of over 1,300 megawatts of clean, renewable energy – enough to power over 325,000 homes.
• Through the Standard Offer Program, the government has announced it will pay a fixed price for electricity produced by wind, solar, biomass or small hydroelectric projects of up to 10 megawatts in size. Over the next 10 years, this will help add up to 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy to Ontario's electricity supply – enough to power 250,000 homes.
• In 2005, the government introduced new or updated air standards for 40 pollutants, to protect Ontario communities from the impacts of air pollution. This was the largest update in standards in over 25 years.
• The Ontario government also implemented the Industry Emission Reduction Plan, which establishes new emissions caps for industrial pollution sources in Ontario starting in 2006 and becoming even stricter in 2007, 2010 and 2015.
• Between 1999 and 2003, the Drive Clean vehicle emission program helped reduce smog-causing vehicle emissions in Southern Ontario by more than 81 kilotonnes (89,500 U.S. tons).
• Ontario is providing a tax exemption of 14.7 and 14.3 cents per litre (55.65 and 54.13 cents per U.S. gallon) for ethanol and biodiesel, respectively. Beginning in January 2007, all gasoline sold in Ontario must contain an average of at least five per cent ethanol.
• Over a five year period beginning in 2004, the province will invest a dedicated portion of the provincial gas tax – amounting to more than $1 billion – in public transit. And the government’s five-year infrastructure investment plan, ReNew Ontario, commits the province to more than $3.1 billion over five years in direct provincial transit funding.

These measures have helped the province reduce its annual emissions of smog-causing pollutants by almost one million tonnes (1.1 million U.S. tons) since 1990, even as its population and economy grew significantly during that period.

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Contacts:
Anne O’Hagan Minister’s Office 416-325-5809	John Steele Communications Branch 416-314-6666