MEDIA ALERT: Lake Ontario Waterkeeper submits comments and recommendations to Ontario Government on Green Energy Act

For immediate release

April 23, 2009

Toronto – Lake Ontario Waterkeeper has submitted recommendations to the Ontario Government on Bill 150, the proposed Green Energy and Green Economy Act.

In the submission, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper points to several provisions in the Green Energy Act that may have effects outside the scope of renewable energy development in the province:

• The bill leaves the door open to include nuclear power developments as “renewable energy projects”;

• The bill removes municipal control over the environment and zoning of “renewable energy projects”;

• The bill creates a “Renewable Energy Facilitation Office” – a government-funded and staffed agency dedicated to serving a specific segment of for-profit private companies;

• The bill makes information submitted to the Renewable Energy Facilitation Office confidential, even if it would not be withheld under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act; and

• The bill creates a new test for appeals that puts the onus on the citizen to provide much more stringent evidence of harm than existing regulations under the Environmental Bill of Rights.

Lake Ontario Waterkeeper’s complete list of recommendations was submitted to the Ontario Government’s Standing Committee on General Government, which is hosting ongoing hearings on Bill 150 and the Green Energy and Green Economy Act.

For more information, please visit www.waterkeeper.ca.

http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2009/04/23/comments-re-bill-150-green-energy-and-green-economy-act/

To schedule an interview please contact 416-861-1237 or info@waterkeeper.ca.