(May 25*) Keep Calm and Carry On

By Bill McKibben

Caution: It is vitally important not to make connections. When you see pictures of rubble like this week’s shots from Joplin, Missouri, you should not ask yourself: I wonder if this is somehow related to the huge tornado outbreak three weeks ago in Tuscaloosa, or the enormous outbreak a couple of weeks before that—together they comprised the most active April for tornadoes in our history. But that doesn’t mean a thing.

It is far better to think of these as isolated, unpredictable, discrete events. It is not advised to try and connect them in your mind with, say, the fires now burning across Texas—fires that have burned more of America by this date than any year in our history. Texas, and adjoining parts of Oklahoma and New Mexico, are drier than they’ve ever been—the drought is worse than the Dust Bowl. But do not wonder if it’s somehow connected.

If you did wonder, you’d have to also wonder about whether this year’s record snowfalls and rainfalls across the Midwest—resulting in record flooding across the Mississippi—could somehow be related. And if you did that, then you might find your thoughts wandering to, oh, global warming. To the fact that climatologists have been predicting for years that as we flood the atmosphere with carbon we will also start both drying and flooding the planet, since warm air holds more water vapor than cold.

It’s far smarter to repeat to yourself, over and over, the comforting mantra that no single weather event can ever be directly tied to climate change. There have been tornadoes before, and floods—that’s the important thing. Just be careful to make sure you don’t let yourself wonder why all these records are happening at once: why we’ve had unprecedented megafloods from Australia to Pakistan in the last year. Why it’s just now that the Arctic has melted for the first time in thousands of years. Focus on the immediate casualties, watch the videotape from the store cameras as the shelves are blown over. Look at the anchorman up to the chest of his waders in the rising river.

Because if you asked yourself what it meant that the Amazon has just come through its second hundred-year-drought in the last four years, or that the pine forests across the western part of this continent have been obliterated by a beetle in the last decade—well, you might have to ask other questions. Like, should President Obama really just have opened a huge swath of Wyoming to new coal-mining? Should Secretary of State this summer sign a permit allowing a huge new pipeline to carry oil from the tar sands of Alberta? You might have to ask yourself: do we have a bigger problem than four-dollar-a-gallon gasoline?

Better to join with the US House of Representatives, which earlier this spring voted 240-184 to defeat a resolution saying simply “climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for public health and welfare.” Propose your own physics; ignore physics altogether. Just don’t start asking yourself if last year’s failed grain harvest from the Russian heatwave, and Queensland’s failed grain harvest from its record flood, and France and Germany’s current drought-related crop failures, and the death of the winter wheat crop in Texas, and the inability of Midwestern farmers to get corn planted in their sodden fields might somehow be related. Surely the record food prices are just freak outliers, not signs of anything systemic.

It’s very important to stay completely calm. If you got upset about any of this, you might forget how important it is not to disrupt the record profits of our fossil fuel companies. If worst ever did come to worst, it’s reassuring to remember what the US Chamber of Commerce told the EPA in a recent filing: there’s no need to worry because “populations can acclimatize to warmer climates via a range of range of behavioral, physiological, and technological adaptations.” I’m pretty sure that’s what they’re telling themselves in Joplin today.

Bill McKibben is founder of the global climate campaign 350.org, and Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College.

Retrieved from http://action.350.org/signup_page/connections

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*(May 19*) Canada's greenhouse gas emissions dip

CBC News

Posted: May 19, 2011 4:32 PM ET

Canadian emissions of greenhouses gases fell roughly six per cent between 2008 and 2009, Environment Canada reports.

"This was the second year in a row that emissions decreased, caused in part by the global recession and reduced use of coal for electricity generation," said the report submitted to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change this week.

The decrease, equivalent to 42 megatonnes of carbon dioxide, brought Canada's 2009 emissions down to 690 megatonnes.

The annual report was submitted under requirements of the Kyoto Protocol, the international agreement signed by Canada in 1998 to reduce global warming linked to emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane.

Under the agreement, Canada committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by six per cent below 1990 levels by the five-year commitment period of 2008 to 2012.

Canada is nowhere close to meeting that commitment. In 2009, Canada's emissions were 17 per cent or 100 megatonnes above its 1990 total of 590 megatonnes. Fossil fuel extraction and production, as well as the transportation industry, were responsible for 42 per cent and 45 per cent of that growth respectively.

When mitigating factors such as land use and forestry are not taken into account, Canada's emissions grew by 24.1 per cent from 1990 to 2008.

This puts Canadian emission growth first among G8 countries and sixth overall among the OECD members and "economies in transition" (mostly in Eastern Europe) that signed Kyoto.

By contrast, U.S. emissions grew just 13.3 per cent during the same period and those of the European Union fell 11.3 per cent.

Under the Copenhagen Accord, the 2009 successor to the Kyoto Protocol, Canada has committed to reducing emissions to 17 per cent below 2005 levels by the year 2020.

So far, emissions have decreased 41 megatonnes or 5.7 per cent since 2005.

Oil sands emissions up 40%

By sector:

• In 2009, the energy sector was responsible for 82 per cent of emissions or 566 megatonnes, mostly from the combustion of fossil fuels.
• Emissions from oil sands activities grew 40 per cent between 2005 and 2009, but was offset somewhat by a 12 per cent reduction in conventional oil production and a one per cent reduction in natural gas production, so that overall emissions from fossil fuel production rose by only four megatonnes or two per cent.
• Between 2005 and 2009, emissions from electricity and heat generation fell 25 megatonnes, due to reduced demand and a reduction in coal-fired generation.
• In the same period, during the global recession, emissions from manufacturing fell 17 megatonnes or 15 per cent. Transporation emissions rose less than one megatonne between 2005 and 2009.

Across the country:

• Alberta was the top emitter in 2009 with 33.8 per cent of emissions, followed by Ontario with 23.9 per cent.
• Saskatchewan's emissions grew 70 per cent — more than any other province —between 1990 and 2009, due to increases in the oil and gas industry as well as potash and uranium mining.
• Alberta's total emissions grew around 38 per cent between 1990 and 2009 as it increased petroleum production for export.
• Ontario's emissions fell between 2008 and 2009, putting its 2009 emissions seven per cent below levels in 1990, when it was the top emitter in the country. The drop was largely due to the effect of the recession on the manufacturing sector and a reduction in coal-fired electricity.
• Emissions in most other provinces remained relatively stable.

The report noted that between 1990 and 2009, when emissions increased 17 per cent nationwide, Canada's GDP rose by 56 per cent during the same period.

"As a result, the emission intensity for the whole economy has improved considerably," the report said. It mainly credited that to the modernization of industrial processes and the transition to a more service-based economy.

Canada's emissions per capita also decreased from 21.3 tonnes in 1990 to 20.5 tonnes in 2009.

Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/05/19/environment-greenhouse-gas-canada.html

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(May 19*) In disaster there is opportunity: How the Fukushima disaster is leading to a more sustainable future

May 19, 2011

By Johanne Whitmore, Energy Policy Analyst

We often get stuck in our ways, and only after receiving a whack to the head do we finally realize it's time for change. This is precisely what happened to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the leader of the politically conservative Christian Democratic Union, and long-time proponent of nuclear energy. It seems the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan has caused her to question her scientific understanding of the risks associated with nuclear power.

Only last year, Merkel wanted to extend the operating life of Germany's nuclear reactors by approximately 12 years. After the Fukushima disaster, she announced to everyone's surprise that her government will instead accelerate the phasing out of German reactors by 2022 at the latest. And she didn't stop there. She also vowed to slash the use of coal, speed up approvals for renewable energy investments, and cut CO2 emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.

Like many other government leaders, Merkel was convinced that nuclear power was safe and clean. But unlike many politicians, she is a trained physicist and received a doctorate for her work in quantum chemistry. That's what makes Merkel's about-face on nuclear so extraordinary; she has the scientific credentials and certainty to support her views. But, the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan was a game-changer. And Merkel, before anyone else, now understands the urgency of ending the use of nuclear and coal energy to instead embrace an age of renewable energy.

Fortunately, Merkel isn't alone in bringing about this change. Recently, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced he will forgo plans to get half of the country's future energy needs from nuclear power and instead place a greater reliance on renewable energy sources. This change of heart is not only due to the environmental and social costs of the disaster, but also the mounting economic costs. The Japanese government could end up paying out approximately $200 billion in order to cover the costs associated with nationalizing the nuclear company and compensation claims. Kan declared that "there's a need to start from a clean slate in discussing the basic energy plan." In disaster there is opportunity. We hope that Prime Minister Kan's words of wisdom will serve as a hard lesson to all governments, especially Canada's, where we have yet to put forward a sustainable, long-term plan for energy and climate change.

Retrieved from http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/climate-blog/2011/05/in-disaster-there-is-opportunity-how-the-fukushima-disaster-is-leading-to-a-more/

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(May 19*) First of Its Kind in Canada: Doctors, Nurses Launch Green Energy Campaign

Submitted on Thu, 05/19/2011 - 13:24

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) – along with nurses and leading health charities – is running an advertising campaign to support renewable power and the speedy phase-out of coal-fired electricity. It’s a project unique in the country.

Under the heading, “Doctors and Nurses Support Green Energy”, the ads – which are appearing in 15 newspapers as well as in magazines and on-line – tell readers that last year Ontario’s coal plants caused over 150,000 illnesses and over 300 deaths. They state: “Ontario doctors, nurses, and other health professionals support energy conservation combined with wind and solar power – to help us move away from coal.”

The ads are signed by organizations -- such as the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, the Lung Association, CAPE, and the Asthma Society of Canada – which represent literally tens of thousands of health professionals.

These professionals have long condemned air pollution for its damage to human well-being. In a landmark report entitled No Breathing Room the Canadian Medical Association calculated that, in 2008, air pollution killed 21,000 Canadians and it projected that, by 2031, the “number of deaths due to long-term exposure to air pollution will be 710,000.”

But CAPE’s campaign is different because it does more than just assess harm – as important as that is. This initiative, for the first time in Canada, sees health professionals combating air pollution by urging both an end to coal and an embrace of renewables.

Ontario has promised to close its coal-burning plants by 2014 but doctors and nurses want it to happen much sooner. They point out the province has more than enough coal-free power to close the plants right now. And they emphasize that coal is a disaster from start to finish.

Coal mining devastates landscapes by literally removing the tops of mountains. Burning the fuel releases a host of poisons including lead and mercury (neurotoxins), chromium and arsenic (carcinogens), and components of acid rain (sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides). Perhaps most worrying is its contribution to climate change: Ontario’s coal facilities emit the greenhouse gas equivalent of several million automobiles. If global warming is the world’s most pressing environmental threat, banning coal is job number one. In an article he published last Spring, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman had this to say about the issue: “James Hansen, the renowned climate scientist who deserves much of the credit for making global warming an issue in the first place, has argued forcefully that most of the climate-change problem comes down to just one thing, burning coal…”

This is why doctors, nurses, and health charities have launched an unprecedented campaign for this fuel’s elimination and the development of renewable energy. Unlike coal plants, wind and solar operations do not contribute to brain damage and cancer nor do they produce acid rain, climate change, and smog.

That’s a hopeful thought as we approach this year’s Clean Air Day (June 8). And it’s a good thing to remember the next time someone attacks green energy as “unsafe”.

Gideon Forman is Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. www.cape.ca

This article is also appearing on the Docs Talk blog of the David Suzuki Foundation
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/docs-talk/.

Retrieved from http://comeclean.ca/node/76

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(May 18*) Ontario’s commitment to a greener future has stimulated investment and created jobs

OTTAWA May 18, 2011 – The Ontario Government’s commitment to renewable energy is serving Ontarians well – and jobs are the result, notes the Canadian Solar Industries Association.

“Our members are announcing long-term plans to do business in Ontario, opening plants and reviving communities,” said Elizabeth McDonald, CanSIA President, following up on a hugely successful conference in Windsor, which drew three times the crowd expected. “Ontario’s solar manufacturing industry has grown more in the last year than any other sector of manufacturing. To date more than 30 internationally recognized solar manufacturing companies have been established in Ontario and many more are preparing to do so in the near future. Ontario is poised to retake its position as a world-class solar manufacturing hub.”

CanSIA points out that while many sectors of the province’s economy have recovered steadily since the global economic crisis, soft demand in the United States (Ontario’s main export market) has led to the entire manufacturing industry struggling to surpass pre-recession levels. Since global demand for solar equipment has enjoyed average annual increases of 30 – 50 per cent for the past decade, major investment opportunities have emerged for Ontario-made products, engineering and intellectual property.

The solar energy systems installed in Ontario in 2010 resulted in over $750 million being injected into Ontario’s economy. MicroFIT and FIT programs only pay for energy produced and do not cover the costs of building the generating plants, operation or maintenance. The fact is that $750 million was invested in the province before a single cent was paid to any member of the solar industry in return. Ontario receives all of the benefits of the operating solar systems – through clean energy - without paying for the equipment and its maintenance or operation.

“In short, it is Ontarians who are embracing the Green Energy Act and its Feed-in-Tariff program. Companies are coming to Ontario to do business and fulfill the demand created by large and small business owners across the province,” said McDonald. “The result is a stronger province, clean energy and jobs for people in the communities where they live – often those hardest hit by the recession.”

The Canadian Solar Industries Association is a national trade association that represents approximately 650 solar energy companies throughout Canada. Since 1992, CanSIA has worked to develop a strong, efficient, ethical and professional Canadian solar energy industry with capacity to provide innovative solar energy solutions and to play a major role in the global transition to a sustainable, clean-energy future.

-30-

Contact:

Sylvie Powell, MédiaLane Communications Inc.

(613) 290-1497

spowell@medialanecom.com

Retrieved from http://cansia.ca/news-media-archive/ontario’s-commitment-greener-future-has-stimulated-investment-created-jobs

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(May 2*) Let’s get the facts straight, wind power is a change for the better – by Adam Scott

2011-05-02

It means cleaner air, thousands of new jobs and opportunities for communities, a smarter way to make electricity and a legacy worth leaving for our kids.

Wind power is also an excellent way to prevent further global warming by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide emissions we produce when making electricity. Windmills are allowing us to shut down our massively polluting coal-fired power plants, the largest sources of CO2, air pollution and toxins in the province.

Renewable Energy isn’t responsible for rising electricity rates. The independent Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, Gord Miller, recently showed that all renewable energy and conservation combined represent only a measly 3 per cent of electricity bills. Ontario has to replace an aging electricity system, we have no choice about that, but we do have a choice to build clean, safe and local generation this time around.

Under the FIT program, wind producers only get paid a maximum of 13.5 cent per kWh – period. That’s likely less than the all-in cost of nuclear when all the tax subsidized stranded debt, nuclear waste disposal and safety concerns are considered.

Under the Green Energy Act, wind and solar producers only get paid for actual electricity they generate – so ratepayers are never on the hook for the huge construction, maintenance, fuel costs, and downtime associated with dirty old electricity plants. If the windmill doesn’t generate – we don’t pay.

Renewable energy is also a huge boost to jobs in Ontario. The Green Energy Act requires that 50 per cent of windmill projects and 60 per cent of solar projects must be Ontario content. This has sparked a whole new green energy industry that is creating new jobs across the province. For example windmill blades will be built in Tillsonburg, solar panels are being made in Guelph, and in small communities everywhere local trades and businesses are finding new work.

When we take a breath, learn the facts and think it through, the future looks cleaner, safer and more prosperous with renewable energy.

Retrieved from http://friendsofwind.ca/lets-get-the-facts-straight-wind-power-is-a-change-for-the-better-by-adam-scott/#more-340

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(May 18*) Tim Hudak and Ontario Tories Threaten Thousands of Green Energy Jobs

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers - Construction Council of Ontario

May 18, 2011 15:40 ET

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - May 18, 2011) - The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Construction Council of Ontario (IBEW-CCO) today denounced statements by Ontario Conservative Leader Tim Hudak that he would end Ontario's green energy incentives should he become premier.

"Mr. Hudak should not be making policy statements that will hurt working families in Ontario," said John Grimshaw, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the IBEW-CCO. "The Green Energy Act and the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) program have been drivers that have resulted in several million person-hours of construction work directly related to green energy projects across Ontario. This is an important fact that no one can ignore."

Ontario's construction industry has been a major benefactor since the introduction of the Green Energy Act. Thousands of much needed jobs have been created for electricians, powerline technicians and other trades as a result of investments in solar and wind energy projects. Examples of these investments are solar farms in Arnprior, St. Isidore and Sarnia along with numerous wind projects in southwestern, northeastern and central Ontario.

"At a time when many traditional manufacturing and related jobs were disappearing, these green energy jobs emerged to help put our skilled trades people and apprentices to work," stated Sol Furer, business manager of IBEW Local 773 (Windsor). "With record unemployment in southwestern Ontario, these jobs will result in skilled workers remaining in the construction industry and allow us to attract youth to the skilled trades through our apprenticeship system. It is a win-win situation."

Keith MacLellan, Construction manager for HB White Canada, an IBEW signatory contractor sees Ontario as a strong market for growth. "The Green Energy Act has made Ontario a leader in North America for green energy development and a great place for our company to invest."

James Barry, business manager of lBEW Local 586 (Ottawa) echoed these sentiments. "I don't think that the projects we have done in St. Isidore or Elmsley would have happened without the Green Energy Act. These two jobs created over 250,000 person-hours of employment. Those are significant numbers."

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Construction Council of Ontario is the provincial umbrella body that represents over 15,000 electrical workers in Ontario.

Retrieved from http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/tim-hudak-and-ontario-tories-threaten-thousands-of-green-energy-jobs-1516437.htm

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(May 16*) McGuinty Government Creating Clean Energy Jobs

May 16, 2011 2:15 PM

Office of the Premier
ontario.ca/premier

Ontario's Green Energy Act will help the province create 50,000 new clean energy jobs by the end of 2012.

The province's clean energy plan has also helped attract billions of dollars in new investment.

Premier Dalton McGuinty met workers at two companies in southwestern Ontario that are contributing to Ontario's growing clean energy economy. Guelph's Canadian Solar produces solar panels and CS Wind in Windsor will make wind towers. When fully operational, Canadian Solar expects to employ up to 500 workers. At CS Wind, they're planning to employ up to 300 people.

Ontario is replacing dirty, coal-fired plants with cleaner sources of renewable energy like water, wind, solar and bio-energy. It's part of the government's plan to keep costs down for families today, while building a clean, modern and reliable electricity system for tomorrow. Ontario's Green Energy Act has already created 13,000 clean energy jobs.

QUICK FACTS

• Ontario is helping families with the costs of turning on more clean power by taking 10 per cent off electricity bills for the next five years and moving Time of Use to 7 p.m. -- giving families 10 extra hours a week at the discount rate.
• Eight coal plants have been shut down so far. When coal-fired plants are eliminated in 2014, it will be like taking 7 million cars off the road.
• Ontario has added enough new clean power since 2003 to run two million homes. About a fifth of that comes from renewables such as water, wind, solar and bio-energy.
• Since 2003, over 5,000 kilometres of transmission lines have been upgraded -- about the width of Canada from coast to coast.
• More hydroelectric power will be added to Ontario's electricity system in the next eight years than over the previous 40 years.

Retrieved from http://www.news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2011/05/good-clean-energy-jobs-grow-in-ontario.html

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(May 15*) Hudak urged to support green energy law

Program spurs job creation, say local businesses

By GLEN MCGREGOR, The Ottawa Citizen May 15, 2011

A group of Ottawa businesses specializing in renewable energy technology is calling on Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak to reconsider his opposition to the McGuinty government’s green energy law.

Twenty area firms signed onto the letter dated Monday saying that the green energy economy is invigorating the manufacturing industry and creating well-paying jobs for skilled workers. They say Hudak’s pledge to scrap the Liberals’ green energy law would be “rash, imprudent, and cost thousands of jobs.”

At issue for the smaller Ottawa firms is the Feed in Tariff (FIT) program that lets smaller energy producers get paid for pumping hydro, solar, wind and other renewable energy they generate into Ontario’s power grid, at rates above the current consumer price for electricity.

In the letter, released to the Citizen, the co-signers say the FIT program has proved to be both good job-creation policy and helps the province generate the electricity it will need in future. “The Green Energy and Green Economy Act generates economic activity, reduces pollution, and ensures that Ontarians will have power for the future,” the letter says. “It enables us to avoid the risk of blackouts.”

“Mr. Hudak, business seeks a stable economic climate for investment. Your Party’s decision has introduced uncertainty into Ontario’s economic future.”

Hudak has said the FIT program and a $7-billion deal with Samsung to generate renewable energy for Ontario will jack up the prices consumers pay for electricity. Were his party to form government after this fall’s provincial election, it would end the programs. But that would short-sighted and leave Ontario without the energy it needs, said Chris Henderson, president of Lumos Energy, who sent the letter to Hudak on behalf of the other Ottawa-area companies, mostly solar power firms.

“What’s Hudak going to replace it with? Where are you going to get your power?” he asks. “The provinces are not doing it for green energy alone. They’re doing because it they need electricity.”

In five years, clean energy generated through the FIT program is expected to account for 15 per cent of Ontario’s total electricity production, Henderson said.

Henderson’s company develops larger FIT projects, mostly hydro, in partnership with First Nations communities. Under the Green Energy law, Henderson’s projects receive about 12 cents per kilowatt hour for the power they supply.

He says that these kinds of initiatives will be far cheaper in the long run compared with the costs of building new natural gas-based generator stations or nuclear reactors.

Without renewable energy, Henderson says, Hudak doesn’t have a plan to meet Ontario’s power requirements.

A smaller component of FIT that has attracted a lot of media attention lets homeowners get paid about 80 cents for every kilowatt hour that they feed into the grid from roof-mounted solar panels.

Nepean-Carleton MPP Lisa MacLeod said she isn’t surprised to hear “fear mongering” from the companies that benefit from what she says are disproportionately rich subsidies from the provincial government.

“Dalton McGuinty is subsidizing these companies at the expense of people who pay for power, at the expense of families paying the bills.”

She says Ontario could explore buying more power from Quebec or expanding nuclear energy production to meet rising demand for power.

She say that while renewable sources will certainly figure into the mix, they must be delivered at competitive rates.

“There is nobody in town that thinks paying 80 cents for something that costs five cents is a good deal for taxpayers,” MacLeod said.

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

Retrieved form http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/Hudak+urged+support+green+energy/4787642/story.html

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(May 18*) Ontario’s green energy hub fears winds of political change

RICHARD BLACKWELL

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

Published Tuesday, May. 17, 2011 7:19PM EDT

Last updated Tuesday, May. 17, 2011 7:21PM EDT

Manufacturers of renewable energy equipment that have set up shop in Ontario are worried that the industry could buckle if incentives disappear under a new provincial government.

Last week, Conservative Leader Tim Hudak said that if he were elected premier in the October election, he would kill off the province’s feed-in tariff (FIT) program, which pays high prices for electricity generated from renewable sources as long as a minimum proportion of the equipment in a project is manufactured in Ontario.

The FIT program, part of the governing Liberal party’s Green Energy Act, has prompted many equipment makers to build plants in Ontario, or to promise to do so.

One of the biggest investments is from Canadian Solar Inc.(CSIQ-Q9.330.161.74%), a global solar-panel company that is based in Kitchener, Ont., but until recently had most of its manufacturing operations in China. It is in the process of ramping up a $50-million plant in nearby Guelph that employs 300 people.

Chief executive officer Shawn Qu said he always intended to expand in Canada at some point, but the FIT program spurred him to move fast and go big. Now, he said in an telephone interview from China, “to be honest I’m concerned, because the message [from the province] is not clear.”

He said the FIT program can certainly be improved, but companies need to know where they stand over the long term. “Without clarity, that’s going to hurt business.”

Paulo Maccario, general manager of Silfab Ontario Inc., the Canadian arm of a large Italian solar panel company that recently started manufacturing in the province, said killing the FIT would be bad for his company and for the industry overall.

The idea behind the program was to create a “virtuous cycle” of renewable hardware supply in the province, he said, and so far a few “brave souls” such as Silfab have started up. Other Italian solar product makers were considering Ontario, he said, but they have now indicated they will wait until after the provincial election in October before making a decision.

The uncertainty sends a “don’t come here” signal to the solar industry, Mr. Maccario said.

Mike Carten, CEO of Calgary-based solar inverter maker Sustainable Energy Technologies Ltd. (STG-X0.13----%) said he is puzzled that Mr. Hudak vowed to kill the FIT program, because many of those taking advantage of it are small suppliers, or individuals building small solar power systems, and both groups are the Conservatives’ natural constituency.

“If he pulls the pin … it’s going to be the smaller companies … that are going to be feeling the pain,” said Mr. Carten, whose company built an inverter plant in Ontario because it expected a surge in business as a result of the FIT local-content requirements.

“The program as a whole has done what I think they were trying to do, which is to get a number of companies actually building manufacturing capacity within the province, with the view to serving the market and exporting,” he said.

Mr. Carten said it is damaging to Ontario’s integrity if something like FIT is set up as a long-term program to draw investment, and then it is changed drastically by a new set of politicians.

Still, Mr. Carten said he agrees with Mr. Hudak that some of the details of the province’s green energy plan are opaque, and that a deal with Samsung Group – in which the company committed to build large manufacturing plants in the province in return for large subsidies – needs to be revisited.

Elizabeth McDonald, executive director of the Canadian Solar Industries Association, said the FIT program has already succeeded in creating a lot of new manufacturing jobs, particularly in hard-hit parts of Ontario such as Windsor.

She said one reason Ontario has been able to attract this investment is that it is seen as a very stable place to do business. “It would be unfortunate if the impression is given by any of the [political] parties that this is not a stable environment.” There is a danger, she added, that if investors “get their fingers burnt, they won’t come back.”

Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/ontarios-green-energy-hub-fears-winds-of-political-change/article2025715/

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