Liberal government is wasting money by failing to save energy

Queen’s Park – The McGuinty government is wasting money and energy by failing to develop a comprehensive energy efficiency plan, according to the Green Party of Ontario.

“The Liberal government is wasting taxpayer dollars by failing to deliver a plan to save energy,” says GPO leader Mike Schreiner. “The cheapest and greenest kilowatt is the one that we save.”

The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario’s third Annual Energy Conservation Report released today criticizes the Liberal government for failing to fulfill its promises to energy conservation. The government is focused on expensive new sources of generating electricity rather than saving money by saving energy.

The GPO argues that the best way to save money and to create jobs is to prioritize energy efficiency over new nuclear.  According to calculations by Energy Savvy, for half the cost of a new nuclear power plant, we can retrofit 1.6 million homes to save the same amount of electricity and create 90 times more jobs.

“This government is more focused on spending money than on saving,” says GPO deputy leader and finance critic Kevin O’Donnell.  “The Liberals failed to replace the successful Home Energy Savings Program and have no plan to save energy.”

The GPO is calling for a comprehensive energy efficiency plan that includes a Green Building Program to help tenants, homeowners, and businesses save money by using less energy, while increasing the number of skilled jobs. The GPO continues to push for the cancellation of the misleadingly named Ontario Clean Energy Benefit, which is a short-term subsidy that benefits the biggest energy users the most and costs our debt ridden province $1 billion per year.

The GPO is calling on the government to fulfill its promise to introduce ENERGY STAR standards for household appliances and to make home energy audits mandatory so that home buyers can make informed purchasing decisions to save energy and money.

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