| Funds For East-West Grid Questioned | 15 March 07 |
 As Prime Minister Harper made his way across Canada announcing federal funds for provincial climate change initiatives, Manitoba and Ontario stated their intention to allocate a portion of their province's funds ($54 million and $586 million, respectively) to support a transmission line between Manitoba and Ontario to supply Ontario with Manitoba hydroelectricity.Neither premier indicated how much of federal 'EcoTrust' funds would be reserved for the 'east-west grid' project, but Manitoba Premier Gary Doer acknowledged federal funding would not pay for the whole transmission line. The project has been styled as combating climate change because it will allow Ontario to move forward in phasing out coal-fired generating stations. This claim is questionable, as the east-west grid would be a multi-year project and would take longer to build than current scheduled phase-out for coal in Ontario. Cost estimates for a high capacity line from Northern Manitoba to Southern Ontario run into the billions with federal funds amounting to a small proportion of total cost. Benefits associated with directing these funds to energy efficiency, wind, and co-generation have not been studied or debated. This discussion is critical, particularly because building the east-west grid would involve fragmentation of intact boreal forest regions- which are important to fighting climate change through carbon storage; supporting threatened wildlife such as woodland caribou; and providing essential ecosystem services. View the March 7, 2007 CBC article View the March 8, 2007 Reuters article on Planet Ark View the March 3, 2007 Government of Manitoba press release View the March 6, 2007 Pembina Institute's Director of Environmental Governance interview with CBL-FM (DOC) Sources: Government of Manitoba, CBC, Reuters, CBL-FM
|
|
