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Thursday, October 14, 2010
The Man of Mush
The Dalt retreats:
Residents pointed out the obvious problems with the plant: it was smack in the middle of an area filled with schools and homes. Oakville already has its share of big industry — a mammoth Ford plant for one — and the air already suffers for it.
Too bad. This was one line Dalton McGuinty wasn’t going to cross. He was determined to show other communities he could stand up to pressure, and that his devotion to green energy outweighed his concern about his party’s popularity.Until Thursday. Then, all of a sudden, Energy Minister Brad Duguid shows up in Oakville and announces that — ta-da! — the plant isn’t needed any more.
Let me admit something that bloggers, and writers in general, don't often admit: I have no idea. I have no idea if Oakville is a good place to build a power plant. I suspect not. Surely we could bulldoze large swaths of Scarborough, with no one being aware. Better to put a gas power plant in Scarberia than in one of the nicest spots in all of Ontario. Just from the common sense view of the problem.
So I'm inclined to believe that someone in the Ministry of Energy goofed. Or maybe they didn't. Perhaps a posh suburb is the best place to throw one of these things up. Perhaps you could open up a landfill near Rosedale, and the property values won't be adversely affected. It's a technical question.
Property rights, NIMBYism and Greenista paranoia all swirl in stories like this one. Whatever the truth, what is abundantly clear is that Dalton McGuinty has a spine of rubber. Either we need a new power plant or we don't. Either Oakville is a good place to put it, or not. The Dalt saw the likely loss of a single seat, and folded faster than, well, Dalton McGuinty usually folds. The sad sorry thing is that Tim Hudak might not be much of an improvement.
Posted by Richard Anderson on October 14, 2010 | Permalink
Comments
If the Ford plant at Oakville had to pay for electricity based on true cost, and they need a source there due to grid issues (I don't know either), the plant would either be gas or coal fired. Ford couldn't afford the cost of solar or wind. Time to get the political geniuses out of energy issues(and everything else of course) - privatize.
Posted by: John Chittick | 2010-10-14 5:09:18 PM
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