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THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2016
Vol. 4 Edition 21
The air up there
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Greenhouse owners caught off guard Leaked info on climate plan has natural gas users concerned
By Jim Blake jim@chathamvoice.com
Sarah Schofield/The Chatham Voice
With the warmer weather upon us, skateboarders and bikers fill the Chatham Skate Park these days. On May 19, 12 year-old Cameron Pickford was part of the crowd. Here, he performs a tail whip trick on his scooter.
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Gerard Verbeek stands on the verge of a $16 to $18 million expansion at his Platinum Produce business and shakes his head at the thought that the province might be planning to force him to stop using natural gas. “They can’t mean us, too, can they,” he asked of last week’s concern that the province aims to move away from natural gas for heating Ontario’s millions of homes and businesses. “If they want us or any greenhouse operator to use electricity, they are putting us out of business,” he said. “It will mean the end of the greenhouse industry.” Last week, the Globe and Mail obtained leaked copies of a $7 billion plan to reduce Ontario’s carbon footprint by eliminating the use of natural gas for heating, massive tax incentives and targets for
electric automobiles and other items. The plan lays out 80 policies that include phasing out natural gas heat and banning it in new homes by 2030 and all buildings by 2050. It outlines billions in incentives for use of new technologies, the funding of which will be paid for from a cap-and-trade system in which carbon emissions are limited by government permits but can be purchased through government auctions. Verbeek says he pays more than $1 million in natural gas heating costs on his Communication Road business. “We have 50 acres now and we’re building another 20 acres immediately,” he said. “It’s a growing business but we have to watch our costs like anyone else. We can’t simply afford to switch. It would cost millions even if the rates were the same. Who’s going to pay for
this?” Verbeek employs 125 people and is always looking for more. “If you’re prepared to work, we’re prepared to hire you,” he said. “I always need people.” Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Monte McNaughton said he was in total disbelief and shock when he heard about the plan. “This issue by far has raised the most concern in the five years I’ve been an MPP,” he said. “We’re seeking public opinion and we had more than 2,500 people sign our online petition within the first five hours or so.” McNaughton said the plan “shows how out of touch the government is. We have 76 per cent of all homes in Ontario heated by natural gas and the government wants them to convert and pay an additional $3,000 per year for electric heat.”
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