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Politics

Ont. Green Party Says “Will Use SmartMeters To Put $ In Your Pocket”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Green Party Will Use Smart Meters to Put Money in Your Pocket

Toronto, Ontario – Green Party of Ontario Leader, Mike Schreiner announced his party’s commitment to Smart Meter changes that encourage innovative ways for Ontarians to save money by saving energy. Schreiner along with Philip Playfair, the owner of Toronto conservation company Lowfoot, spoke at the home of Barry Martin, a Lowfoot customer.

“The Green Party would use smart meters to save us money, by using them to create a market for conservation,” said Schreiner. “Local entrepreneurs such as Lowfoot have already started businesses that pay people to conserve energy. Energy bureaucrats need to move out of the way to foster innovative ideas like this that reward people for efficiency and conservation.”

The Green Party would develop a Conservation Energy Pool (CEP) to serve as a market for kilowatts saved. The CEP would enable entrepreneurs to develop viable businesses that pay people to save energy verified by available smart meter data.

“Our mission is to generate power plant level generation via energy conservation,” said Playfair. “By engaging Ontarians and providing them with their usage information they can take an active role in conservation.”

The Green Party would end the centralized, command and control conservation programs developed by Ontario Power Authority bureaucrats. The Party’s plan would use existing technology to help individuals and businesses to measure their energy use in order to identify and verify savings.

“Getting involved with Lowfoot was a way to help us learn about conserving. Most of our changes were rudimentary-things,” said Martin. “That said, the social nature, gaming aspect and transparency involved helped us become conscious of our habits in a hurry. We now feel great about lowering our consumption and our costs.”

Your Green MPPs will:

– Develop a market for entrepreneurs to deliver conservation and energy efficient products and programs

– Support innovation and investment to make Ontario a leader in the new Energy Economy

End the command-and-control conservation programs developed by Ontario Power Authority bureaucrats, and empower Local Distribution Companies to develop local programs to meet conservation targets.

About Lowfoot Inc. :
Toronto based, Lowfoot Inc. securely connects to smart meter data and automatically displays the client’s electricity usage. They help manage their client’s electricity, reduce bills and help clients earn rewards for their conservation. They also offer a web based social network of people who are conserving energy, wanting to learn how to conserve energy or are interested in their energy use patterns.

For more information on the Green Party of Ontario’s Energy Plan visit: Silo Direct Link To Green Party Ontario PressSite

Media Contact:
Rebecca Harrison
Director of Communications
Green Party of Ontario
(c) 905-999-5479
(e) rebeccaharrison@gpo.ca
Sent from Green Party of Ontario

PO Box 1132
Toronto, ON M4Y 2T8
Canada

Links:
——
Silo Direct Link To Alternative Green Party Ontario PressSite

Politics

Green Party Leader Schreiner:Our Plan To Create 20,000 Jobs

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Schreiner announces Green Building Program to create 20,000 good local jobs and reduce energy bills

Guelph, Ontario – Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner announced the Green Party’s plan for a Green Building Program today. A Green Building program will reduce energy bills and create thousands of jobs in the construction and trades sector in communities across the province.

“Only the Green Party will deliver sensible, long-term solutions that create jobs and save us money by saving energy,” said Schreiner. “We will not borrow money, like the old parties, to offer short term subsidies that mostly benefit the biggest energy users.”

The Green Building plan would provide $1.6 B in refundable tax credits for homeowners, tenants and businesses over 4 years to invest in energy efficiency and building retrofits.

“When we decrease our consumption we provide real relief to rising energy costs for all Ontarians,” added energy entrepreneur and Guelph Green Party candidate Steve Dyck who’s own retrofits have helped him invest in his local economy and save money. “Eliminating waste and increasing efficiency will make our province more competitive.”

The Green Building Program would create an estimated 20,000 jobs across the province, according to estimates by Robert Pollin Professor of Economics and Co-Director, Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) University of Massachusetts-Amherst and Heidi Garrett-Peltier PERI Research Fellow entitled Building the Green Economy: Employment Effects of Green Energy Investments for Ontario.

“These investments will create green jobs in communities across Ontario,” added Schreiner, “This is something that cannot be achieved with the short term energy subsidies offered by the other parties.”

Ontario is home to numerous businesses that focus on energy efficiency and conservation products and retrofits.

“The kind of Green Building Program that the Ontario Green Party is proposing will create more jobs, have a positive impact on the environment and take Ontario’s economy into the 21st century,” says Stephen Carpenter President of Enermodal Engineering of Kitchener.

The Green Building Program will:

* Provide $800 million in refundable tax credits for home owners and tenants over four years for investments in energy efficiency and building retrofits. This will include an Electric Hot Water Conservation Program for conversion of electric hot water heaters to solar thermal.

* Provide $800 million in refundable business tax credits over four years for businesses to invest in energy efficiency and building retrofits, making our businesses more efficient and competitive.

* Strengthen energy efficiency standards to ensure new buildings use less energy for heating and cooling by revising the Ontario Building Code.

* Set a minimum EnerGuide Rating of 86 for all new buildings by 2013 and ensure all new homes and buildings are solar-ready so owners have the option of easy and affordable installation of future solar investments.

* Develop a long-term strategic plan to move our homes and buildings towards Zero Net Energy, with a time table to raise Ontario’s minimum legally-binding energy efficiency standards for new homes, buildings, appliances and equipment to help reduce our energy bills.

* Make it easier for Ontarians to obtain information and advice on energy efficiency, conservation and building retrofits.

* Require home energy efficiency audits and make the results available to potential home buyers and renters so people can make informed choices regarding the operating costs of their homes and apartments.

* Work with the banking sector to design a provincial program that facilitates “energy saver” mortgages and loans at preferential rates for homeowners investing in energy efficient retrofits.

* Develop an Ontario wide framework for a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing program, as an innovative local government solution to help property owners finance energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements – such as energy efficient boilers, upgraded insulation, new windows, solar installations, etc. – to their homes and businesses.

Press Conference Information:

9:30am Press Conference – Guelph

Mike Schreiner will join Guelph candidate Steve Dyck in making an important announcement about energy savings.
Location: 39 Hearn Ave. Guelph, ON

12:00pm Press Conference – Kitchener

Mike Schreiner announces Green Building Program in Kitchener. Steve Carpenter from Enermodal will attend.
Location: Enermodal, 582 Lancaster St. West, Kitchener, ON

 

Media Contact:
Rebecca Harrison
Director of Communications
Green Party of Ontario
(c) 905-999-5479
(e) rebeccaharrison@gpo.ca Sent from Green Party of Ontario

PO Box 1132
Toronto, ON M4Y 2T8
Canada

Politics

Ontario Liberals: Too Many Architects Mopping Floors, Driving Taxis

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TORONTO – The Ontario Liberal Plan will help highly educated new Canadian citizens get on-the-job training needed to be certified in their chosen profession, Linda Jeffrey, Minister of Natural Resources in the Ontario Liberal government said today.

“We have too many engineers and architects driving taxis and mopping floors,” Jeffrey said. “We need everyone at their full potential and contributing to our economy, so we can create even more jobs.”
Too often, highly educated new Canadian professionals face barriers gaining the on-the-job training and Canadian work experience they need to become certified in their profession. The new No Skills Left Behind Training Credit would provide a tax credit worth up to $10,000 for business expenses related to on-the-job training for up to one year. It is anticipated the tax credit would help about 1,200 Ontarians annually gain training they need to be recognized in their profession.

This builds on other training programs and tax credits that help Ontarians train for new jobs. For example, workers laid-off during the global recession can be retrained for a second career. The Second Career program has supported over 47,000 Ontarians so far in long-term retraining programs, providing up to $28,000 in direct support for tuition and living expenses. To date, 75 per cent of graduates have found work.

Other programs and training tax credits already available to Ontarians and businesses include:

* Apprenticeship Training Tax Credit – up to $10,000 per year for 4 years to
help with cost of in-school training

* Nursing Graduate Job Guarantee – placed over 10,000 new nurses in jobs so far

* Summer Jobs Strategy – helps 100,000 students gain on-the-job experience

* Targeted Initiative for Older Workers – helps older workers increase their
ability to find and keep a job while the local economy changes

* Small Business Enterprise Centres – helped over 11,500 businesses last
year create over 13,000 jobs
“Ontario’s economy is on track, but we all need to be at our best in order to compete and win,” Greg Sorbara, MPP for Vaughan said. “This is all about making sure no skills are left behind, strengthening our economy and creating even more jobs.”

For further information –

Ontario Liberal Party Media Office:

416 961-3800 ext. 328

Politics

Discussing The Inclusion Of The Green Party of Ontario In Ontario Leader’s Debate

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Green Party of Ontario (GPO) Leader Mike Schreiner will be joined by Green Party of Canada Leader Elizabeth May to discuss the inclusion of the Green Party of Ontario in the upcoming Leaders’ Debate and the difference one Green MPP can make at Queen’s Park. Both Green Leaders will be available for comment.

WHO: Mike Schreiner, Elizabeth May

WHEN: Friday September 9, 2011

TIME: 9:00 a.m.

WHERE: Queen’s Park Media Studio

CONTACT:
Rebecca Harrison
Director of Communications
Green Party of Ontario
(c) 905-999-5479 [1]
(e) rebeccaharrison@gpo.ca

Sent from Green Party of Ontario
PO Box 1132
Toronto, ON M4Y 2T8
Canada

Earth

Disaster Themed Comedy Not Funny

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Dear Silo, I’m tired of jokes about the oil spill. Leno. Letterman. On June 1st  2010 John Stewart dedicated the entire “fake news” portion of his show to jokes about the spill. It’s true that much of the humour contained social and political commentary. But it wasn’t “funny.” Still, Stewart and his audience were killing themselves. Appropriate, I guess, since this issue highlights how we are all killing ourselves.

On the other hand, I like that his whole show was about this. Why is anyone talking about anything else? I know, life continues (for now). The World Cup is on. The Canadian auto sector is rebounding (perfect). Activists are crashing the Gaza blockade.

But you know what, I don’t care. Why aren’t we all parking our cars until we can convert them to run on biodiesel or excrement? Why are we watching Glee or driving to Dairy Queen or making love? Why are we not all in the streets in sackcloth and ashes, of one accord?

The world’s experts aren’t able to fix this leak, proving, as an acquaintance of mine pointed out, that there actually are no experts on how to fix deep sea oil leaks. They just know how to pump oil. And we all seem content to let them keep pumping oil for us. We shake our heads at the television footage and point fingers at negligent corporations and politicians, and then go back to pumping gas. Pumping hands. Making business deals. Making love.

In Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut proposes that at the end of the world, when the planet is truly and fully dead, the few surviving mammals will lose their sex drive. No drive to reproduce (what for?), to survive. No drive. Now that’s funny. Alan Dowber.