News
Ontario To Ban Coal
11/27/2013
Ontario is poised to become the first jurisdiction in North America to ban the use of coal. On November 21st, Premier Kathleen Wynne announced that the Nanticoke Generating Station, Ontario’s last remaining coal-fired power plant, will stop burning coal in 2013. The Premier also announce new legislation - the Ending Coal for Cleaner Air Act – which would impose a permanent ban on coal generated electricity in the province.
Accompanying Premier Wynne at the ceremony announcing these actions was former US Vice President Al Gore. “To solve the climate crisis, we need people, provinces and countries to show the way forward towards a coal-free, sustainable future. Ontario has distinguished itself as a leader in Canada and around the world,” Gore remarked.
Ontario has been working toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions for a number of years, but the ban announced this month makes Ontario’s action the largest greenhouse gas control effort on the continent. In 2003, twenty-five percent of Ontario’s electricity was supplied by coal-fired plants. In 2005, the province experienced fifty-three smog alert days. So far this year there have been only two.