OTTAWA – More than 40 diverse civil society organizations from across Canada have signed on to a letter calling on federal Environment Minister Peter Kent to protect the integrity of Canada’s forthcoming coal regulations by ensuring that this proposed new coal plant is not permitted to evade Ottawa’s rules.
On August 10, Maxim Power Corp. received final approval from Alberta’s utilities regulator to build a coal-fired power plant that would start operating just prior to federal regulations on coal-fired electricity coming into effect. If the company is successful, this would earn it a 45-year free pass to pollute.
The federal government is expected to publish a draft of its regulations for coal-fired power plants in the coming weeks.
“Coal is the worst offender among fossil fuels when it comes to producing the pollution that cause global warming,” says Steven Guilbeault of Equiterre. “Studies have shown that Alberta can meet its future electricity needs without building new coal plants by ramping up energy efficiency and investing in cleaner energy.”
When the government announced its plans for new regulations on coal-fired electricity last year, then-Environment Minister Jim Prentice committed to “guard against any rush to build non-compliant coal plants” before the federal regulations take effect in 2015.
However, Maxim Power explicitly asked for, and obtained, an accelerated approval from Alberta’s utilities regulator in order to ensure that its proposed plant could avoid being subject to the regulations. In documents filed with the Alberta Utilities Commission, Maxim’s lawyers explained that they met with Environment Minister Peter Kent to understand how their plant could be “accommodated” by the federal regulatory proposal.
“Minister Kent’s role is to protect Canada’s environment and the health of Canadians,” says Gideon Forman of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. “Environment Canada can help foster a safe and sustainable future by phasing out all of this country's coal plants."
The letter, addressed to Minster Kent, makes the case against building new conventional coal plants in Canada, instead supporting the development of renewable energy like wind and solar. The signatories request that Minister Kent ensure that the Maxim proposal is not fast tracked to evade Ottawa’s pending regulations.
"In this day and age, using coal to produce power is an outright injustice against millions of people and species as well as future generations,” says Scott Harris of Council of Canadians “Canadians must stand up against the Maxim coal project and all other coal projects to end this climate crime.”
More than 40 organizations from across Canada, including environmental, faith, business, and public interest groups, have added their voice to this critical issue. Canada’s, and the world’s, dangerous addiction to fossil fuels must come to an end if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Organizations are calling on Minister Kent to refocus his efforts on showing leadership in building the clean energy economy that Canadians deserve.
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The letter can be found below.
For further media inquires:
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Hannah McKinnon
Climate Action Network Canada
613-276-7791 -
Gideon Forman
Executive Director
Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
647-703- 5957. -
Scott Harris
Prairies Regional Organizer
Council of Canadians
780-429-4500
Canada Green Building Council – Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment – Canadian Council of Imams – Canadian Federation of Students – Citizens Advocating Use of Sustainable Energy – Citizen’s Environmental Alliance of Southwestern Ontario – Climate Action Network Canada - Coalition on the Niagara Escarpment – Conservation Council of New Brunswick – Council of Canadians – David Suzuki Foundation – Ecology Action Centre – Ecology Ottawa – Edmonton Friends of the North Environmental Society – Environmental Coalition of Prince Edward Island – Environmental Defence – Équiterre – For Our Grandchildren – ForestEthics – Friends of the Earth Canada – Georgian Triangle Earth Day Celebrations – Greenpeace – Living Oceans Society – Manitoba Wildlands – Ontario Clean Air Alliance – Ontario Humanist Society – Oxfam Canada – Peace River Environmental Society – Pembina Institute – Polaris Institute – Post Carbon Toronto – Public Interest Alberta – Saskatchewan Environmental Society – Saskatchewan Eco Network – Sierra Club of Canada – Sierra Youth Coalition – Society of High Prairie Regional Environmental Action Committee – StopCoal.ca – Sustainability Solutions Group – United Church of Canada – Vegans and Vegetarians of Alberta – Voters Taking Action on Climate Change – Waterloo Public Interest Research Group – Windfall Ecology Centre – World Wildlife Fund – Yukon Conservation Society
August 10, 2011
The Honourable Peter Kent
Minister of the Environment
Les Terrasses de la Chaudière
10 Wellington Street, 28th Floor
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 0H3
Dear Minister Kent,
As representatives of Canadian First Nations, environmental, faith, labour, health, youth and international development organizations, we are writing to urge you to launch an immediate review of the appropriateness of Maxim Power's proposed coal-fired Milner expansion project, in light of the federal government's future regulations on coal-fired electricity generation.
As you know, Maxim Power Corp. recently received approval from Alberta's Utilities Commission for a 500-megawatt supercritical coal plant, which would be located north of Grande Cache, Alberta. The company plans to commission the plant just before the federal regulations on coal-fired electricity take effect.
In June 2010, former Environment Minister Jim Prentice announced that the federal government would adopt regulations specifying a performance standard for greenhouse gas emissions from certain coal-fired power plants. Though the regulations would only apply beginning in July 2015, Minister Prentice assured Canadians that the government would not allow companies to avoid the regulations by rushing new plants into service. He said: "We will guard against any rush to build non-compliant coal plants in the interim."
Unfortunately, it appears that that is exactly what Maxim Power is intending to do. Documents filed by Maxim Power with Alberta's utilities regulator show that the company is indeed attempting to rush a non-compliant coal-fired power plant into service, beginning operations before the government's July 2015 deadline.
A letter from Maxim Power's lawyers to the Alberta Utilities Commission (dated June 7, 2011), indicates that it is Maxim's intent to avoid being subject to the future federal regulations, and that Maxim officials met with you to understand how their proposal could avoid the impact of said regulations.
In our view, all coal-fired power plants need to face regulations to, at a minimum, reduce their considerable emissions of greenhouse gas pollution. Given the need to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in both the short and long term, it is simply no longer acceptable to build new conventional coal plants in Canada, period.
We are writing to you to seek your assurance that you will uphold the promise made by this government and ensure that Maxim Power's coal proposal - if it proceeds at all -is fully subject to the performance standard to be outlined in the future federal regulations for coal-fired electricity generation.
We understand that a draft of the proposed federal regulations on coal-fired electricity will likely be published soon. This announcement gives you an important opportunity to clarify to Canadians that you will indeed "guard against" proposals like Maxim's, by taking the measures needed to ensure that Maxim Power's new coal plant faces the same regulations as new plants commissioned after July 1, 2015.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.
Signed:
Canada Green Building Council, Saskatchewan Chapter
Ian Stewart, Chair
Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
Gideon Forman, Executive Director
Canadian Council of Imams
Habeeb Ali, Secretary
Canadian Federation of Students
Roxanne Dubois, Chair
Citizens Advocating Use of Sustainable Energy
Roger Gagne, Treasurer
Citizens’ Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario
Derek Coronado, Coordinator
Climate Action Network Canada/ Réseau Action Climat Canada
Graham Saul, Executive Director
Coalition on the Niagara Escarpment
Robert Patrick, President
Conservation Council of New Brunswick
David Coon, Executive Director
Council of Canadians
Maude Barlow, National Chairperson
David Suzuki Foundation
Morag Carter, Program Director, Climate Change and Clean Energy
Ecology Action Centre
Brennan Vogel, Climate Change and Energy Coordinator
Ecology Ottawa
Trevor Hache, Policy Coordinator
Edmonton Friends of the North Environmental Society
David Parker, Treasurer
Environmental Coalition of Prince Edward Island
Gary Schneider, Co-chair
Environmental Defence
Matt Price, Campaigns Director
Équiterre
Steven Guilbeault, Deputy Director
For Our Grandchildren
Anthony Ketchum, President
ForestEthics
Nikki Skuce, Senior Energy Campaigner
Friends of the Earth Canada
Beatrice Olivastri, Chief Executive Officer
Georgian Triangle Earth Day
Douglas Nadler, Founder and Director
Greenpeace
Bruce Cox, Executive Director
Living Oceans Society
Jennifer Lash, Executive Director
Manitoba Wildlands
Gaile Whelan Enns, Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Angela Bischoff, Outreach
Ontario Humanist Society
Mary Beaty and Dr Gail McCabe, Chaplains
Oxfam Canada
Robert Fox, Executive Director
Peace River Environmental Society
Bob Cameron, President
Pembina Institute
Ed Whittington, Executive Director
Polaris Institute
Tony Clarke, Executive Director
Post Carbon Toronto
Jeff Berg, Chair
Public Interest Alberta
Bill Moore-Kilgannon, Executive Director
Saskatchewan Environmental Society
Ann Coxworth, Research Advisor
Saskatchewan Eco Network
Paddy Tutty, Administrator
Sierra Club of Canada
John Bennet, Executive Director
Sierra Youth Coalition
Mark Hanlon, National Director
The Society of High Prairie Regional Environmental Action Committee
Jule Asterisk, Vice Chair
StopCoal.ca
Jane Kilthei, Organizer
Sustainability Solutions Group
Rebecca Foon, Director
United Church of Canada
Jim Hodgson, Acting Executive Minister, Partners in Mission Unit
Vegans and Vegetarians of Alberta
David Parker, Director
Voters Taking Action on Climate Change
Kevin Washbrook, Director
Waterloo Public Interest Research Group
Reena Reddy, Coordinator of Projects and Organizational Development
Windfall Ecology Centre
Brent Kopperson, Executive Director
World Wildlife Fund
Josh Laughren, Climate and Energy Program Director
Yukon Conservation Society
Karen Baltgailis, Executive Director
For inquiries, please contact:
Climate Action Network Canada – Réseau Action Climat Canada
Graham Saul, Executive Director
[email protected]
613-241-4413