The Toronto Star
January 25, 2000

Environment Minister Tony Clement put his best smudged face on a dirty air policy yesterday. And dirty it is – potentially a lot dirtier than what we have.

Clement’s spin on his policy was that it was “tough new actions” that will “strengthen an already aggressive campaign to improve air quality in Ontario.”

In fact, it does this: It weakens one of existing safeguards – the sulphur dioxide emission limit set by David Peterson’s cabinet in the mid-’80s to deal with acid rain. It does this by allowing Ontario Power to use so-called emission credits to exceed the Peterson government’s cap.

These credits will also allow Ontario Power to exceed current nitrogen oxide emission targets. Clement set a target of 36 kilotonnes, six times higher than the province’s doctors had recommended. Ontario Power says it will not be able to get below 50 kilotonnes. The smog from these emissions kills 1,800 people a year, according to Ontario’s doctors. Soon it could be worse.

There are no limits on the other pollutants produced when coal burns. These include carcinogens such as arsenic, and neurotoxins such as mercury that damage the brain cells of the young and unborn. The toughest action anyone faces on these co-pollutants is a requirement to report emissions to the government once a year. In addition to the loophole emission credits provide, Clement gave Ontario Power an even bigger one.

It can import coal power that creates even more pollution on the U.S. side than Ontario Power can create on the Canadian side – this in the name of new “emissions performance standards” for imported power.

Such limits are a good idea. But Clement set the allowable pollution so high – and Queen’s Park lets Ontario Power import so much – that U.S. coal plants will be well above Clement’s new limits for Ontario before they have to stop burning coal in the Ohio Valley.

Queen’s Park allows 34 million megawatts of imported power. At Clement’s performance standard – 1.3 kilograms of nitrogen oxide per megawatt hour – that can send up to 42 kilotonnes of smog toward the north shore of Lake Erie from U.S. coal plants, in the name of keeping Ontario air clean and avoiding health problems. Even the dirtiest U.S. utility – American Electric Power – can claim Snow White status under those rules.

And as a final insult, it looks as if our own coal plants are with us for as far as we can see. Their resumed use was supposed to be temporary, while nuclear capacity was being fixed.

But background papers on emission credits drop any “ifs” associated with the coal plants. “When Ontario Power Generation sells one of its coal powered stations” it will have to give a new owner emission credits, the papers say. This will allow the new owner to use the credits to run the coal plant at full blast, while credits make it look like there is a lot less pollution than there really is.

So Clement has given us tough action, all right.

Tough on our health.