Energy System Op Ed by Sheena Sharp Published in Toronto Star

Sheena Sharp, former GPO candidate and member of the Don Valley West Constituency Association Executive, had an op ed article published today in the Toronto Star. Way to go, Sheena!

The full text is below.

Turning down the thermostat is not good enough: We need to reinvent our energy system

I went to the Ontario Clean Air Alliance kickoff event for the fight against the expansion of the gas plant in the Portlands on July 19.

There were about 90 people in attendance in person with more online. Ralph Torrie, an Ontario energy policy expert and senior consultant at Sustainability Solutions Group, spoke about past campaigns against other gas plants, and how they were successful. It seemed possible to do it again. The feeling in the room was excited and hopeful. There were lawn signs and flyers to be delivered. Lots of people in the audience volunteered.

But this is a different problem.

This is not about stopping something to protect what we love. This problem requires us to reinvent at minimum, our energy system, and more likely our entire approach to food and materials.

Yes, we need to abandon the expansion of the Portlands gas plant; we also need to remove existing gas service to our buildings and we need to expand the grid, storage and renewables. We have all the technology we need, and we can afford it.

There is urgency. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommends that in order to stabilize the climate where it is now, we need to reduce our emissions by 50 per cent by 2030. In the Ontario political context that means during the remainder of this session of the legislature and the next. A tall order given where our political parties stand on the issue.

Politicians were the featured speakers at the event. Except the conservatives did not send anyone, which is not surprising as the expansion of the Portlands plant is their idea.

Mike Schreiner, leader and sole MPP for the Greens spoke passionately of all the issues related to climate change and the urgency of action. However, stating the obvious has not put the Greens in government. I’m a member but I have no illusions. We need all parties on board.

It was the NDP’s Peter Tabuns turn to speak. He was articulate and passionate. He knows his stuff except that he insists on energy efficiency, which is way too slow, not gas reduction, which would do it but would eliminate the need for pipelines. The NDP supports the steel workers who support pipelines. Thus, the party is neutered.

Mary-Margaret McMahon, Liberal MPP, gave her protest bona fides, then spoke of the need to save energy, giving the example of turning down the thermostats in winter. This is a profound disconnect from required solutions, but not surprising as she joined the Liberal caucus after the Kathleen Wynne era, when they had a viable, scientifically sound plan but were unable to sell it to the electorate. Since then, the Liberals seem to have abandoned climate action as incompatible with regaining power.

I am reminded of a quote by Roger Pielke Jr., the bad boy of climate science. “The scale of the challenge is huge, but that does not make achieving the goal impossible. What makes achieving the goal impossible is a failure to accurately understand the scale of the challenge and the absence of policy proposals that match that scale.”

There is a good case to be made that it’s too late. With temperature records set all the time, and humidity falling we have the perfect conditions to start fires. We see this in the forest wildfires that have enveloped the continent in smoke. Urban areas are not immune, like Litton, Fort McMurray, and the suburbs of Halifax. Right now, as I type this, communities in Spain and Greece are being evacuated.

Forests are the lungs of the planet, creating some of the oxygen we breath. Millions of hectares have been destroyed by fires so hot that nothing is left. Meanwhile the percentage of oxygen in the air is falling, very slowly and steadily. The level is not yet dangerous, but it’s not stable like we want it to be.

We don’t know for sure that it’s too late. Feedback loops are not well understood. Given that there is a chance of maintaining a mostly habitable planet, shouldn’t we be making a serious attempt?

To all my friends from all parties: this is a political problem. Get mad and get vocal. Withhold donations. Be relentless.

Sheena Sharp is president of Coolearth Architecture, and vice-chair of Toronto 2030 District, a non-profit seeking to decarbonize Toronto’s buildings.