Green Party policies misrepresented - Steve May

Re: Letter “Columnist missed a few points,” which appeared in the Sept. 11 edition of Northern Life.

As an officer of the Sudbury Federal Green Party Association, I feel compelled to reply to the letter to the editor by Mr. Joel Whipple, published in the Northern Life Sept. 11, in response to an earlier column by former Green Party of Ontario candidate Pat Rogerson, published Aug. 28.

Mr. Whipple’s recent letter to the editor contained many statements which were misleading, and in some cases, incoherent. While problematic, there was one assertion made by Mr. Whipple which was completely false, and requires a response.

Mr. Whipple wrote that “the Green Party absolutely opposes hydro dams, as well as nuclear and fossil fuels.”

As a member involved in the grassroots policy development processes of both the Green Party of Canada and the Green Party of Ontario, I can assure Northern Life’s readers that neither the provincial or federal Green Party is absolutely opposed to energy produced through hydro-electric generation, burning fossil fuels, or through existing nuclear power facilities.

Not only would such opposition be impractical in our society, it would be absurd.

The Green Party’s energy policies emphasize the need to conserve energy as a first priority. Energy savings accrued through conservation means alone would likely address Ontario’s power needs well into the next decade.

However, the Green Party acknowledges that we require reliable power. Past investments have left us with an energy system where a significant majority of electricity in Canada is produced by burning fossil fuels, which power our transportation systems and produce electricity.

The Green Party has been on record for calls to eliminate the subsidization of fossil fuels, and to stop building expensive new nuclear.

Fossil fuels and nuclear power, however, will be a part of Canada’s and Ontario’s energy mix for decades to come, due to the infrastructure choices we have made in the past.

The Green Party’s emphasis on conservation, and incorporating full costs into the price of energy, use does not mean that Greens oppose all forms of non-renewable energy production, as Mr. Whipple would have you believe.

Instead, our policies recognize that Canada must embrace renewables to be a leader in the 21st century green economy.

Steve May
officer, Sudbury Federal Green Party Association