At last week’s council meeting we heard eight deputations on the proposed OPG/Atura Power new Natural Gas-fired power plant. All but one of these deputations presented documents and reasons why we should not accept this plant.
The last thing we should do is to be a willing host to this facility. The world is on fire.
Gas plants are a polluting technology. They increase global warming and poison the air for local residents here and in eastern Ontario. And while the Town of Greater Napanee will receive $4.8 million towards a Community Benefit Fund over 12 years, the Ontario government should not be using our Ontario tax dollars to persuade us to support the building of another dirty gas-fired power plant. Instead, we should be phasing out the use of gas plants and turning towards creating more clean electricity.
Just this week, the United Nations released a new report indicating that we must shift away from using fossil fuels now or face a nearly 3 degree increase in warming by this century’s end. In Canada, we are on pace to extract more oil and gas than would be consistent with agreed-upon international targets. We must do better.
I urge council to make a move in the right direction to support its citizens, the local environment and ultimately the planet in saying no to a new gas plant.
Sincerely,
Christine Barstow