From the Hamilton Spectator
TORONTO — Ontario’s Liberal government insists no final decisions have been made on its plan to tackle climate change, and won’t confirm a published report that says it will spend $7 billion over four years to help reduce the province’s carbon footprint.
The Globe and Mail says it obtained a copy of the Climate Change Action Plan debated by the Ontario cabinet last week, which it reports calls on the province to start phasing out natural gas for heating.
The plan would require that all new homes built in Ontario in 2030 or later be heated with electricity or geothermal systems, and also sets a target of having 12 per cent of all new vehicle sales be electric cars and trucks by 2025.
A spokesperson for Environment Minister Glen Murray says the government is still consulting on its climate change plan, and will make an announcement “in the coming weeks.”
The Globe report says the government hopes the new plan will help Ontario reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 37 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80 per cent by 2050.
The money would come from the estimated $1.9 billion the government expects to generate each year from its cap-and- trade plan that would see companies buy and trade emission allowances.
