A Media Release from the Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Do you want to heat your home with gas pumped out of shale rock in Pennsylvania with a noxious mix of water, sand and chemicals, or would you rather save money by making your home more energy efficient?
Do we in Ontario wanted the gas from fracking operations so many residents in Pennsylvania, as is depicted here, are fighting to stop in their communities? Would we want these fracking operations to set up here?
The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) has to decide this question soon in response to an application from Enbridge Inc. to expand its natural gas pipeline system in the Greater Toronto Area. Enbridge is proposing to spend $623 million on a system to bring more shale gas north. As a gas user, you will pay for the costs of this pipeline on your monthly natural gas bill.
But there is an alternative to Enbridge’s plan. By increasing spending on energy efficiency and gas alternatives like geothermal heating and cooling or solar water heating, we can simultaneously save money and reduce the need to drill thousands of wells to produce gas in a process that is a serious threat to groundwater supplies and healthy communities.
By spending just half what it would spend on an expanded pipeline on conservation programs instead, Enbridge could actually save its customers $1.4 billion over the next ten years. Add the savings from not building the pipeline, and that means putting close to $2 billion back into customers’ wallets. Reduced demand for gas will also make Enbridge’s system safer by lowering pipe pressure particularly during peak demand periods. And it will move us forward in our greenhouse gas reduction commitments.
Read all about it in our latest report Enbridge’s Proposed GTA Pipeline: Fracked Shale Gas vs. Energy Conservation.
If you think greater efficiency beats more pipelines hands down, send a message to Premier Wynne, Energy Minister Chiarelli and Environment Minister Bradley here. Tell them you prefer conservation over fracked gas from the U.S.
For more about what Enbridge is proposing and why it is an outdated and environmentally harmful solution, see the OEB submissions posted on our website. And read the Toronto Star’s story here.
Learn more about the Ontario Clean Air Alliance by clicking on http://cleanairalliance.org/ .
(Niagara At Large invites you to join in the conversation by sharing your views on the content of this post below. For reasons of transparency and promoting civil dialogue, NAL only posts comments from individuals who share their first and last name with their views.)
Niagara At Large 
True Story – High River Alberta – My in-laws – Live in the country. Beautiful ranch on 20 acres. Fracking came to town. Outcome – ruined wells, home foundations, ruined the environment, ruined quality of life, endless court battles and the list goes on….
Fracking is not worth it and yet our spineless politicians, all of them included Doug, refuse to do their homework, due-diligence and act accordingly. They bend over to whoever is signing the cheques come election time.
I am fairly certain that the majority of Canadians, if we were allowed to vote on it and knew the true cost of it, would reject the use of fracked gas and fracking in Canada. I guess in a perfect world we would have the opportunity to vote on these types of issues as opposed to letting boneheaded politicians make these decisions on our behalf.
I saw that movie last night with Matt Damon. Based on a true story and a good movie to watch if you want to know a little bit more (hollywood style) about this atrocity.
Sadly ….. Just sayin……
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Everything I have read, and watched (that compelling Rachel Madow interview with an actor (name escapes) said much. When an issue like this hits People Magazine (of all media outlets, if one can call People magazine that) as it did, pitting Pennsylvania farmers against one another on the issue, you know this is important. I agree with MIddleton on this one, certainly.
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