Ontario should reconsider plans to shut down coal-fired electricity plants, the co-chair of a committee studying long-term electricity supply in the province said today.The story goes on to say that Budd is also the chairman of the Ontario Energy Association which is a trade association. Now I don't know Budd, and I have no inside information on the OEA, but it seems reasonable to assume that a trade association in the energy business would have a vested interest in the status quo. Between that and the fact that it's obvious Budd's appointment to the task force was by the previous Conservative government, I'm keeping a box of salt handy.Peter Budd, who was appointed to Ontario's task force on electricity conservation and supply by the former Conservative government of Ernie Eves, told a conference on electricity restructuring that replacing five coal-burning plants would be difficult.
"It's clear that coal is an important part of the supply mix today, and if we're going to exit the current use of coal that we're employing right now, we're going to have to find a proper replacement," he said.
Do governments not even think about the issue of credibility when they put these task forces together?
