Conservatives can't 'scrub' party's painful past, present

    Reckless Conservative scheme would take Ontario backwards

    QUEEN'S PARK, July 10 /CNW/ - Ontario Conservatives are endangering the
environment and their own credibility with their scheme to keep dirty coal
plants open with unproven technology that offers no solution to climate
change.
    Today Conservative Leader John Tory will be in the Sarnia area, where he
will continue to mislead Ontarians about so-called clean-coal technology that
experts say is years away from being a workable option, and promise to waste
hundreds of millions of dollars installing scrubbers on coal stacks that do
nothing to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that lead to climate change.
    "The Conservatives want to take Ontario backwards to the days of damaging
our environment and would put at risk our progress on building a reliable,
clean energy supply," said Liberal MPP and Ontario Energy Minister Dwight
Duncan.
    "The Conservative scheme is like putting a filter on a cigarette. It's
still dirty and it's still deadly," said Duncan. "The McGuinty government
won't gamble with Ontario's air - or its electricity future."
    The McGuinty Liberals are making progress to ensure Ontario has clean and
reliable power. Since 2003, the McGuinty Liberals have brought some 3,000 new
megawatts of power online and there's another 10,000 MW in the works. The
government has also reduced CO2 emissions by nearly one third, and has
significantly reduced the same coal-plant pollutants that scrubbers seek to
eliminate through a responsible plan that actually cuts coal plant use.
    "The Conservatives put their heads in the sand when the tough decisions
on Ontario's energy future needed to be made," Duncan said.
    Under the McGuinty Liberals, Ontario has gone from worst to first in
Canada when it comes to wind power. New transmission links are being
constructed to carry clean power out of Quebec. More than $2 billion in
funding was made available to create a culture of conservation in Ontario. The
Conservative scheme would take Ontario backwards.

For further information: Dave Penfold, Tel: (416) 325-3676,
dpenfold@liberal.ola.org