ONTARIO CLEAN AIR ALLIANCE RESEARCH Lessons learned from a massive climate achievement by Brad Cundiff April 2015 160 John Street Suite 300 Toronto, Ontario M5V 2E5 Phone: 416-260-2080
[email protected] ONTARIO CLEAN AIR cleanairalliance.org ALLIANCE RESEARCH Special thanks to the Ivey Foundation and the Metcalf Foundation for their generous financial support. Report distribution partner: Ontario’s Coal Phase Out: Lessons learned from a massive climate achievement ©2015 Ontario Clean Air Alliance Research Author: Brad Cundiff, Green Living Communications Cover photograph: Demolition of Lakeview coal plant by Toronto Star Preface When we started the campaign to get rid of dirty coal, few thought we would succeed. Eliminating coal use meant getting the province’s giant electric utility to abandon a source of cheap, albeit highly polluting, energy. It meant convincing political leaders that Ontario could make the transition to cleaner electricity sources without the lights going out and bills soaring. And it meant massively increasing public understanding of the threat posed by coal, its role in the province’s electricity system, and cleaner alternatives. Coal’s oversized pollution footprint, however, also made it a huge opportunity to drive massive improvements in air quality and to make major progress in reducing climate destabilizing emissions. The task, then, was to tell an effective story about what could be gained by shifting away from coal and how we could keep the lights on without it. Our success in doing that was thanks to efforts of many people and organizations who believed in our vision of a coal-free Ontario. I would particularly like to thank the Ontario Medical Association and the Toronto Public Health, especially the late Dr.