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cost-benefit analysis renewables, electricity bills Ontario, Green Energy Act, James Bradley Ontario, job loss Ontario, Minsitry of the Environment Ontario
With a possible provincial election in the spring, and a municipal election in October, this story will be of interest to political hopefuls: the Green Energy Act has been a disaster for rural/small-town Ontario. While concerns about the GEA were at number one, worries about jobs came in second–we propose that the two are closely linked, as Ontario’s soaring power bills drive businesses away, and make it difficult for businesses to compete. Jobs are being lost, not created.
Wind Turbines a Concern for Rural Ontario
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Thirty-six percent of respondents feel the Green Energy Act or environmental sustainability is a major worry for those living in the province’s country lands.
The poll results follow a year rich with wind turbine controversy, including 78 towns, municipalities, and counties declaring themselves unwilling to host turbines.
Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives refused to support the act, stating they would not support the GEA until a Health Canada study ruled winds turbine do not negatively effect health.
Just trailing the concern over Green Energy at thirty-three percent is the worry of employment opportunities in rural Ontario.
Respondents worried that the few jobs in country areas do not pay very well, and that even those jobs are scarce.
Farm revitalization and transportation improvement were of the least concern to respondents, each coming in at six percent.
Ottawa Wind Concerns 