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From Environmental Defense…. 

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“Thank you!” It’s a phrase that we can’t say enough to all of our supporters. Thank you for helping us make a difference by making a donation, signing one of our petitions, attending one of our events, and so much more. We couldn’t do our work without you!

Take a moment and watch this special video featuring one of our supporters and celebrity partners, Bruce Cockburn, who has a few words to share. Thank you to Bruce and all the sponsors and guests who made our recent Gala such a huge success!

Smaller than you might think – the role of renewables in Ontario residential electricity bills

In Ontario, there’s been a lot of rhetoric about the role renewable energy plays in rising electricity costs. It’s true that electricity costs have gone up. But it’s not true that renewables are to blame for that increase.

We recently released Your Home Electricity Bill: A study on the costs in Ontario. The study contains data from Power Advisory, an independent energy consulting firm, that crunched the numbers and found out how much the average Ontario resident will pay for renewable energy on a monthly bill this year and in 10 years. The answer? Not as much as you might think.

This year, non-hydro renewable energy (wind, solar and bioenergy) will account for just 9 per cent of the average residential electricity bill in Ontario. That’s pretty small. By 2024, renewable energy will account for just 16 per cent of the average residential bill. The study also explains other factors behind the rising prices.

Renewable energy is the best option for our environment, and with the costs of it dropping fairly quickly, it’s appealing for our wallets too. For more on the study, click here.

Introducing Energy East — an export pipeline that’s our risk and their reward

TransCanada’s controversial Keystone XL pipeline project generates a lot of headlines. But did you know another risky TransCanada project – even larger than Keystone – is on the horizon and could put hundreds of communities across Canada at risk of an oil spill?

TransCanada’s Energy East is a pipeline plan to get tar sands oil from Alberta to the east coast. The plan would see an old natural gas pipeline converted to ship heavy oil from Alberta through to Ontario, and a huge new pipeline built across Quebec and New Brunswick. The oil would then be exported through massive new export tanker terminals in the St. Lawrence River, and the Bay of Fundy.

As a new report shows, Energy East is an export pipeline – not a made-in-Canada energy solution. Energy East would carry 1.1 million barrels of oil per day. Of that, between 750,000 to 1 million barrels would likely be exported unrefined via tankers.

Learn more about this risky pipeline. Live in Ontario? Tell the Ontario Energy Board to say no to this risky pipeline.

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