What would you be willing to do to give 5-year-olds a decent life?
Imagine you are a 5-year-old in Toronto today. Your future is in front of you. That future could either be a climate stabilized where it is right now, or a doubling of droughts, fires and storms in just 50 years. The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Illustrates it like this:
IPCC_AR6_SYR_SPM.pdf
You will notice from the graph that with a “very low” emissions path, we can stabilize the climate, but with a high path, which is what Canada is following, the average global temperature will double: double the droughts, the storms, the heat the fires.
What do we need to do if we want to stick to a low emissions path? We need to stick to Toronto’s target of Net-Zero by 2040. That means we have to prepare the city to stop using gasoline, and natural gas within 15 years. So how has the city been doing?
For the past 15 years we have made no improvements.
If we want to meet this challenge, we need to replace gas furnaces and heat our homes with electric heat pumps in all buildings. It's cheapest if we convert when our current equipment breaks down, saving future costs. We need to plan for a future with electric cars, or bikes. The city has to plan for charging infrastructure, improving the electricity distribution, taking out the gas system and electrifying transit.
How can we afford it? All the money currently going to Enbridge will flow to Toronto Hydro. The city can also provide grants where absolutely necessary, or guarantee financing by adding it to the tax bills.
Last December, City Council tabled a building emissions by-law until after this election. The bylaw was flawed because it exempted single family homes, provincial buildings and postponed multi-residential.
Bottom Line
Stop expanding gas infrastructure in Toronto, gradually replacing existing infrastructure with other sources of power
Divert existing funding from Enbridge to Toronto Hydro
Provide grants to homes and businesses to switch off of gas infrastructure
Propose a new bylaw that covers all buildings