Skip to main content

No to gas-fired power plants

Our oh-so-popular and oh-so-duplicitous premier is at it again. Basking in an undeserved reputation of being progressive and caring about climate, he's about to introduce fossil fuel power to our renewably resourced province. Likely to build world-destroying (in so many ways) data centres. 

Meanwhile, for a lower investment of millions, the amount of power set to be generated could be saved simply by properly insulating thousands of houses and reducing energy consumption. 

To say nothing of the fact that, relative to the “supply” available, we haven't even begun to use solar and wind power. 

Thank you to the Climate Action Team of Manitoba who is resisting, educating, and offering alternatives. 

And adapt and write your own letter as I did:

I am writing today to voice my strong concern regarding your government’s decision to build a new $3 billion fossil gas-fired power plant. This is a complete betrayal of the promises you were elected on.

Building new fossil fuel infrastructure that will fuel the climate crisis and keep us reliant on imported fossil gas from Alberta for decades to come is unacceptable. I strongly urge you to reconsider and instead invest in reliable renewable sources of electricity such as wind, solar, and battery energy storage. 

For decades, Manitobans have been proud to use renewable energy. (Hydro power has been destructive in often un-acknowledged ways for Indigenous communities, and that still deserves a reckoning, but pivoting to fossil fuel power is compounding, not addressing harms.) Why would you choose this crucial moment in history -- a moment when developed countries are leading the way with rapid conversion to solar and wind power -- to shift to fossil fuel power, leaving our vast solar resources completely unused?

My main concerns with a new gas-fired power plant are: 

  • It expands fossil fuel use during an era of climate emergency. After a summer of devastating wildfires, it is clearer now than ever that we are in a climate crisis, and we need to get off fossil fuels as quickly as possible. Manitobans like myself want a government that takes climate action seriously, and this project contradicts the progress your government has made on climate solutions and moves us in the wrong direction.

  • It is a waste of public money and worsens afforability. We entrust the government to use public funds wisely, and spending $3 billion on a new fossil gas plant, that is only supposed to turn on for a few days per year, does exactly the opposite. It also makes us more vulnerable to volatile fossil gas prices, and increases expensive climate change impacts.

Manitoba should be investing to capitalize on its solar and wind resources, paired with battery storage and energy efficiency programs. These solutions are proven, reliable, and have seen dramatic cost reductions in recent years. They are being scaled up in countries around the world, and it's time for Manitoba to get on board. 

I urge you to invest in renewables, energy storage, and electricity demand reductions, instead of new fossil fuel power. Our air, water, communities, and future generations are worth protecting.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Winnipeg Transit woes

  “We’ve increased support for municipalities year after year because we know strong communities depend on reliable, stable and predictable funding increases,” Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard said in an emailed statement to the Free Press Tuesday. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2026/06/23/winnipeg-transit-needs-funding-boost-additional-staff-to-follow-new-provincial-accessibility-regulations-city-report This in answer to City of Winnipeg chair of Public Works Janice Lukes plea for the province to cough up money for the needed upgrades. Listen carefully because these are words I won't often say: I gotta agree with Lukes on this one. If the province is handing down new standards, given their higher capacity for raising revenues, they ought to help the city fund meeting said standards. What Simard fails to acknowledge is that those "year after year" funding increases started at the bottom basement after Conservative cuts and likely h...
Post a Comment
Read more

more journalistic malpractice from Canada's national broadcaster

The government has just rammed through legislation to turn Canada into a police surveillance state where all the democratic and processed based guard-rails have been removed.  They used some legislative loophole to force a vote on amendments without debate at a committee meeting at midnight. But this is what the front page of our national broadcaster's news site looks like. Do you see any mention of Bill C-22? Do you see any word of a midnight SECU session with a forced vote? Do you see any mention of MPs in tears at how democracy is being shredded before their very eyes? Do you see anything removing about all legal protections against having your data intercepted, read and kept on file (in a word of hackers and data breaches)? Do you see anything about how experts in Australia (who have already gone partway down the path Canada has just widened, flatted, and turned into a racetrack) are warning Canadians not to do this? No. The CBC is spineless. Just a mouthpiece for whoever wield...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fighting motornormativity one letter at a time

If-you-see-something-say-something strikes again.  Sick and tired of motornormativity, I'm setting event notifications straight. Don't just tell people where they can park when they attend your event. Have some hope for humanity and believe we can step out of our death machines and get around in a more human way. Especially for an event that is pitched as a picnic. This is what they sent: So this is what I wrote:  I know you already have a lot of details in this message. I know that realistically, most of your attendees will come in private vehicles. But can you please add notes for bus and bike travellers the next time you send a message like this? What constructs our view of “normal” is not only what we personally see and interact with but also how our world is talked about. When “where do I park?!” always gets top billing in event information whereas “which bus can I take?” and “is there a safe place to leave my bike?” are never even addressed, it reinforces the impre...
Post a Comment
Read more