Choosing to scale up green energy to replace the retiring Pickering nuclear station is more affordable for Ontarians than buying expensive replacement reactors, says a report released today by Renewable is Doable, an alliance of organizations including the Pembina Institute, the Canadian Environmental Law Association and Greenpeace.  Last summer, Ontario suspended its purchase of two new replacement reactors when their cost reportedly topped $26 billion — $20 billion more than expected in 2007.

As part of the Green Energy Act Alliance, Pembina applauds Ontario's plans to spend $8 billion on renewable energy projects.

Tim Weis, Director of the Pembina Institute’s renewable energy and efficiency program, reacted to Michael Ignatieff’s speech today in Vancouver, saying the Liberal leader's committments to make significant investments in clean energy jobs and set a hard cap on carbon emissions are encouraging, but more details about targets and mechanisms are needed to make the plan workable.

Environment groups and the energy efficiency industry are calling on provincial, territorial and federal energy ministers to begin a massive scale up of energy efficiency measures which could meet energy demands and make cuts in Canada's GHG emissions.

Environmentalists said that the electricity plan submitted to the OEB will not achieve the level of GHG reductions necessary for any of the four major parties to achieve the climate change targets they've put into their platforms.

A cheaper, cleaner, and less risky option than the current nuclear-reliant Ontario electricity plan is doable according to a state-of-the-art modelling analysis commissioned by WWF-Canada and the Pembina Institute and released today.