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Home My WebLink AboutClinton News Record, 2013-12-11, Page 5C C LGItI MI - J 3 0 Z Zm in I Z rn E*** 33213-1101 CONTINUED FROM > PAGE 4 the rewards were delicious. So maybe I'm on to something. I've always loved candy canes, particu- larly the peppermint ones. Growing up, my parents had to be care- ful how many they decided to adorn the Christmas tree with, because by the time holidays rolled around, there were some conspicuously bare patches toward the wall. Going way back, candy canes remind me of visiting Santa at the old Zurich arena. Each year my brother and sister and I would pile into our snowsuits and join hundreds of other kids to drink choc- olate milk and watch old Woody Wood- pecker cartoons on the projector before getting to sit on Santa's lap (and getting a treat bag). Maybe it is just a silly Christ- mas memory, but I still get nostalgic about chocolate milk and candy canes. Which, to make this column circuitous, is why I enjoy covering Christmas events. Family, friends and total strangers all get together to put smiles on each other's faces. And what tops it off for me, what really makes it feel like Christmas, is a small stick of peppermint candy, shaped like a shepherd's crook inline cin oonnnewsrecord.com Get all of your news, sports and more. Serving Huron County Breathe through a straw for 60 seconds. Mars what br waving is 1tkd with cystic fibrosis,. N a wonder so many people with. CF stop breathing In their early 30s. Please he Ip us. LI)Canadian C'ystrc E ik�fc�sis I'raurtrlaiivxt maye 1-11O6-3'8{CFF • wsarw_cystirFarosia.ra Wednesday, December 11, 2013 • News Record 5 www.clintonnewsrecord.com letter to the editor Liberal energy plan energetic in wrong way To the Editor, This week the Ontario government released its Long Term Energy Plan. After reading the 87 pages I'd like to offer some observations: It's a fine example of political mathematics. They are saving you money by increasing hydro costs less than they said they were going to. It's still going up rapidly but... The supposed "savings" actually come by spending the $15 billion set aside for two new reactors at Darlington and "saving" $200 million by paying wind turbines not to produce. It's like a farmer telling his wife, "no worries, I've paid this month's mortgage by selling all the equipment and we're going to save money in the future by burning $10 bills instead of $20s:' Woo-hoo, the future is bright! Conservation is the new "goal" for Ontario - noth- ing wrong with that. Just it's the wrong time to do it. I suggested efficiency technologies and conservation was a much better strategy than the Green Energy Act four years ago. Unfortunately instead of driving conservation then to replace a small amount of coal the government gushed money to create the most aggressive build -out of wind and solar in the world. Contracts were awarded despite already having con- tracted electricity from 21 gas plants and four reactor refurbishments. It was nuts; people said that and were ignored. Now we have shrinking demand as manufacturing shrinks and this over -capacity has to be paid for whether we use it or not. If everybody saves electricity now, we still have to pay the same total contracted costs. The only way you can win at that game is to conserve and hope all your neigh- bours don't. It's sort of like an electrical version of The Hunger Games. Fossil fuels have a bright future in Ontario I'm afraid. Surprisingly after creating one of the most expensive and market retardant electricity systems in North America our reliance on fossil fuels will con- tinue as always. We will replace a small amount of coal with greater reliance on natural gas. The long- term plan shows gas use for electricity actually increasing even though the plan is to quadruple wind and solar from current levels. Unfortunately for the environment, much of the conservation being counted on will come from replacing clean but now expensive electricity for heating loads to much higher emissions but cheaper imported natural gas. It's crazy to intentionally make the cleanest energy choice the most expensive. Public owned nuclear has been the workhorse for Ontario's economy for decades but is now on a bub- ble. Nuclear is our only "home grown" energy supply and has worked very well. The public survey con- ducted to supposedly guide the LTEP, chose contin- ued use of nuclear as the first choice and gas plants and wind/solar in as least preferred. The Ontario Society of Professional Engineers has shown costs of nuclear (with decommissioning) to be much lower cost than a gas/wind/solar combination. What hap- pened I wonder? The gas/wind alliance is very evi- dent in Ontario. The LTEP does commit to refurbishing reactors at Darlington and the Bruce, but provides a host of off - ramps or "escape clauses': All in it's a reduction in nuclear's role by about 19 per cent. The government says it has "saved" $15 billion for two new reactors, but fails to mention it is committing us to $100 billion for variable wind/solar over the next 25 years instead, along with picking up the tab for the not so clean nat- ural gas back-up. Romania is now considering buying two new CANDU's and what is our government doing? With the Ontario content rules for wind/solar being declared illegal recently, we will find ourselves pay- ing offshore corporations to erect German turbines and Chinese solar panels, while hoping the U.S. doesn't run out of gas. Not a clever strategy. I'd never suggest people shouldn't use wind or solar, it just shouldn't be promoted at the expense of public inter- est and the environment. Please sign legal tactics petition To the editor, This is to ask your readers to sign the legal tactics petition at Change.org. This petition asks the Chief Justice of Canada to instruct judges they must decide cases upon justice rather than legal tactics, especially when they are deciding upon the wellbeing of a child. The use of legal tactics can be soul-destroying. As family breakups are frequent and often end up in court, this problem could easily have a future devastating impact on somebody close to you. This petition is about morally challenged lawyers using tricks to get judges to ignore the law and make Sincerely, Robert Budd decisions, which are unjust, unfair and often cruel. Some examples are ignoring the principle that a per- son should have the right to answer to allegations against them, an unwritten law that men should not have emotions and the use of an injunction based on an appeal which all parties know will never happen. For a detailed statement, go to Change.org and search for "legal tactics': If you think justice is impor- tant, please read and sign the petition and please for- ward this message to as many people as you can. Libraries, trucks and equipment, but no ice To the editor, Shame on Bluewater Council for putting an end to the ice in the Bayfield Arena. If the ice -surface is being so under -used, maybe you should hire a con- sultant to figure it out since you people can't. The municipality never seemed worried about expenses before, with two new libraries and more and equip- ment than a contracting firm. Art Powell, Enderby, B.C. I hope for your sake the libraries, construction equipment and trucks get over -used but I doubt it. Seems that so-called wall down the centre of High- way 21 has started to grow faster once again. (Blue - water west vs. east) Game on, John Murray Taylor