Ontario to spend $7-billion on sweeping climate change plan
Ontario to spend $7-billion on sweeping climate change plan
Adrian Morrow and Greg Keenan, The Globe and Mail
May 16, 2016
The Ontario government will spend more than $7-billion over four years on a sweeping climate change plan that will affect every aspect of life – from what people drive to how they heat their homes and workplaces – in a bid to slash the province’s carbon footprint.
Ontario will begin phasing out natural gas for heating, provide incentives to retrofit buildings and give rebates to drivers who buy electric vehicles. It will also require that gasoline sold in the province contain less carbon, bring in building code rules requiring all new homes by 2030 to be heated with electricity or geothermal systems, and set a target for 12 per cent of all new vehicle sales to be electric by 2025.
Electric Vehicle-related points:
$285-million for electric vehicle incentives.
- These include a rebate of up to $14,000 for every electric vehicle purchased; up to $1,000 to install home charging;
- taking the provincial portion of the HST off electric vehicle sales;
- subsidy to get older cars off the road and replace them with electric;
- and free overnight electricity for charging electric vehicles.
The province will also build more charging stations at government buildings, including LCBO outlets, and consider making electrical vehicle plug-ins mandatory on all new buildings.
The plan sets targets of expanding electric vehicle sales to 5% of all vehicles sold by 2020, up to 12 % by 2025, and aiming to get an electric or hybrid vehicle in every multivehicle driveway by 2024, a total of about 1.7 million cars.
