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Opposition to Duke Point project heats up as April 6 court date approachesApril 5, 2005 - VANCOUVER – Industry, citizen and environmental groups will team up in a Vancouver courtroom tomorrow in an attempt to block the construction of a new power plant on Vancouver Island.
They will argue that BC Hydro’s controversial plan to build a natural gas fired electricity plant at Duke Point near Nanaimo will mean more greenhouse gas emissions, exposure to volatile gas prices and higher costs to consumers.
“The Duke Point power project could become Premier Gordon Campbell’s fast ferry fiasco,” said Ian Bruce, a climate change specialist with the David Suzuki Foundation. “They are both extremely expensive and completely unnecessary. There are simply too many environmental and economic costs to justify building this new power plant.”
Duke Point will release at least 800,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere every year – about as much exhaust as 180,000 cars. Approval for the plant was announced one day after the Kyoto Protocol came into effect to reduce the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change.
BC Hydro’s own Integrated Electricity Plan shows the Duke Point plant isn’t needed. It says the province can cost-effectively meet all new demand for electricity with renewable energy and by reducing demand through conservation and efficiency.
“The Duke Point gas plant represents a dramatic shift in British Columbia away from our tradition of generating electricity without producing greenhouse gases,” said Mark Jaccard, the former chair of the BC Utilities Commission. “The provincial government must cancel this project to have any credibility on climate change, just as Quebec recently decided to cancel a major natural gas plant in order to focus on wind and hydropower. This is one of the cheapest options for reducing greenhouse gases.”
Even the Joint Industry Electricity Steering Committee, representing some of the largest industrial users of electricity in B.C., is opposed to Duke Point, saying its members would be subjected to unreasonable increases in electricity rates if the plant is built.
The alternative to Duke Point includes energy solutions that are not only cheaper, but also climate friendly and will significantly help Canada meet its Kyoto commitments.
Mr. Bruce points out that instead of building expensive, polluting gas plants like Duke Point, BC Hydro should be expanding efficiency and renewable energy programs. There is a 450 MW wind farm ready to be constructed on the north end of Vancouver Island that has already passed environmental review. But BC Hydro turned it down.
The hearing to determine if there are grounds to appeal the B.C. Utilities Commission decision to give the Duke Point power project the go-ahead has been set for 9:30 a.m., Wednesday April 6, 800 Smithe Street, Vancouver.
Read a background document on the Duke Point project here.
For more information, call: Ian Bruce Climate change specialist David Suzuki Foundation Cell: 604-306-5095, office: 604-732-4228, ext. 275
Mark Jaccard Professor, School of Resource and Environmental Management Simon Fraser University 604-291-4219
Sarah Marchildon Communications specialist David Suzuki Foundation 604-732-4228, ext. 237
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