Gravely concerned with energy privatization in Ontario
Ontarians are paying private corporations to privatize our energy.
Yet, private energy providers have cut many of our fellow citizens from accessing energy, leaving them behind in the dark and in the cold. People have been brought down to the level where they are begging for some energy in welfare offices.
Private energy has taken away from us our ability to decide as a community about the future of our energy, a life – or- extinction issue in the times of global warming.
Where our communities should be actively hosting energy planning meetings with those energy stakeholders important to our energy future, we see faceless private energy corporations inviting us to their meetings in our communities. The whole setup feels like a death sentence. We hang ourselves by going to their meetings. We waste our time and energy reacting to and fighting those uninvited corporations, instead of building our energy future in Ontario.
Private energy corporations have already made us guests in our own homes. They are not in our communities to consult us in their consultation meetings. They have already used energy as a weapon against us. They are not here to consult us.
Our citizens in community after community in Ontario have said that private natural gas plants and private industrial wind farms are not welcome. They have been rolled over with Dalton's privatizing bulldozers. Most green NGOs in Ontario are supporting privatization of our energy as well as fossil fuel burning (gas). They are not our allies and will not fool us.
Citizens throughout Ontario are organizing in this common struggle for public energy - such energy which exists in harmony with people and environment. This is more than possible.
Ontarians are organizing under the banner of Public Cool Energy or Cool Public Energy where "cool"is referring to energy which is not private, and which is not based on burning or mining of any type of fuel (coal, gas, uranium, wood, garbage), yet is a mix of locally available diverse renewable fuel sources.
Robust energy is decentralized, distributed energy, local energy, energy that em-powers the community.
If one solar rooftop supplies its household and sells back to the grid then what is the potential of a community of solar rooftops integrated with geothermal, biodigester and microwind?
The potential is huge and benefits are countless.
Gravely concerned with energy privatization (and fossilization) in Ontario,
Ivona Vujica for Ontario
