CEA To Attend Smog Summit On Friday

Windsor, Ontario - Derek Coronado, Policy and Research Coordinator of the Citizens Environment Alliance (CEA) will be attending the Smog Summit in Toronto this Friday. The CEA asserts that all levels of government have, so far, failed to institute integrated and comprehensive policies and programs that will effectively reduce smog and improve environmental health in southwestern Ontario.

A politician's roundtable discussion will take place on Friday, June 20 at Metro Toronto Hall Council Chambers. This is the fourth Smog Summit organized in the provincial capital.

"People are dying. We need to have aggressive action from our elected representatives - not just talk", said Coronado. The CEA will be taking some recommendations to the Smog Summit:

• Environment Canada and the Ministry of the Environment need to expand their anti-smog activities beyond voluntary requirements and increase their presence in communities like Windsor by opening new offices or expanding existing offices;
• Sustainable environmental policies and implementation must be the goal of all government departments and agencies that have an impact on land use. For example, Transport Canada and the Ministry of Transportation have a clear bias in favour of expanding road infrastucture, ultimately adding more vehicles to the roads - a contradictory position for improving air quality in southwestern Ontario;
• Increased funding of public transportation by senior level governments (including operational funding) is a preliminary action for improving transportation options, reducing sprawl and improving air quality. Municipalities are currently overwhelmed by the requirements for sustainable, efficient public transit;
• Eliminate public subsidies for polluting and unsustainable energy production such as coal-fired power and nuclear power and use the funds to provide a just transition for energy workers and quickly develop sustainable sources of energy such as wind power;
• Intensify support and activites around energy productivity (energy conservation and efficiency). With almost no government assistance in thirty years since the 1970s energy productivity, as a resource, contributed more new energy to Canada than all the new sources of oil, gas, coal, hydro, and nuclear combined.

For more information contact:

Derek Coronado
Research and Policy Coordinator,
Citizens Environment Alliance
(519) 973-1116