climate policy

Calling on cities to protect a clean electricity future

3/2024 - On February 16, the federal government released a discussion paper, proposing several changes to the CER. While some of these would provide helpful flexibility in the regulation, altogether they would represent a significant undermining of the policy. Municipalities have a powerful influence and can support the CER in three ways.

Ontario’s once-in-a generation opportunity to modernize and decarbonize our electricity grid

11/2022 - Since exploring how decarbonizing the grid would impact various communities, TAF commissioned a new report showing the most affordable way to meet rising electricity demand is through a mix of energy efficiency, solar, wind and storage.

Ontario’s next gas plant scandal

10/2022 - On October 7th, Ontario’s Minister of Energy directed the IESO to procure 1,500 megawatts of new natural gas plants to generate electricity. This decision was taken without any public consultation, based on a short IESO report with no financial analysis or comparison of other pathways. Amidst increasing fossil fuel prices and plummeting costs of readily available clean solutions, investing in new gas plants would be environmentally and fiscally reckless. But it’s not a done deal.

How this small Ontario city is leading on public EV charging

6/2022 - Perhaps surprisingly, Burlington, Ontario has more charging stations per capita than any other city in the GTHA, with over 30 public stations per 50,000 people. I interviewed Lynn Robichaud, Manager of Environmental Sustainability at the City of Burlington, about what it takes to lead on EV charging installation and management.

Fugitive methane emissions in Ontario are double the reported rate

5/2022 - There is growing consensus that ‘fugitive methane’ (gas leakage that occurs during the extraction and transmission of fossil fuels) is drastically underestimated -- but by how much? A new TAF report provides updated guidelines to account for the full life cycle emissions of natural gas, badly needed as we face crucial infrastructure decisions in Ontario.

Climate and affordability depend on these essential building code updates

3/2022 - Ontario’s building code is only updated every five to seven years, so we can’t afford to miss this opportunity to reduce carbon emissions by building better buildings that are cleaner and more affordable to operate. Read our recommendations to align it with an affordable, net zero future.

Toronto just passed a host of new climate policies to support a net zero future

12/2021 - The Atmospheric Fund commends the City of Toronto on the new net zero by 2040 target and climate plan adopted by council this week, which includes a suite of actions and policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the building and transportation sectors

Toronto sets ambitious net zero target by 2040

11/2021 - TAF outlines some key components of the TransformTO Net Zero Strategy and provides our take on how it needs to be strengthened to achieve net zero by 2040.

Budget 2021 is a healthy dose for the clean economy, but climate measures lack potency

4/2021 - Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland just announced $101.4 billion in new spending. With the trend toward increasing emissions in the Great Toronto and Hamilton Area and other cities across Canada, there are welcome investments in Budget 2021 to support urban climate action, but a critical missing link is missing.