Celebrating our 25th Anniversary With You

Twenty-five years ago, we had an idea. If Ontario shutdown its five dirty coal plants, we could eliminate the yellow haze of smog hanging over our communities and be leaders in the fight against dangerous climate change.

Many who heard about our coal phase-out plan labelled it crazy. After all, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) was ramping up the output of its dirty coal plants by more than 120% to keep our lights on, following the shutdown of 7 of its nuclear reactors for safety reasons.

But seventeen years later, in 2014, Ontario burned its last chunk of coal and became the first jurisdiction in the world to phase-out dirty coal to reduce smog and protect our climate.

This hugely successful campaign – the single largest climate action in North America – was not the result of a huge deep-pocketed organization using its tremendous insider influence. It was a result of our small but savvy organization being relentless in pursuit of a big idea with a big payoff.

And it was the calls, letters, meetings, rallies and financial support from thousands of Ontarians like you that turned the tide. You understood that it made no sense to be burning dirty coal in the 21^st century.

That’s why it is so infuriating to see the Government of Ontario and OPG ramping up dirty fossil fuel electricity once again. This time they are planning to increase the greenhouse gas pollution from our gas-fired power plants by more than 600% during an existential climate crisis. Ontario is going in the wrong direction!

The good news is that we can move our great province to a zero-carbon electricity grid by 2030 and lower bills by investing in energy efficiency, wind and solar energy, and by cooperating with our next-door neighbour Quebec – the 4^th largest producer of water power in the world.

No other organization brings the laser-like focus and tenacity of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance to these issues. Your donation to support our work will be DOUBLED – advancing the approaches we need to effectively address our climate crisis NOW – not decades from now.

Twenty-five years later, our strength is still the support we get from people like you. You helped us make the coal phase-out happen. Now we need your help to create a green energy future and a safe climate for our children and grandchildren.

Thank you for your support!

Angela Bischoff, Director and Jack Gibbons, Chair of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance