By: Pat Daley

  Anybody concerned about air pollution - especially the people who have to spend far too many summer days indoors because of smog - shouldn't get excited about the new anti-pollution measures announced by Ontario.
  It's all smoke (literally) and mirrors. As a start, the new rules require power producers to produce reports on emissions that cause smog and acid rain. Expect those reports to show an overall reduction in emissions. But there's no guarantee that emissions from any power plant in the province will actually decrease.
  The game is called emissions reduction trading or ERT. The new law will define areas called "regional airsheds" because, as we know, the air we breathe is polluted by sources near and far. These regional airsheds will cover parts of the United States as well as Ontario.
 

A company that has emissions at or below the limit gets credits. It can sell the credits to a company with emissions above the limit. The latter company uses the credits in its reports to make it look like emissions are lower. In the US, these credits have been sold by auction to the highest bidder

  Ontario power producers will be required to meet new limits on certain emissions. The government announcement did not say anything about penalties for companies that do not comply. However, as an "incentive," they will be able to earn, buy, and sell emissions reduction "credits." It's a system already operating in the United States and Ontario companies will be able to trade credits with American companies in the same regional airshed.
  Don't mistake a credit for action. The only place you'll ever see an ER credit is on paper. A company that has emissions at or below the limit gets credits. It can sell the credits to a company with emissions above the limit. The latter company uses the credits in its reports to make it look like emissions are lower. In the US, these credits have been sold by auction to the highest bidder.
  Take the example of Ontario Power Generation (OPG). Starting next January, the annual limit on its emission of smog-producing nitrogen oxide will be 35,000 tonnes - not much less than the 38,000 tonnes it already agreed to as a voluntary limit for this year.
  The problem is OPG hasn't been doing so well meeting its voluntary limits. In 1998, its plants were producing 56,000 tonnes of nitrogen oxide - a 30% increase from the year before. Under the new rules, OPG could continue spewing out nitrogen oxide while using credits purchased from US power generators to show on paper that it is meeting the limits.
  The sad fact is that about 1,800 people die prematurely from smog-related causes every year in Ontario. Don't hold your breath waiting for that reality to change any time soon.

Pat Daley is a freelance writer and editor in Athlone in Simcoe County, Ontario.