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L EGAL REPOR T: ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT are waiting for governments to resolve. "The government system will be more like securities," Chamberlain points out. "It will set out all the rules on how that works. But we don't have that yet." For producers of alternative energy, that conundrum is especially challenging. In Ontario, the government-run Ontario Power Authority, for example, keeps the green attributes, or carbon credits, gen- erated by eco-friendly electrical facilities such as wind turbines. It is right to do so for the moment, Chamberlain argues, since the absence of carbon markets means it doesn't know what price credits would garner and therefore how much revenue it would be granting to develop- ers of private power. But Dianne Saxe, an environmental lawyer who sits on the board of dir- ectors of the WindShare co-operative in Toronto, says the Ontario Power Authority's position on green attributes has hampered that organization's ability to expand beyond its initial wind turbine on the city's waterfront. "The environ- mental attributes are one of the tools we have for funding local power generation. At the moment, because it is still rela- tively new and because of the absence of a supportive federal and provincial regu- latory system, it's still quite expensive to set up community power." At the same time, getting access to the electrical grid has also been difficult. Part of the reason WindShare had to put off plans to build a second facil- ity on Ontario's Bruce Peninsula was due to the Ontario Power Authority's commitments to guarantee a certain amount of transmission capacity to the nearby nuclear plant. "That's part of why the green energy act is so essential," says Saxe, expressing hope that pro- posed legislation unveiled in February would address some of those com- plaints as Ontario works to transform its electricity system into an alternative energy leader. Another business seeking answers is forestry company Domtar Inc., where vice president for sustainability Guy PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY Supreme Court of Canada Counsel and Agency Services Boucher notes industry and govern- ment have been talking about what to do on climate change since the 1990s. "At the time, what industry was saying is what we needed was certainty," says Boucher, who switched to the sustain- ability file after serving as Domtar's vice president for legal affairs. "Ten years after, we're still asking the same ques- tions. I think sometimes we get tired of [attending] so many meetings that aren't going anywhere." For Domtar, high energy prices have already pushed it to make investments that led to a 21-per-cent decrease in emissions from its mills between 2002 and 2007. (Boucher notes those reduc- tions are in addition to any emissions cuts resulting from mill closures). So, the company hopes new regulations won't harm its bottom line but it can't be sure since the shape of a carbon mar- ket is unclear. When the former federal government began mulling its climate change plans a few years ago, the target year for reductions was 2000, Boucher gowlings.com CAST ALUMINUM SIGNS omit_CL_Apr_09.indd 1 3/17/09 11:43:01 AM ntitled-5 1 12/11/08 3:24:59 PM Beautifully enamelled relief castings. Numerous shapes & emblems. For Free colour brochure call, write, fax or e-mail: E-Mail: stephenpalmer@hughes.net www.castsign.on.ca 52 APRIL 2009 www. mag.com Ph/Fax: (519) 647-3326 CAMBRIDGE METALSMITHS BOX 130 CL, Lynden, Ontario, Canada L0R 1T0