It is what I feel as I watch the Ontario election results come in tonight.
But before I get into that, yes, it has been well over a year since I last posted anything to this blog. A positive career shift at work (promotion) and welcoming my first born daughter into the world has forced some of my side project pursuits to take a back seat to longer hours at work, more work travel, taking care of the little one and riding my motorcycle to keep my sanity.
Tonight, Ontario elected a majority PC government and forced to province back at least 4 years in the adoption of electric vehicles and green energy technology. I voted NDP in this election for the first time ever (and felt kind of dirty doing so, I tend to be a more centre-right kind of guy with an environmentalist streak) to try and contribute towards avoiding what happened tonight.
In an undetermined amount of time, probably mere weeks, the Ontario Green Energy Act will be repealed as per the party's promise and a significant amount of funding, most notably the $14,000 EV rebate will be off the table. This will push the affordability of EVs out of reach of many early adopters and set back general public acceptance of EVs significantly; which I had hoped would reach levels where the rebate was no longer needed in the next few years.
I myself and likely many others, will probably not follow through on their Tesla Model 3 reservations, and possibly other EV purchases. Between the rebate being gone and the cost of daycare, it would not be a prudent financial decision and I will likely stick with my Chevy Volt until I run it into the ground.
So what can you do? Well over the next few weeks we should at least be heard and I encourage you to write to your MPs and express your desire for the Green Energy Act to be saved.
Maybe someone will start a petition; unfortunately e-petitions are still not allowed in Ontario otherwise I would start one. I sadly do not have the time to start and administer a paper petition.
Anyways, here is to hoping that despite all this, Ontario continues to have a bright future in the adoption of Green Energy, even if it may not come as fast as we all would like right now.
