30 Fairmont Park Lane S
Lethbridge, AB T1K 7H7
Phone: (403) 328-1704
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
The Editor
The Lethbridge Herald
P.O. Box 670
Lethbridge, AB, T1J 3Z7
Phillips Folly
During a presentation to SACPA on November 15, 2015, Minister Philips made light
of so-called climate change “deniers” by dismissing any and all questioning of
the “real” climate change “facts”. She went on to state that “It’s not that I
believe in the science of climate change, it’s that I understand the science of
climate change”. That is a very audacious, if not arrogant, claim for anyone not
trained and experienced in physics disciplines such as radiative and convective
heat transfer, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, biology, and the complex
analysis needed to achieve even a basic understanding of climate change.
Now, Minister Phillips is “moving forward” to add injury to insult on the
climate file. She has established a “Residental No-Charge Savings Program”,
apparently intended to teach uninformed Albertan’s how to reduce carbon dioxide
emissions. This will be achieved by engaging one of those green companies,
Ecofitt, established to profit from the mad rush to combat climate change.
Ecofitt is responsible for employing a cadre of workers who will be invading
homes, replacing incandescent with LED bulbs, providing low flow shower heads,
installing smart thermostats, and providing energy saving power bars. A quick
check of the Ecofitt website, reveals their store charges roughly three time as
much per LED bulb than some local big box stores. Remember - homeowners will not
be charged for this service. There is more to come. The total cost of the
“Energy Efficiency Alberta” program over the coming five years is estimated to
be $645 million.
Albertans who have already implemented these well-established technologies as a
matter of course will thus be overpaying hundreds of millions of dollars on
behalf of the slow starters. The inflated costs to bring them up to speed will
be covered by the carbon tax Minister Phillips rammed through last year.
Surely this continuing condescending contempt for the majority of informed
Albertans will influence their choices when the next election cycle comes
around. Minister Phillips may then appreciate the folly of her misplaced
philanthropy with our carbon taxes.
Yours truly,
Duane Pendergast
Energy Collegium