Province vows to ban coal-fired hydro

Ontario could soon become the first place in North America to snuff out coal-fired electricity generation for good, Premier Kathleen Wynne said Thursday. The minority Liberals plan to introduce legislation on Monday that, if passed, would ensure no Ontario generating station ever burns coal again once it’s eliminated in 2014. Ontario’s Nanticoke generating station is slated to close soon. Another station, in Thunder Bay, Ont., is expected to switch to biomass over the next year. With environmentalist and former U.S. vice-president Al Gore by her side, Wynne said the proposed ban isn’t just a symbolic move in Ontario’s fight against climate change. “What’s significant is that we’re saying that we don’t want to go back, we’re not going to go back and that future government would have to change the legislation,” she said.