The NDP does it again

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First came BC NDP leader Carol James flailing unsuccessfully against the most progressive environmental policy in North America. Then came Jack Layton, who chose to worship at the alter of demagoguery over good policy (claiming that cap-and-trade is a painless, free policy that only hurts big business with no cost being passed on to individuals unlike the plan that shall not be mentioned).

Well, given how successful James and Layton were with their efforts (note: sarcasm), up steps Nova Scotia NDP Leader Darrell Dexter and his 2009 provincial election platform. Maybe, platform is far too expansive a term given that the N.S. NDP's entire plan for government - and they do, by all accounts have a shot at forming government - is four pages (PDF) including glossy pictures, the "costing" of their "plan" and pictures of ordinary, average voters (some of them sitting at their kitchen table).

This is a really long post so for those who plan on stopping here, let me just say, without hyperbole, that the N.S. NDP platform is the weakest document I have seen put out by a party that has a shot at forming government in the last decade I have spent reading such documents. Given how many platforms are really bad, that is saying something.

But back to their environment plan which I quote in its entirety:

"Today's families already pay a lot for the essentials of life, and worry about making ends meet in these uncertain times.That burden is even heavier thanks to Rodney MacDonald's 8 per cent tax on basic home electricity - a promise he broke soon after he made it. The NDP will get rid of that 8 per cent tax. The NDP will make sure there is no HST added to the price you pay for home energy. The gravest threat to our environment is climate change. The NDP plan focuses on two key steps for Nova Scotians to help in this global battle - conservation, and the switch to renewable energy. The NDP will provide new insulation grants to thousands of homeowners. The NDP plan also helps communities reduce energy use and costs with retrofits for schools and community-based agencies, as Nova Scotia works to achieve the ambitious environmental and sustainability goals that were adopted unanimously by the legislature."

That's it, that's all. Of course, this is one of their "seven commitments" so this is ONLY roughly 14 per cent of their platform.

But let me break the environment policies down into their component parts:

The NDP will get rid of the 8 per cent sales tax that is currently charged on all electricity in the province. Sweet. Money in the pockets of the average Nova Scotian. And it only costs $28-million. Cha ching!

A clear winner.

Let me continue, though, through the rest of the paragraph that makes up 14 per cent of the NDP's platform before I give an unqualified thumbs-up to the plan:

"The gravest threat to our environment is climate change"

No doubt. But, Nova Scotia NDP, what's your plan to tackle climate?

"The NDP plan focuses on two key steps for Nova Scotians to help in this global battle - conservation, and the switch to renewable energy."

Wow, I never thought of that before - conservation AND renewable energy? I mean one, sure, but both? This is cutting edge stuff here folks.

So what does the NDP propose as their conservation "plan"?

Well, remember that first promise - to lower the price of electricity by 8 per cent province wide? The NDP are proposing to do the single worst thing you could possibly do if 50 per cent of your climate change plan is energy conservation - they are lowering prices. Price is far and away the best conservation program that there is. Nothing else is even close.

If the N.S. NDP can find me a single environmentalist, economist or non-partisan eighth-grader who thinks lowering prices shows you are anything other than a total hypocrite in terms of your commitment to conservation then I will streak naked through a Halifax quad of their choosing. I feel pretty good about this bet (sorry if any of you have gone blind from the image of me running naked through Halifax).

But they have more conservation plans than that, yes sir:

"The NDP will provide new insulation grants to thousands of homeowners."

THOUSANDS of homeowners - wow! Of course if you flip to the front of the platform (back to page one, hope your wrist isn't tired yet), you will see that the NDP has actually promised to provide 1,000 grants for home retrofits. That's THOUSAND - singular - not THOUSANDS of homeowners. Not only is their platform beyond vapid. Not only do they do the single worst thing they could do for climate change. The FOUR pages are internally inconsistent.

The total retrofit program is costed at $1-million which, presuming all of the grants are for the same amount means 1,000 homeowners will get $1,000 to retrofit their house. Of course the incentive to take-up the program is now 8 per cent less attractive due to their stupid anti-climate change policy but hey, it's a shiny trinket (that the first 1,000 Nova Scotians to send back the flap from the cereal box can collect).

But there's more - oh boy, is there more:

"The NDP plan also helps communities reduce energy use and costs with retrofits for schools and community-based agencies"

And the cost for this program? According to their costing document (sorry to make you keep flipping the pamphlet back and forth) there is "no cost" to do any of this. That's right, it's free. Needless to say, they weren't able to squeeze an explanation for how it is free to retrofit Nova Scotia's schools and agencies into the four pages.

But that's only 50per cent of their climate change plan. I can't forget the ying to conservation's yang, renewables.

Based on the details in the costing page, the NDP have committed to "increase renewable energy to 25 per cent by 2015".

If that sounds like an easy to achieve target, let me assure you, it isn't.

Nova Scotia has installed capacity f roughly 2,293 MW. 25% of that is 573 MW. As of today, Nova Scotia has 60 MW of wind installed, 20 MW of tidal power and zero solar. That represents just over 3 per cent of their installed capacity. That means under the NDP plan, 493 MW of additional renewable energy needs to be permitted and built in the next five years. To be fair, 246 megawatts of additional wind is already under contract . Of course, unless Nova Scotia is a unique place on earth, a portion of those project won't get built.

I could drone on (even more) about how challenging (if not unprecedented worldwide) it would be to go from 3 per cent renewable energy to 25 per cent in just over five-years but I will leave it there.

But there is another component of the NDP renewables policy that caught my eye. It's not in their platform but in a press release:

Nova Scotia should "provide loan guarantees so renewable energy companies can get access to the capital they need."

Five hundres megawatts represents roughly a $1.3-billion capital investment in current dollars. The NDP is arguing that renewable companies should build, own and operate the facilities but the government should provide loan guarantees for the capital cost of the projects.

So flipping back to the NDP costing document, their projected "cost" of going from 3 per cent to 25 per cent renewables in five-years while providing up to $1.3-billion in loan guarantees? I quote: "Revenue: $3,000,000".

There is no cost, only profits. Where does the $3-million in revenue come from? Where is the cost associated with financing the projects? Again, sadly cut as part of the editing process.

Of course, the NDP doesn't talk about how displacing part of their coal fleet (more than 70 per cent of N.S. power comes from coal) with renewables will increase electricity rates by many multiples of the HST exemption. But those are details. Details that matter. Show you are serious. Show you are ready to form government.

But it is so darn hard to fit into four glossy pages.

I have read a lot of platforms over the years. The NDP's four page pamphlet is a platform of a party that isn't ready for prime time. Not even close.

Contrast that with Stephen McNeil and the Nova Scotia Liberal Party's platform (PDF), an impressive document with one really interesting idea with national significance in particular that I will discuss prior to election day.