Instead of raining blows upon people’s heads with yet another diatribe about how Canada’s petroleum sector is being disadvantaged, it’s time for something a little different, to explain to mystified Canadians just why feeling are running a little high out west. Yes, we see the news, we hear that Canada is warming faster than ever. Yes, we know the world is gravely concerned about climate change. We hear that, and the calls to do better. But the world continues to consume more and more petroleum [Read more]
Environmental crotch-kicking is the latest thing, and it will not end where we think it will
“There’s no more complex, messy, community-wide argument…political discourse is now a formulaic matter of preaching to one’s own choir and demonizing the opposition. Since the truth is way, way more gray and complicated than any one ideology can capture, the whole thing seems to me not just stupid but stupefying…how can any of this possibly help me, the average citizen, how even to conceive for myself what the policy’s outlines should be? ...it’s childish, and totally unconducive to hard [Read more]
Building energy and the west required iron will and stoic discipline
At the risk of sounding like Grandpa Simpson, sometimes valuable lessons from decades past are worth dredging up. As a case in point, one cold February evening when back on the farm I drove over to a friend’s house and we headed into town for refreshments. We took his truck, and when we got back to his place at 3 am my car wouldn’t start because it was -42 and the block heater had called in sick. So I slept on their couch, and was awakened at about 6am by a gentle shake on my shoulder. It was my [Read more]
An open letter to any idiot that would compare petroleum with tobacco
I know, I know. Conversations are supposed to be positive and constructive. Bad Terry. The goal is, and should be, to expand the energy dialogue to be more inclusive, to bring together the disparate viewpoints so that we can start pulling together towards a greener future, at an appropriate pace. But that isn’t always possible when myths or outrageous accusations are held out as truths, and become part of the mainstream narrative through unopposed force. Constructive dialogue does not mean [Read more]
Terry Etam book launch – redefining energy conversations, with your help
Over the years of energy writing I’ve received many kind and supportive emails (and astonishingly few of the opposite – a few who took offence when I made fun of the cannabis craze, and a few scattered and enthusiastically brainless attacks). Thank you for all who have sent all those emails my way (except the potheads and the idiots). A common theme I’ve heard is how to get useful energy messages out to a wider audience, how to cut through the clutter of energy disinformation. The general [Read more]
A demand for a level playing field – ban ALL oil tankers from Canadian waters or abandon Bill C-48
Growing up a Saskatchewan farm boy, my concept of oceans was a bit inane. Oceans of wheat were common enough but real oceans were mythical heartless things that, to my landlubbing mind, were nothing but bottomless death traps. Granted, they did cough up some fish now and then, in exchange for inevitably trying to drown all comers. The boats always sank, because those were the stories that made the flatland news. It was conceivable that oceans had some redeeming qualities, from shore anyway, but [Read more]
Terry Etam’s open letter to Victoria city council on climate change lawsuit ambitions
Dear city council, Humbly submitted for your consideration is the following. On January 22, 2019, Rhode Island’s governor declared a state of emergency due to a problem with natural gas delivery. Excess demand from cold weather reduced line pressure causing 7,000 customers to have service cut. A near-catastrophe was avoided through massive emergency response actions. On October 8 2018, a natural gas pipeline exploded near Prince George. Residents of the lower mainland were warned to “turn [Read more]
Canadians learning about trees from Italians? The benefits of a scarcity mentality
Some years ago, I bought my first house, a townhouse. It was one of those three story open-plan 1970s things with a west-facing back wall mostly of glass and a theoretical mountain view if you stood on a 12-foot ladder in the middle of the living room and twisted your head just right. The back yard was my oasis, a nicely-shaded high-walled 12 foot by 12 foot pen, which with youthful enthusiasm I imagined was actually nice. I bought the place in May and enjoyed a great summer hanging out there, [Read more]
Canada picks an international role model but does it have to be Venezuela?
Two countries in the modern age seem to despise their resource sector, or their elite leadership does anyway. Most, if not all, other countries are proud of theirs. It is not hard to see why most nations cherish their natural bounty of resources. There is something elementally important about a nation having more of any given raw material than they actually need at present. Ones that lack sufficient natural resources are often skittish and paranoid, roughly speaking, because they are beholden [Read more]
“Hey, that’s not right…” – an (inter)national movement for energy truth gains momentum
The news stream has changed a lot over the past few decades, obviously. We used to have a very finite number of news sources; either a handful of newspapers or a few evening TV news shows. From these, the general population could then take relatively bland narratives and bash them into whatever twisted shape their minds wished to interpret them as, running them through political/ethical/moral/cultural/philosophical filters and shouting the results to whomever might listen. Which was often almost [Read more]
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