Suppose you were a sort of financial derelict that spent what you wanted, and ran up huge debt. You had options to reduce the debt burden, such as collect money that was owed you, or sell off some things; but you were having a good time and that stuff seems like a lot of work. Eventually you run out of hiding places and go bankrupt, then claw your way out, then it’s party time again. But old habits die hard, and the cycle repeats. At some point, without resorting to criminality, it’s going to be … [Read more...]
Here comes the judge, with a BS detector – US climate change lawsuit case full of surprises, accountability
I’m not sure how much people read anymore; I hear it’s going out of style and am told that 280 characters now tests the limits of our attention span (the new-ish Twitter limit, FYI, if you’re, like, a caveman). I hope the reading habit isn’t dying off for several reasons; one, because I’m writing a book; and two, that sometimes the world requires a bit more mental processing power than is on display in Twitter or Instagram to get either ahead, or out, of a quagmire. It is not an … [Read more...]
Canada won’t be pushed around? Excuse me? Canada’s been stuffed in a locker by kids half our size
Ah, the Canadian way. Be polite, be good hosts, and everyone will like us. We teach our children those things. Well, probably some of that; we teach them to be polite but that you can’t please everyone, and that you can’t let bullies take your lunch money. Maybe you don’t challenge the bully to a fight, there’s principle and then there’s stupid, but the lesson should be to find solutions, not acceptance. It appears maybe that part of Canada's problem is that it has no idea who the bullies … [Read more...]
Bill Gates and Murray Edwards’ new tech could help make western Canada an environmental poster child
Does anyone out there read the British news site The Guardian? It's nothing out of the ordinary, a somewhat anti-business and extremely pro-environmental news site, a not uncommon pairing. It was once known for an unusually large number of typographical errors, earning it the nickname The Grauniad for some time, but apparently that’s been rectified. The site is notable for the voice it gives to extreme environmentalists. Space is given on a monthly basis to the legendary Bill McKibben, … [Read more...]
Pipeline victory celebrations? No, just sadness for a declining country
No, it’s not a corporate bail out. No, it’s not a sop to the petroleum business. No, it’s not going to change global warming in the slightest way. No, it is not a setback for indigenous rights; it may well be the opposite if they buy in. If the war on fossil fuels is actually the war the media wants it to be, then the Trans Mountain expansion (TME) decision by the Trudeau government would be a “victory” for the oil industry, just as the Energy East annihilation was a “victory” for … [Read more...]
A misleading murder of crows – Excruciating energy media coverage explains, and causes, half our problems
Kids used to play a game, which they probably don’t anymore because it’s hard to do on an iPad, called telephone or some variant, where a message was started by one kid/teacher, then whispered from ear to ear until the last person on the chain announced what the message was, which was the compared to the original. The fun part of the game was how the message was so severely distorted through interpretation. In most grade 3 classes, or wherever this happened, the game worked best if there was at … [Read more...]
Canada can craft an energy policy, or Trump will craft us one. You’re not going to like it
As you may have noticed, there is a new mood in the United States. It is a strange mood most haven’t seen for a while and probably immensely unsettling to most Americans as well. The root cause, of course, is a leader that has added a new chapter to chaos theory. That might sound like hyperbole, but it’s not really if you consider for example the North Korea file. Last fall, the small, feisty answer-to-know-one nation was like a kid with a new rocket kit, firing them off and hiding behind the … [Read more...]
The theatre of the absurd – blocking petroleum from getting to market is like blocking a river with a fishing net
There is, in the public arena today, an effort or desire to "do good" with respect to environmental concerns that is, to a certain extent, so sincere and heartfelt that it is almost heartbreaking to point out how futile these efforts are. It’s as though you saw a child trying to revive a dying pet fish with ice cream. This is a reference to those trying to solve global warming by limiting the movement of fossil fuels. I’m being far more generous than many in the oil patch would in ascribing … [Read more...]
Everyone can appreciate the environment; who can appreciate what it takes to heat a thousand homes?
On a recent trip stateside, a mindless interlude in a hotel room led to some channel flipping, and I lazily settled for a reality show called Undercover Boss or something. It turned out to be somewhat interesting, enough so to be captivating for a couple episodes anyway. Each episode has a corporate CEO going “undercover” to perform some of the crappier jobs in their own company, unbeknownst to the day’s coworkers (who oddly enough never seem to have any idea who their CEO is, which I suppose … [Read more...]
Response to Tzeporah Berman: If “the power of protest endures,” don’t pretend you’re interested in useful energy discussions, not with your track record anyway
I was asked the other day if I had a response to Tzeporah Berman’s recent opinion piece in the Globe and Mail. I of course felt cold and clammy and started getting the shakes; reading a piece by Berman is like being asked to go take the keys from the 6 foot 6 belligerent drunk who was just kicked out of the bar and is trying to unlock his car to drive home. There’s a feeling of inevitability that there is no way on earth this is going to be a pleasant experience. Invoking the spirit and tools … [Read more...]
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