It’s showtime, everybody. Anyone that’s spent much time observing the ever-more bonkers climate dialogues has suspected a day of reckoning would come when the irresistible force/fear of climate change meets the immovable object of people trying to live their lives. It looks like we’re here; get ready to watch the fireworks. For the past several years, climate activists have become ever more emboldened because no one has made any effort to slow their progress. In fact, the opposite has … [Read more...]
Column: So, you want an all-renewable power grid? Think twice
In the poorly understood world of electrical generation and transmission, a strange tale is unfolding. The media won’t touch it with a ten-foot pole, for a number of reasons – first, it is miles over their head, and second, the conclusions run counter to their current bombastic narrative about the “renewable energy revolution”. There is a risk in even discussing the situation, because in the powder-keg debate of climate change vs. lifestyle, the denier police are on high alert to brand your … [Read more...]
Column: Politicized, ignorant energy analysis infiltrates some surprising media channels – unchecked it will wipe us all out before climate change has a chance
Oh no, I can feel it, another diatribe coming on. Like a developing migraine, there's no point fighting it, the looming inevitability. My trigger is inadvertently stumbling on blistering displays of energy ignorance, which set me off, and out comes the Incredible Hulk. Look, I don’t want to go there either. I’d rather write about secure and reliable energy supplies, birds chirping, sunshine and koala bears. I keep my nose clean; I stay away from the CBC and similar to avoid the obvious … [Read more...]
Column: An open letter to a sociology professor demonizing the petroleum industry in the media – your aggression will not stand
To: Dr. Jason Carmichael, Associate professor of sociology, McGill University Dr. Carmichael, A friend forwarded me your recent interview on Global TV, where you discussed research on petroleum industry advertising. Normally I don’t watch such news items, but after doing so, I thought your research was worth commenting on since it reached such a wide audience, one that in general is not aware of petroleum industry issues, and may therefore form opinions based on seemingly authoritative … [Read more...]
Column: Take a chance on tech – embracing technological innovation adds strength to a petroleum industry in need of enthusiasm
Not that very long ago, I succumbed and downloaded the Starbucks app to my phone. It was unpleasant to do so for all sorts of reasons. Being a fan of all kinds of coffee, it felt like sort of a false promise, like being a creep and leading someone on – I had no intentions of any sort of monogamous coffee behaviour. It also felt invasive, because it clearly was gathering intel, and it wanted money, and its phony cheerfulness (shove that “Good morning, Terry!” up your virtual a__ you little … [Read more...]
Column: Fear rules the news, but the fact is humanity’s lot has never been better and we have the tools to keep it that way
“Struggling for breath in that ditch full of pee 65 years ago in a working-class suburb of Sweden, little did I know that I would be the first of my family to go to university.” Hans Rosling in “Factfulness” Have you ever read anything so beautiful? Beautiful in two ways. First, I needed a mental remap of Sweden anyway. There had to be more to the country than IKEA, meatballs and Nordic murder mysteries. Now I can add that ditch and its forlorn occupant to my mental list of visuals, … [Read more...]
Column: A Resolution: replace defensiveness with purposefulness – an important January Vancouver conference is a great place to start
I’m not normally one for New Year’s resolutions; there is no thrill in backpedaling furiously on a self-promise before January is half over. But, as with the potential rebirth of the energy scene through things like the ultra-massive hydrogen potential, perhaps it’s time I tried something different. So here’s a New Year’s resolution. It’s a bit early but I’m going to take a run at it and hit 2020 in a higher gear (if I don’t gain too much weight). Before committing to any sort of resolution … [Read more...]
Column: Not dead yet: goodbye to 2019 and the fairy tale about a quick energy transition
Grain of sand in an hourglass It came down to him or me Canada’s greatest band The Headstones - “Long Way to Neverland” As the year draws to a close, it’s natural to look back at the one just past and ruminate on how it went. If you were thinking of doing that, let me save you some time: Bad idea. If you’re reading this, you’re interested in energy, and if you’re interested in energy it has been an exasperating and dumbfounding year. There were, in effect, two central … [Read more...]
Column: Government incentives vs. government disasters – the difference between dynamic, growing industries and near-civil war
To the chagrin of more than a few, I’m generally not interested in picking up my club to go after politicians. They have enough problems; can you imagine getting up every morning to go work in those pits of manufactured animosity and gamesmanship and influence-peddling? After a full day of such debauched maneuvering, I’d feel like a plumber’s snake. Thankless job though it may be, they volunteered for it for whatever reason, and as our representatives, it is fully our right to point out … [Read more...]
Column: Canada is a high per capita emitter? How DARE you!
Do you ever feel like the mock-producer in “This is Spinal Tap”, engaged in a conversation with guitarist Nigel Tufnel, as Tufnel explains how his amps are special because they go to 11? The producer points out, yeah, but full volume is full volume, and you can call it whatever you want but it’s just full volume. Tufnel listens patiently then looks him dead in the eye and says, as if to an idiot, “These go to 11.” We, the great masses of Canada, are trying to explain to a dogmatic minority … [Read more...]
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