Standing on the train platform the other day, after work, a chilling event happened, and I'm not just referring to the weather, although there was that. It was one of those dull but frigid days when standing still, waiting, on concrete, leaves a person daydreaming not of mansions and fast cars and alluring holidays but of crawling under a pile of blankets. The cheerful Calgary Transit voice comes over the speaker system to tell us the temperature, and that it’s cloudy. Shut up. We know. We’re [Read more]
Column: If China is picking our politicians, can we at least get them to teach us a thing or two about industrial policy?
There is something really crappy and dumb going on with Canadian industrial policy. Maybe you’ve figured it out. I sure haven’t. In the spirit of "the more minds working on it the better", here are some low-lights to get everyone’s brains working on it before we all head to the voting booth next time (while this is from a Canadian perspective it also applies to the US and other countries as well - the only difference in viewpoints relates to the financial/military/cultural strength of the bunker [Read more]
Column: When science gets mugged for the media – a case study
I walked past a truck in a parking lot the other day and I figured out what’s wrong with everybody. It was a good-looking new semi-small one, and, walking with my head down, watching for ice and muttering as usual, I almost walked into the side of it. There, staring me in the face, was a huge decal on the side that said: “Tremor.” It was a Ford Ranger Tremor XLT. Hmm. Maybe it was just a weird day but for some reason the absurd names struck me literally. In the real world, I know what a ranger [Read more]
Column: Energy should not be controversial; how did this happen? A look into the machine
Are you familiar with Sam Bankman-Fried, the crypto-whiz kid that started crypto-exchange FTX, the 30-year-old worth $30 billion, some were hailing as the new Warren Buffett? His empire is now a pile of rubble, and against all legal advice he’s been delightfully verbose about the epic failure. Here’s a text exchange with a reporter, grammar verbatim: Q: you were really good at talking about ethics, for someone who saw it all as a game with winners and losers A: ya… A: hehe A: I had [Read more]
Column: An open letter to Californians: A high-utility-bill explanation, and a path to a smarter energy future
Dear Californians, I just love your state. It has everything. It is home to Bugs Bunny, sourdough bread, Silicon Valley, Death Valley, the Valley, Redwood forests, deserts, ski resorts, endless beaches, the accidental Salton Sea, a vast movie industry, a vast porn industry, vegetable and fruit crops that feed several nations. It has the highest elevation and the lowest in the entire lower 48 states and a stunning array of beautiful geography. California appears to have at least one of [Read more]
Column: An open letter to southern Ontario and Quebec voters – in this global energy crisis, your votes carry global significance; use your power wisely!
Hello fellow Canadians, Greetings from Western Canada. Allow me to introduce myself. I’m a peculiar energy writer from out west, affiliated with no one, and I have some energy points I’d like you to consider. First, Exhibit 1 of said peculiarity, a thought exercise. Have you ever contemplated, while sitting on a plane taxiing for takeoff, how the tube full of people you’re sitting in has to hold up those long heavy wings full of fuel, but the second you are airborne those wings hold you and [Read more]
Column: 2023 energy predictions? When Canada offers LNG-starved Germany a crayon drawing of green hydrogen plans instead, don’t bother predicting anything
Happy New Year all, though 2023 is well underway. Type A’s have buttoned down 2023’s goals and are doubtlessly already pursuing them with a vengeance. (Us) Type B’s are now wandering aimlessly around gyms, rationalizing abandoned resolutions, and annoying the regulars by dozing off on the equipment. In the energy world, resolutions take a back seat to predictions. Everyone makes them, which is fine - it’s always good to hear others’ thoughts, but the pseudo-precision and forcefulness can get [Read more]
Column: What a freaking year…sorting through the info flow to start the next one right
Despite relentless weeding and attention, my inbox recently soared past 15,000 emails, and that’s with a quite effective air-defense system (Walter Mitty-speak for spam filter; I’m watching too much Ukrainian news). Sometimes, for a bit of levity, I detour through the spam account where, by quick reckoning, it looks like I’ve left about $20 billion on the table this year alone. Hopefully those nice people (“Good day, kind Sir!”) are able to find a home for all those piles of [Read more]
Column: ‘Attention poor people, step away from the fuel. It’s not for you. And stop using it anyway. Thank you”
Here we are in a season of counterweighting emotions. On one hand, the holiday season is close, the season of good cheer and all that other greeting card stuff. On the other hand, the sun is up for five minutes per day, it’s been horribly cold for more than a month already, and the entire landscape is either grey or brownish mud-grey. In the spirit of the dominance of the latter mood, it is a good time to descend into the septic tank that is the mainstream news flow. I won’t wallow for long, [Read more]
Column: The world as we know it ends if it can’t find its bearings
While growing up, I had the privilege of working at some manual labour/equipment operator type jobs. Now, I am aware that word “privilege” is currently a live grenade, when used by the “wrong people”, but I don’t care. The people I’d hate to offend are those that have no choice or path out of manual labour, and/or those whose work is under-appreciated by society as a whole. A stint of manual/blue-collar labour teaches more than you might think, if not at the time then most definitely down the [Read more]
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