In the official 1840 US government census, a soul-searching question was posed to the familial point of contact: How many idiots are there in your household? It's true. People didn't have time to mince words back then. Pity the poor father of twelve, looking down the dining table...not that one, not that one, yes for sure, that one's a maybe, hmm good with a pitchfork but just look at that skull, etc. You may have different yardsticks for charting how far humanity has progressed in the past … [Read more...]
Column: A farmer’s guide to wrestling COVID-19
Since we’re stuck working from home and/or trying not to watch the death counts, or heaven forbid are unemployed and wish we were working from home, here’s a little diversion, and nothing makes for a quality diversion like a bunch of old farming stories. And while tales of chickens and dirt and combines are inherently rewarding in and of themselves, they also bring a pertinent lesson about today’s dire situation. There is a fascinating aspect to rural life; it is oppressively quiet and … [Read more...]
Column: I hear there’s some bug going around…here’s what to do about it
One gets the feeling that we are going to be a very weird species in a few months after the pandemic is under control (and it will be). A trip to the store for some basic supplies or to a parking lot to buy black-market toilet paper creates a feeling that must have been what French Resistance fighters felt like in WWII. Popping one’s head out is to be placed in imminent danger. We shun other people and scurry to the other side of the street when more than one or two crowd our personal space … [Read more...]
Column: Epidemics, OPECs, three-way collars, and possibly light at the end of the tunnel
On a surreal day late last week, I stopped by the nearest supermarket at what I hoped was a quiet time. I wasn’t expecting serenity, but holy mackerel I wasn’t expecting such an anthill either. While many were shopping in a normal fashion, others were rattled and prepping. Toilet paper was of course long gone. A woman next aisle over piled what looked like about 30 pounds of bananas onto the belt. Another had about ten cans of olives. Panicked weirdos, I muttered to myself, as I hoisted twenty … [Read more...]
Column: Everyone paying attention now? THAT’s what a swing producer can do
What a strange feeling to be talking about good old energy markets again, after months lost in the advocacy wilderness (Canadian Energy Centre, if this is your idea of help, please go wait quietly in the cigar lounge with all the others from whom we expect more, and you know who you are). The mind-bending challenge of trying to defend Canada’s place as a worthy supplier of the energy the world needs and demands against people that don’t understand that is overwhelming. It is, therefore, a relief … [Read more...]
Column: What’s next after the Wet’suwet’en crisis? Possibly, paths to greatness
Thank heavens for the Wet’suwet’en crisis. No, really, we might soon be saying that. To put one’s mind in such a place of relative peace, we need to park a few things first. Let’s park the discussion about the legality of the cross-country protests for a moment. Let’s park the puzzling presence of the likes of Al Jazeera as a fitting commentator in the discussion (as in, “While it is obvious that the indigenous blockades occurring throughout Canada rattled the foundations of the current … [Read more...]
Column: You’re crazy if you support hydrocarbons, and you’re crazier if you don’t – welcome to the world’s largest nest of Catch-22s
It’s been a very tiring week of energy madness, so this post is full of bafflement and the sentences are too long and there’s cultural generalizing and geographical stereotyping and just see if I give a crap. Imagine you landed in England in the middle of rainy season, that is, a month whose name includes a Y or an A or an E. Imagine you find an active and antagonistic battle going on between people using umbrellas and people providing umbrellas, and the really weird part is that the people … [Read more...]
Column: Reflections on revolutionary infrastructure, dead railways, and a desperate need for a better plan
As we are now firmly underway in a new year, the welcoming ascension of the sun above the horizon provides a much-needed jolt of spring hope. On the other hand though, all that sunshine also provides a better view of the train wreck that is our nation’s economy/industrial future. More daylight brings into full view the whole mess grinding to a halt, felled by a few random objects on a few railway tracks, or a handful of not-imperilled protesters. While Ottawa devotes itself to finding a way to … [Read more...]
Column: Thar she blows! Canada’s well-fed climate-emergency chickens are coming home to roost and it’s going to get ugly
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...]
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