photo: Canadian Natural Resources Limited Read this Sept. 28 story from CBC on the ongoing Alberta bitumen leak crisis near Cold Lake. The Common Sense Canadian has been following the unfolding disaster for several months now and there appears to be no resolution in sight, as CNRL’s operation has spilled over 1.5 million litres
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The Common Sense Canadian: BC LNG: Energy expert debunks Minister Coleman’s math
Video by Damien Gillis, analysis by David Hughes On Sept. 18, BC’s Minister of Natural Gas Development Rich Coleman gave the above speech to northern mayors and councillors at the Union of BC Municipalities’ annual conference in Vancouver. Coleman makes some extraordinary claims about the opportunity liquefied natural gas presents cor BC’s
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Mining Magnate calls for end of growth economy
Ross Beaty Read this surprising Sept. 22 Vancouver Sun guest op-ed from one of Canada’s top mining tycoons, Ross Beaty, arguing for the end of growth and a new focus on building a steady-state economy. No system can grow forever — neither human nor economic. Yet the pursuit of continuous growth
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: LNG: What Does it Mean for Me? (Kitimat – Oct.4)
Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition presents: An Evening of Conversation on LNG with Damien Gillis DAMIEN GILLIS is a journalist and documentary film maker who has extensive knowledge of the economics behind the Liquid Natural Gas Industry and controversial fracking – which would need to be dramatically increased in order
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: LNG: What Does it Mean for Me? (Prince Rupert – Oct.3)
Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition presents: An Evening of Conversation on LNG with Damien Gillis DAMIEN GILLIS is a journalist and documentary film maker who has extensive knowledge of the economics behind the Liquid Natural Gas Industry and controversial fracking – which would need to be dramatically increased in order to
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: LNG: What Does it Mean for Me? (Terrace – Oct.2)
Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition presents: An Evening of Conversation on LNG with Damien Gillis DAMIEN GILLIS is a journalist and documentary film maker who has extensive knowledge of the economics behind the Liquid Natural Gas Industry and controversial fracking – which would need to be dramatically increased in order to
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: LNG: What Does it Mean for Me? (Hazelton – Oct.1)
Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition presents: An Evening of Conversation on LNG with Damien Gillis DAMIEN GILLIS is a journalist and documentary film maker who has extensive knowledge of the economics behind the Liquid Natural Gas Industry and controversial fracking – which would need to be dramatically increased in order to
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: LNG: What Does it Mean for Me? (Moricetown – Oct.1)
Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition presents: An Afternoon of Conversation on LNG with Damien Gillis DAMIEN GILLIS is a journalist and documentary film maker who has extensive knowledge of the economics behind the Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) Industry and controversial fracking – which would need to be dramatically increased in order
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: LNG: What Does it Mean for Me? (Smithers – Sept.30)
Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition presents: An Evening of Conversation on LNG with Damien Gillis DAMIEN GILLIS is a journalist and documentary film maker who has extensive knowledge of the economics behind the Liquid Natural Gas Industry and controversial fracking – which would need to be dramatically increased in order to
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Stephen Harper “won’t take ‘No’ for an answer” on Keystone XL pipeline
Photo: Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press Read this story from the Associated Press on Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s bold statement on Keystone XL at a talk in New York. Harper’s true climate policy has been hard to follow of late. On the one hand he’s agreeing to US carbon emissions targets to
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Pennsylvania’s fracking boom goes bust
Fracking operation in southwestern Pennsylvania (photo: Mark Schmerling) Read this Sept. 12 story from Philly.com describing how Pennsylvania’s fracking boom is going bust. Meanwhile, The Common Sense Canadian reported recently on the devastation faced by much of the fracking industry in Colorado from massive flooding. It was just a couple of years
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Microgrids: Sustainable alternative to investment in “old energy”
The Common Sense Canadian has made much of the Harper government’s promotion, facilitation and subsidization of big oil and the Clark government’s current LNG export fetish. The underlying messaging to Canadians in both cases is: support these projects or face economic and social armageddon. What seems to get lost in
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: With Massey tunnel traffic on decline, does new bridge make sense?
Artist’s rendering of proposed bridge (BC Govt) Read this Sept. 25th story from the Georgia Straight on former Vancouver city councillor and SFU transportation expert Gordon Price’s questions for Premier Clark on this week’s announcement that her government will replace the aging George Massey tunnel with a $3 Billion bridge. Surprisingly,
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: New York Times editorial slams Harper’s muzzling scientists
A recent rally for science in Vancouver (photo: Damien Gillis) Even The New York Times is starting to question Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s anti-science agenda, which recently spurred 17 cross-Canada “Stand Up for Science” rallies. In this Sept. 22 Sunday Times editorial, Verlyn Klinkenborg calls attention to muzzling scientists in defence of Harper’s oil
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Arrests on horizon in First Nation’s Sacred Headwaters mine protest
Tahltan elders and supporters in the Sacred Headwaters (SkeenaWatershed.com) Read this Sept. 20 story from the Vancouver Observer on the standoff over a proposed open-pit coal mine in BC’s Sacred Headwaters, which continues to escalate. The Common Sense Canadian has been reporting on the protest since it began last month. A showdown between a Tahltan
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Number of UK climate change deniers up 400%
Although the Harper Government surely has its share of climate change deniers, they are at least partially held in check by a populace who, as of a 2012 Insightrix poll, are firmly convinced that climate change is real. A rather meager 2% of those polled were climate change deniers. As
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: It’s official: Adrian Dix stepping down as BC NDP leader next year
The BC NDP’s outgoing leader, Adrian Dix (photo: Jonathan Hayward/CP) Read this Sept. 18 story from The Globe and Mail on NDP Leader Adrian Dix’s announcement that he will step down as leader – but not until next year so he can help the party rebuild and find a new
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Fracking: Is it worth the risk? (Vancouver – Sept.19)
A natural gas drilling rig near Fort St. John, BC (image: Damien Gillis/Fractured Land) An opportunity for the East Van community and beyond to learn the latest details and share their views on BC’s rush to frack for gas, and the LNG proposals driving it. Featuring Eoin Madden of the
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Harper Govt coming to BC to push pipelines on First Nations
Read this Sept. 12 story from CBC.ca on the caravan of federal ministers and bureaucrats aimed at convincing BC’s Forst Nations to back down on their opposition to the proposed Enbridge and Kinder Morgan pipelines to the province’s coast. A parade of cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats will head to
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Dix on way out? NDP awaits leader’s announcement
Adrian Dix may be mulling stepping down as BC NDP leader (photo: Jonathan Hayward/CP) Read this story from CBC on the BC NDP’s upcoming caucus meeting to discuss the future of their leader. Adrian Dix has faced calls for his resignation, following what is widely considered one of the biggest
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