Why are @PremierScottMoe and @SKGov doing so little to prepare for the transition away from coal burning?@SaskPower and related workers deserve a #JustTransition to meaningful employment in other fields, or other areas of energy generation like #solar and #wind. — John Klein (@JohnKleinRegina) June 17, 2019 People who know what
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Things Are Good: Australia Won’t let a Coal Mine Open due to Climate Change
Open-cut coal mining and Australia have a long history that is all about resource extraction in the hopes of short-term gain. The nation’s long history of reckless destruction seems to be coming to an end since a court recently ruled that a mining operation will not be allowed to open.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Merran Smith and Dan Woynillowicz comment that the new climate denial involves denying that any solutions are possible. Blake Shaffer points out that the Trudeau Libs’ inexplicable decision to favour coal power over other alternatives for the next decade serves to undermine any
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Up Is Down In Moe Town
Will @CBCSask and @leaderpost and @620ckrm let the Premier continue to lie without being challenged?Does @ryanmeili or someone else have to say something first? Is there no permission to correct the Premier's lies?#skpoli #carbontax — Saskboy (@saskboy) April 3, 2018 Saskatchewan's emissions are going up, not down https://t.co/nlZxCrOsv3 pic.twitter.com/KspZuhpexX —
Continue readingThings Are Good: China’s Efforts to Fight Pollution are Working
Back in 2014 China decided it was sick of producing so much pollution and decided to do something about it. China started to close coal plants, spent $120 billion cleaning air in cities and launched similar initiatives throughout the country. The results have been longer life spans for people in
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Nat Gas Killed Coal. Now It’s Time to Kill Off Nat Gas.
Natural gas remains widely seen as a helpful “bridge fuel” during the transition from high carbon fossil fuels to alternative, clean energy. That myth is based on end use comparisons. Natural gas power plants emit much less greenhouse gas than coal-fired power plants, ergo nat gas is cleaner. Here’s the
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Nothing New To Report
Here is a perfect illustration of why unfettered capitalism and ethics are incompatible: Canada’s national pension fund manager is among a group of Canadian companies that are undermining the federal government’s international anti-coal alliance by investing in new coal power plants overseas, an environmental organization says. Friends of the Earth
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Rick Salutin writes that Ontario’s provincial election shows that nobody is prepared to defend neoliberal ideas on their merits – which should provide an opening to start challenging them in practice. And Alice Ollstein examines how Donald Trump’s corporate giveaway looks like an
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Doug Henwood interviews Brooke Harrington about the role of offshoring in hiding and concentrating wealth: (W)hat does it say about the state of capitalism that these immense fortunes are sequestered; not so much engaged with expansion of the system but are being kept
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Why coal can’t make America great again
Donald Trump gets fired up about coal in West Virginia Among the ways Donald Trump vows to “make America great again” is reviving the US coal industry. That’s a stretch considering the plight coal faces today in the US. The combined value of the top four US coal companies fell from
Continue readingThings Are Good: Germany’s Transition Away From Coal Helped Jobs and Culture
For years Germany’s transition from coal to sustainable energy has impacted communities. Many feared that jobs would be lost during this transition so plans were put in place to help workers and communities transition too. Throughout the Rhine valley coal plants have been closed down and their place new sustainable
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Wind Will Be Cheaper Than Natural Gas
Will be? Naw, it has been for years. Still, SaskPower is building another 350MW of natural gas to go online in 2019, while building far less than 300MW of wind power by then. They’ve a target of 50% renewable generation by 2030, and still wind is far less than 5%
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – John Paul Tasker reports on the federal government’s plans to close some loopholes which allow the use of small corporations in order to avoid income taxes. And Andrew Jackson writes that we should support that first step toward a fairer tax system. But
Continue readingThings Are Good: Tonawanda Provides a Template for Transitioning a Town’s Economy from Coal
Globally, coal is on the way out and in America small towns are suffering because coal demand is dropping. The predictable plight of coal-backed small towns in the USA has some politicians trying to bailout the coal industry in order to protect jobs, which is obviously the wrong approach. Instead,
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Government of Canada To Open Data on Energy Use?
The Liberals Government has done squat in Regina since coming to power, when it comes to (hydro) power generation. I’ve produced over 5 MWh of solar power, and sent almost 3 MWh of that onto the electrical grid, while three layers of government in Regina have produced a whopping goose
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Des Cohen discusses how economic inequality has developed – and how it’s now rewarding people for doing nothing more than worsening its effects. And Chase Burghgrave interviews Elizabeth Anderson about the employer-based power which is used to keep American workers in line:
Continue readingThings Are Good: Coal Museum Powered by Solar Panels
If the end of coal wasn’t obviously upon us, it is now. The Kentucky Coal Museum has switched to solar power for energy and cost savings. Yes, in what might be a wonderful display of irony, the museum centred on celebrating the region’s coal culture has switched to a green
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Abi Wilkinson writes about the importance of making social benefits universal in order to reflect a sense of shared interests and purpose: Universal aspects of the welfare state tend to be thought of as the fruit of common endeavour. The NHS tops
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: SaskPower Is Going To Miss Target
March 16, 2017 Dear Editor, People should be asking how SaskPower intends to meet the 50% renewable electricity by 2030 target set by the Premier over a year ago. Since that announcement, a 350 MegaWatt (MW) natural gas burning plant has been planned for opening in 2019. A 170 MW
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Sustainable Fossil Fuel Myths
I think the Fossil Fuel industry isn’t going to manage to sustain their myths. They say things that a kid with a 5th grade education should figure out are not true. Burning natural gas is not sustainable. It’s a fossil fuel. It will run out, and it produces waste gas
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