Monday, November 14, 2011
Throughout the debate about whether the Keystone XL Pipeline should be b…
Continue readingTag: energy
DeSmogBlog: Koch Brothers Behind Push To Dismantle EPA
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During last week’s Americans For Prosperity (AFP) event, a common theme kept creeping into the speakers’ presentations: Dismantle the EPA. And as the major funders of…
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Prosperity Redux: a disappointing decision for the environment, First Nations and the EA process
Monday, November 7, 2011
Today, November 7, 2011, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (the Agency) announced that Taseko Mine Ltd.’s gold and cop…
Continue readingThings Are Good: USA Can be 100% Powered by Geothermal Energy
Here at Things Are Good we like geothermal energy and countries that use it. The USA could be on the list in the future!
Researchers from SMU that have received funding from Google have released a map that shows the potential of geothermal energy production in the continental United States. The conclusion is that there is […]
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: IBM Launches 3rd Annual Smarter Cities Challenge
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At a time when corporations’ misdeeds are under a bright spotlight (and rightfully so,) we needn’t overlook the few companies that are working to bring innovation a…
Continue readingThings Are Good: Charge Your Phone with the Sun
We’ve seen DIY iPod solar chargers before and now an Ottawa-based company has produced a consumer one. The PowerTrip is a small battery with a USB jack and a solar panel on it.
Enter the PowerTrip, from Ottawa-based Ecosol. In a package about the size of a deck of cards, the PowerTrip houses a battery […]
The Progressive Economics Forum: Home energy retrofit (part 2)
This summer I put our household through an energy efficiency retrofit. I was working on a research paper on energy efficiency, and then both the BC and federal governments announced new funding for their retrofit programs, so I engaged in some direct action research, staring with an energy audit of our home (more in part […]
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: Billion Dollar Bill
A short animated feature from the folks behind the Renegade Economist.
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Local governments on the south coast make a move on oil tankers
Thursday, October 13, 2011
At the end of September, West Coast lawyers hit the Union of B.C. …
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: The Influence of Green Parties
Green parties so often exist on the fringes of the political spectrum, often without direct political power, and so it is important to periodically remind ourselves of why they are indeed important and have a role to play. The specific mechanism of thi…
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Robert Bryce – The Media’s Industry-Funded Go-To Guy
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Robert Bryce, a fellow at the dirty industry-funded Manhattan Institute, is under increasing scrutiny as media outlets continue to use him as an “expert” on e…
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Are smart meters worth the cost?
A notice in my mailbox last week told me that smart meters are going to be installed in my neighbourhood. I’ll admit that the geek in me would like to see real-time information about my energy usage, but as an economist I’m interested in costs and benefits of the program. So far we have seen […]
Continue readingThings Are Good: Busy London Rail Station to be Solar Powered
Blackfriars station has been under some major construction in the past few years and it’s about to reopen to operations next year. While that’s happening construction has begun on installing solar panels making the bridge at the station the largest solar bridge. It’s a novel use of space in a very crowded city.
“Blackfriars Bridge is […]
Red Tory v.3.0.3: Candle Power!
Who knows where our power is coming from in the future?
Canada’s candlelight providers: ready to meet the surge in demand that comes from people wanting to turn the lights on but rejecting every possible means of making that happen.
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Oil Lobbyists Targeting “Super Committee”
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As the so-called “Super Committee” works to figure out how to trim $1.2 trillion from the U.S. government’s federal deficit, the dirty energy industry has thei…
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Fighting energy poverty and the transition to zero-emission housing
Today CCPA released a new Climate Justice Project report, Fighting Energy Poverty in the Transition to Zero-Emission Housing: A Framework for BC, by yours truly, Eugene Kung (a lawyer with the BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre and a steering committee member of the CJP) and Jason Owen (who worked on this project as a student at UBC, now with the […]
Continue readingThings Are Good: Canada Can be Powered only by Geothermal Energy
Geothermal power is yet another proven sustainable source of energy, indeed Iceland’s geothermal production accounts for 99% of their energy production. Researchers in Canada have concluded that there is enough geothermal potential in Canada to power the country solely by geothermal power a million times over!
One of the main advantages of geothermal is that […]
The Progressive Economics Forum: The Ontario NDP Platform
Pollsters tell us that Ontario’s New Democrats may double their seat total in next month’s provincial election. It’s also entirely conceivable that they could be part of a coalition government at Queen’s Park. But what’s actually in the party’s election platform? One central feature of the NDP’s proposals is to implement a tax credit for companies that hire new workers. The tax […]
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: Rebranding the Tar Sands
Reluctant as I normally am to say kind words about Ezra Levant, I have to admit that his campaign to re-brand the Alberta oil sands from what environmental activists in the United States had lately taken to calling “dirty oil” … Continue reading →
DeSmogBlog: EnergyNOW! Tackles Keystone XL, And Talks To Me About Pipelines
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On Sunday, energyNOW! news tackled the Keystone XL debate in a wide-ranging half hour program that covered the controversial pipeline in typically comprehensive fashion.
An ov…