According to the Council of Europe, “de-risking” means “the phenomenon of financial institutions terminating or restricting business relationships with clients or categories of clients to avoid, rather than manage, risk.” Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, pretty much the arch-fiend the way Ms. Smith describes him (Photo: UN Biodiversity, Creative Commons).
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Alberta Politics: The ‘RStar’ scam’s not a good deal, but it’s a done deal, even if it goes against a ‘core capitalist principle’
The shocker isn’t that the awful “RStar” scam is a done deal. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). The old fixeroo for that dirty deal has been in ever since Danielle Smith was chosen last year as leader of the United Conservative Party, and therefore as premier of Alberta, with
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta’s ‘Energy War Room’ appears to be operating in defiance of the Canada Elections Act
Alberta’s “Energy War Room” appears to be continuing to operate in defiance of Canada’s election laws, campaigning against positions clearly identified with a Canadian political party without registering as an election third party. Greenpeace Canada Senior Energy Strategist Keith Stewart argued recently in a tweet thread that the War Room,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Energy in Depth’s report to the ‘anti-Alberta’ campaigns inquiry is slick, expensive, tendentious, and unpersuasive
There’s nothing outright bonkers about the report by Energy in Depth, the U.S. fossil fuel advocacy organization paid $64,000 by the “Public Inquiry into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns” to come up with justification for the conspiracy theories pushed by the United Conservative Party Government during and after the 2019 election campaign.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Brace yourself, Alberta, Toyota’s plan to build electric cars with solid-state batteries sounds like the real thing
Word about solid-state batteries out of Toyota City last week created a buzz in the automotive press and got some headlines on social media, but I doubt very many people out here in Wild Rose Country paid much attention. They probably should’ve. Sunset over an oilfield (Photo: Arne Hückelheim, Creative
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: If Saudi Arabia is in trouble, the rest of the oil-producing world should probably start to panic.
Governments Need to Face Reality — the Fossil Fuel Industry Is Collapsing Government still subsidizes the oil and gas industry, even as the Bank of Canada warns of investment risks. Photo Read more…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Environmental Defence study concludes Canada’s emissions would soar if CAPP’s wish list were granted
Research published this morning by Environmental Defence Canada concludes adoption of the powerful Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers lobby group’s election wish list would increase Canadian greenhouse gas emissions by 116 million tonnes of CO² by 2030. “In that scenario, Canada’s oil and gas sector would be emitting 311 million
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta’s foreign-funded-fossil-fuel defamation inquisition: Stand by for an expensive gong show
Here are three predictions about Jason Kenney’s inquiry into that “foreign-funded defamation campaign” against Alberta’s fossil fuel industry. It will be a gong show It will cost far more than $2.5 million It will end up harming the industry, and Alberta The roots of this likely debacle are found in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Corporate Mapping Project names top fossil-fuel emitters, enablers and legitimators, unlocks online database
“The fossil fuel industry … is the biggest obstacle to real action on climate change today,” says the co-director of the Corporate Mapping Project, which this morning published an eye-opening list of the 50 most influential players in the industry and a publicly accessible database with information on more than
Continue readingAlberta Politics: University of Calgary acted like ‘Big Oil U’ in 2015 controversy, paper by B.C. academic researchers concludes
It’s not every day you see terms like “corporate obstructionism” and “institutional corruption” used to describe the way things are done at one Canadian university in a peer-reviewed academic paper written by scholars from two other institutions and published in a respected academic journal. This is one reason I think
Continue readingAlberta Politics: If F. W. de Klerk’s apartheid comparison to the fossil fuel economy is OK, why is David Suzuki’s slavery analogy an outrage?
A speech in Calgary last week by the last white president of South Africa in which F. W. de Klerk suggested the challenges faced by Alberta in the waning days of the petroleum industry may not be dissimilar from those facing his country in the last days of apartheid seems
Continue readingAlberta Politics: If there was ever a time for the U of A to stick to its guns and welcome David Suzuki to Edmonton, this is it!
The University of Alberta’s dean of engineering believes his faculty faces “the worst crisis, a crisis of trust, that we’ve faced in more than three decades.” The immediate cause of this perceived looming disaster for the U of A’s most favoured faculty? “The conferral of a single honorary degree,” wrote
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Forgotten amid pipeline war brouhaha, new study details failure of Oilsands Big Five to control emissions
PHOTOS: There’s no Plan B! And Alberta’s five largest oilsands producers have set no targets let alone taken action to get their emissions in line with the Paris Climate Agreement. (Illustration: Parkland Institute.) Below: Parkland researcher and study author Ian Hussey (Photo: Parkland Institute), Parkland researcher David Janzen (Photo: Facebook),
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: How To Let Go Of The World And Love All The Things Climate Cannot Change
Like many of you, I have watched Gasland, Gasland II and the Sky Is Pink. Josh Fox has been a trailblazer digging in and challenging the oil and gas trade. He has set the bar. Read more…
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: We Have to Take Down the Fossil Fuel Industry. That Includes Our Own.
He’s probably the most prominent climate scientist most North Americans have never heard of but you can get caught up by reading his Wiki entry here. He’s Hans Joachim Schellnhuber and when he speaks, serious people listen – closely. This is a man not given to hyperbole. That introductory remark
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Climate change divestment movement gains ground in church – but not in Canadian media or political circles
Ho-hum… Some typical Canadian reporters, hard at work … Actual Canadian newsrooms may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Is he more influential than we imagined in Alberta? CALGARY When retired South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu visited Alberta’s Tarpatch capital of Fort McMurray last month and called
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive | News & Analysis: 10 KXL Amendment Co-Sponsors Took $8 Million from Fossil Fuel Industry
Average KXL Amendment Co-Sponsor has Taken 2.5 Times More Money from Industry Than Non-Sponsors, New Research Shows By: Oil Change International | Press Release: WASHINGTON – New research from Oil Change International today (March 22) found that the 10 Senators co-sponsoring the pro- Keystone XL Pipeline Amendment (Hoeven Amendment 494) in the Senate
Continue reading350 or bust: Greedy Lying Bastards: Exposing The Fossil Fools Who Put Profit Before Human Lives
* One of the few-and-far-between perks of being a climate blogger is that occasionally I get access to books and movies before the general public does. This past weekend I got to watch “Greedy Lying Bastards” before it hit movie screens across the U.S. on Monday. Sunday night I, along
Continue reading350 or bust: Naomi Klein: Do The Math, The Fossil Fuel Industry Is Destroying Our Future
Naomi Klein was out in the shattered neighbourhood of Rockaway Park Queens last weekend, participating in the Occupy relief efforts there. In this interview she underscores the importance of both increasing local resilience as a response to our changin…
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