One year after The Economist signalled an ”unwelcomed coal renaissance”, Bloomberg News reported Jan. 6 that Europe’s lust for lower energy prices was reviving lignite mining for coal-fired generation in a big way. Lignite, a low-quality form of coal that contains less units of energy and greater volumes of carbon than
Continue readingTag: Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The tar sands—our climate change nemesis
While Neil Young very publicly feuds with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and its ally the Canadian government, tar sands production continues to systematically advance Alberta’s position as the country’s pollution province. Already producing more greenhouse gasses than Ontario, despite having less than 30 per cent of its population,
Continue readingThe folly of aping U.S. emissions policy
Our federal government’s policy on greenhouse gas emissions is simple: whatever the United States’ policy on greenhouse gas emissions is. And that means a target of reducing emissions by 17 per cent from 2005 to 2020. But, as the Pembina Institute pointed out this week, there is a very large
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Andrew Jackson writes that Canada needs far more investment in infrastructure – rather than the austerity that’s constantly being prescribed by the Cons: The fiscal policy choice we face is often miscast as one between austerity to deal with public debt and short-term
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – The Economist discusses research by Miles Corak and others on intergenerational inequality. And interestingly, other studies seem to suggest Corak has actually underestimated the barriers to social mobility: THE “Great Gatsby curve” is the name Alan Krueger, an economic adviser to Barack
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – George Monbiot discusses how another corporate investment agreement – this time one between Europe and the U.S. patterned after CETA – will transfer yet more power from people and their elected governments to corporate elites: The purpose of the Transatlantic Trade and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – David Green asks whether decades of corporate insistence on “flexible” labour markets (i.e. ones which offer no stability for workers) have resulted in the improved wages promised at the outset: Increased wages are how we share the benefits of economic growth among a
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Don Braid comments on Alberta’s complete lack of credibility when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental issues. And Andrew Leach nicely sums up the PC/Con position in trying to put a happy face on growing emissions: Suppose you run
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Thomas Walkom writes that the Harper Cons’ much-hyped economic record in fact offers ample reason to demand a change in government: The Conservatives insist that the economy is their strong suit. And for a while it was. In 2011, voters bought Harper’s pitch.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On bad-faith negotiations
I’ve written before about the Cons’ blatant strategy of saying just enough about regulating greenhouse gas emissions from the oil industry to confuse voters about the issue while blocking the way toward any action. And so the real news in their offer to let the U.S. write the regulations they’ve
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Matthew Yglesias sums up the effects of four decades of U.S. union-busting, and points out how the supposed benefit from pointing a fire hose filled with money in the general direction of the corporate sector hasn’t materialized: If you turn back 30 or
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: The tragedy of Canada’s environmental denial
Ray Grigg, a weekly environmental columnist and author of seven internationally published books on Oriental philosophy, discusses the “tragedy” of Canada’s environmental denial. The post The tragedy of Canada’s environmental denial appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: President Obama showed leadership on climate change: Environmental Defence
President Barack Obama (Photo: Pete Souza) In his much-anticipated speech on climate change and the environment this week, US President Barack didn’t exactly kill TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline as environmentalists had hoped. He simply stated that Keystone should only be approved if it doesn’t lead to an increase in
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On key decisions
I’ll generally concur with Paul Wells’ take on Barack Obama’s reference to Keystone XL yesterday. But it’s worth taking a slightly closer look at both the broad issue framed by Obama, and the Cons’ narrow means of avoiding it. The point of greatest significance in Obama’s speech was indeed the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how the one point of agreement about the environmental impact of the tar sands is that we still don’t have enough information to so much as evaluate the effects of the industry at the core of the Harper Cons’ economic strategy. For further reading…– The Canada-Alberta Oil Sands
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Clean energy progress too slow to limit climate change, says report
By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive: An annual report by International Energy Agency (IEA) says the development of low-carbon energy is progressing too slowly to limit climate change. “The drive to clean up the world’s energy system has stalled,” said aid Maria van der Hoeven, the IEA’s executive director, during the presentation of the report
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Canada’s Carbon Black Eye – Bitumen Peddling
Across Canada, provincial and local governments have achieved great things in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the Harper government has grabbed as much undeserved credit for that as possible. Yet Harper and his slackjawed EnviroShill, Peter Kent, can’t hide the impacts of their bitumen-peddling policies, no matter how much credit
Continue readingCarbon49 - Sustainability for Canadian businesses: The Real Price We Pay for Fossil Fuel Energy
Did you know our government spend money subsidizing fossil fuel energy to keep prices artificially low? A new International Monetary Fund study uncovers just how much these subsidies are and urge our governments to stop these market distortion practices. I calculate the real price we pay for fossil fuel energy and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – John Greenwood and CBC News both report on the offshore tax avoidance being revealed through the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. And Susan Lunn observes that Canada’s federal parties are all at least paying lip service to the issue – though of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On contradictions
Aaron Wherry nicely points out some of the jaw-dropping contradictions in the Cons’ climate change messaging. But let’s not forget a few more worth adding into the mix. Having refused to implement any meaningful regulations or carbon pricing at the federal level, the Cons have tried to take credit for
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