Oil companies have been up and down about investing more of their profits in green energy. Having made promises to do just that, recently they have backed off. The reason for the change of heart is simple. They make a lot more money investing in oil than they do in
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Alberta Politics: Environment minister in government that won’t approve geothermal projects visits new geothermal project in Germany
Alberta’s environment minister, Rebecca Schulz, is in Germany today, getting set to celebrate the opening of a large geothermal electricity-generating project that uses technology designed by a Calgary company. Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). At the same time, back home in Wild Rose Country, geothermal projects
Continue readingAlberta Politics: No sooner are renewable electricity-generation project approvals frozen by Alberta than ‘small modular reactors’ rear their heads again
A smiling Brian Jean, Alberta’s energy minister, posted photos on social media yesterday of his visit last week “to check out the future home of Canada’s first grid-scale small modular reactor.” Mr. Jean with what looks like a model of a nuclear reactor’s cooling rods in his hands and a
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Alberta pauses the future
Alberta is Canada’s leader in renewables projects and investments. Of the new solar and wind generation capacity added in Canada in 2022, 75 percent was in this province. This, it seems, is too much too fast for the provincial government. The Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) has paused approvals of new
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Albertans Want off the Oil Train … Eventually
A common opinion about Albertans is that when it comes to energy they are about oil and nothing but oil. Like most generalizations this contains some truth, but also like most generalizations it isn’t quite true. A CBC News poll, taken just before the pandemic changed everything, reported that 79
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: China remains top renewable energy market, but US is catching up
Chinese solar company Suntech at the Bird’s Nest stadium Read this May 1 EcoWatch article on China’s continued dominance of the renewable energy market – and the recent growth of the US industry. For the third time in a row, China has placed first on a top 40 ranking of renewable energy markets around
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: As Big Oil tanks, why is Canada so slow to adapt?
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau (Photo: Premier of Alberta/Flickr) The business model of Big Oil has already started to collapse. The model is premised on strong growth to fuel high prices and render economically viable the exploitation of expensive-to-develop, non-conventional fossil fuels, including the tar sands and shale
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Note to Justin: Pipelines don’t help transition to green economy
Photo: Canada2020 / Flickr When Justin Trudeau talks of oil pipeline projects as part of an energy transition, what exactly is he talking about? That we will be on the path to reducing our dependency on fossil fuels by increasing our oil dependency in the short term? And that by
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Despite Trump & Trudeau’s pipeline fetish, green economy will keep booming
US President-Elect Trump (Flickr/Gage Skidmore) and Canadian PM Trudeau (Flickr/Canada 2020) are both big on pipelines Forces at play suggest there will continue to be significant advancements in the global migration to a green economy. Trudeau and Trump are rowing against the current. Despite Trudeau’s continued focus on tar sands extraction
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Electric Vehicles are set to take off…so why is Trudeau still pushing pipelines?
Tesla Model 3 at March 2016 unveiling (Steve Jurvetson/Flickr) In my previous March 2016 article “Pipelines to Nowhere“, I made the point that the proposed Canadian pipelines are about increasing the international supply of petroleum when all the signs are that demand fossil fuels are levelling off over the longer
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Trudeau abandons green election promises, lacks real climate plan
Many of the Justin Trudeau’s green election promises are quickly falling by the wayside, with pipelines moving forward, unsolved regulatory problems, cuts to clean tech funding, and a lack of vision for addressing climate change and building a green economy.
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Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: 90% of world’s new electricity coming from renewables: Welcome to the end of the fossil fuel era
90% the world’s new electricity now comes from renewables. China is shuttering 1,000 coal plants and global emissions are on the decline. The end is nigh for the fossil fuel era…so why hasn’t Canada gotten the memo?
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Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: The NDP’s only shot at winning in BC: Embrace the NEW ECONOMY
The NDP has one slim chance of winning the next BC election: Embracing the “New Economy” – creating healthy, sustainable jobs vs. the Liberals’ old, bankrupt ideas of LNG and big dams.
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Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Pipelines to Nowhere: Energy East, Kinder Morgan make no sense amid global green energy boom, tanking oil market
With the longterm decline of fossil fuel markets, Canada should abandon old-economy pipeline projects like Energy East and Kinder Morgan and focus on the booming green economy, argues Will Dubitsky.
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Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Battery breakthroughs jump start renewable energy
Major advances in batteries and other storage technologies are jump-starting renewable energy – making it competitive with fossil fuels and closer to being able to replace them.
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Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Wind power cost plummets to all-time low as capacity grows
Read this Aug. 10 story Ars Technica story by John Timmer on the continuing drop in the cost of wind power, as nine US states now generate more than 10% of their electricity from wind. After years of uninterrupted success, wind power experienced a bit of a pause around the
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Exxon disses paltry clean tech subsidies while oil industry takes Trillions from taxpayers
Digital composite by AZRainman (Flickr CC licence) A recent article quoting executives from Exxon is an incredible example of the misinformation, half-truths and contempt for solutions to climate change that we continue to see from the oil and gas industry. In response to a question about subsidies for renewables, Theodore Pirog
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: How Alberta NDP can get r done with green energy…seriously
Alberta Prermier Rachel Notley (Alberta NDP/facebook) In her speech on election night, Rachel Notley spoke of her ambition to diversify the economy of Alberta – including the energy sector – and partner with the energy industry and federal government for a national strategy on the environment. Is all this possible? The answer is
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: China’s emissions drop, global cleanteach boom are cause for optimism on climate change
Chinese solar company Suntech at the Bird’s Nest stadium Despite Canada’s total lack of leadership in the green economy, a number of key global developments are grounds for optimism heading into the Paris UN conference on climate change. Global emissions plateau in 2014 In a pleasant surprise for the planet at large, according
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Fossil fuel era drawing to a close…except in Canada
Adrian Wyld/CP The following is the sequel to an earlier story by Will Dubitsky on the growing green economy and Canada’s failure to take advantage of it. In the first part of this story, I discussed how Canadian and Quebec leaders are largely ignoring the potential of high job creation, high
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