Tar Sands ← Progressive Bloggers // Blogues progressistes

Views from the Beltline: Shell bails on the tar sands

Mar

12

2017

I read with interest Royal Dutch Shell’s decision to sell sell most of its stake in Alberta’s tar sands. It brought back memories. I toiled for Shell Canada during my days in the oil patch, now a long time ago, and the last project I worked on was in the tar sands. Shell was a ...

Views from the Beltline: Shell bails on the tar sands

Mar

12

2017

I read with interest Royal Dutch Shell’s decision to sell sell most of its stake in Alberta’s tar sands. It brought back memories. I toiled for Shell Canada during my days in the oil patch and the last project I worked on was in the tar sands. Shell was a good company to work for. ...

The Progressive Economics Forum: Extracted Carbon: Re-examining Canada’s contribution to climate change through fossil fuel exports

Jan

25

2017

We just published a new report, Extracted Carbon: Re-examining Canada’s contribution to climate change through fossil fuel exports, by yours truly. It is part of the Corporate Mapping Project, a new mega research partnership led by CCPA’s Shannon Daub and UVic’s William Carroll. The new report tallies up all of the carbon Canada extracts as ...

Views from the Beltline: Pipelines, good-looking liberals and Hanoi Jane

Jan

13

2017

Jane Fonda is unhappy with our prime minister. She has announced that “we shouldn’t be fooled by good-looking liberals.” Rachel Notley says Fonda doesn’t know what she’s talking about. I’m with Rachel. Ms. Fonda, an ardent environmentalist, believes that by supporting pipelines, Prime Minister Trudeau “has betrayed every one of the things that he committed ...

Views from the Beltline: Pipelines, good-looking liberals and Hanoi Jane

Jan

13

2017

Jane Fonda is unhappy with our prime minister. She has announced that “we shouldn’t be fooled by good-looking liberals.” Rachel Notley says Fonda doesn’t know what she’s talking about. I’m with Rachel. Ms. Fonda, an ardent environmentalist, believes that by supporting pipelines, Prime Minister Trudeau “has betrayed every one of the things that he committed ...

Accidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links

Dec

26

2016

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Jared Bernstein argues that the limited stimulus provided by tax cuts for the rich is far from worth the overall costs of exacerbating inequality and damaging public revenues: I’m encountering progressives who are compelled to be at least somewhat supportive of wasteful, regressive tax cuts, like those proposed ...

Song of the Watermelon: Vancouver Sun Letter

Dec

17

2016

For what is likely to be my last letter to the editor of 2016, see today’s Vancouver Sun (fourth letter from the top). The gist of my argument is that Kinder Morgan is bad. Fun fact: this ain’t the first time I’ve responded to a pro-Kinder Morgan op-ed by former NDP Premier Dan Miller. Filed ...

The Canadian Progressive: Trudeau’s approval of Kinder Morgan pipeline a call for Standing Rock-style intervention

Dec

10

2016

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s approval of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project spurred anger. We need strategy to stop the project. The post Trudeau’s approval of Kinder Morgan pipeline a call for Standing Rock-style intervention appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.

The Canadian Progressive: Dozens of Students Arrested in Ottawa Protesting Kinder Morgan Pipeline

Oct

24

2016

Dozens of students from around Canada were arrested on Parliament Hill, Ottawa, while protesting Kinder Morgan’s proposed $5.4 billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. The protest was the largest act of youth-led climate civil disobedience in Canadian history. The post Dozens of Students Arrested in Ottawa Protesting Kinder Morgan Pipeline appeared first on The Canadian ...

The Canadian Progressive: How to Fight Big Oil: Join Your Neighbors

Oct

13

2016

Yes! Magazine co-founder Sarah van Gelder outlines the four reasons communities led by indigenous people all over the United States are winning against the war against the powerful and deep-pocketed fossil fuel industry. The post How to Fight Big Oil: Join Your Neighbors appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.

Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links

Sep

22

2016

This and that for your Thursday reading. – Branko Milanovic examines whether the U.S.’ tax system is actually progressive all the way to the top of the income spectrum – and finds that there’s not enough data about the treatment of the extremely wealthy to be sure. And Robert Cribb and Marco Chown Oved discuss ...

The Canadian Progressive: “Indian Givers”: New Neil Young Song Honors Dakota Access Pipeline Resistance

Sep

19

2016

Canadian rock legend Neil Young just unleashed “Indian Givers”, a new protest song honoring the ongoing Standing Rock Sioux Tribe-led protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The post “Indian Givers”: New Neil Young Song Honors Dakota Access Pipeline Resistance appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.

The Canadian Progressive: Court overturns Canada’s approval of Northern Gateway pipeline

Jun

30

2016

In a decision that’s already being hailed as a major victory for First Nations and the planet, the Federal Court of Appeal recently overturned the Canadian government’s 2014 approval of Enbridge’s contested Northern Gateway pipeline project. The post Court overturns Canada’s approval of Northern Gateway pipeline appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.

Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links

May

26

2016

This and that for your Thursday reading. – Andre Picard writes about the widespread poverty faced by indigenous children in Canada – and the obvious need for political action to set things right: The focus of the [CCPA’s] report, rightly, is on the children among the more than 1.4 million people in Canada who identify ...

Montreal Simon: Is Pollution From The Oil Sands Killing People In Three Provinces?

May

25

2016

It was thirty three degrees in Toronto today, and as usual when it gets that hot a smoggy haze covered the city.A blanket of pollution caused by the six million people who live in the Greater Toronto Area, and all their cars.But did you know that same amount of pollution is put out every day by this ...

The Canadian Progressive: Canadian common sense: Fee-and-dividend petition e-297 grabs James Hansen’s attention

May

19

2016

In a blog post published Monday, the former NASA scientist applauded petition e-297, a new petition that’s urging the House of Commons to steer Canada away from fossil fuels. The post Canadian common sense: Fee-and-dividend petition e-297 grabs James Hansen’s attention appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.

The Canadian Progressive: “Top 7 Reasons You Can’t Trust Kinder Morgan”, Pipelines

May

13

2016

A new report outlines the “Top 7 Reasons You Can’t Trust Kinder Morgan” and the energy giant’s proposed $5.4 billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. The post “Top 7 Reasons You Can’t Trust Kinder Morgan”, Pipelines appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.

The Canadian Progressive: Canada cannot fulfill Paris Agreement, call to action on climate change while creating more tar sands pipelines

May

3

2016

More tar sands pipelines means going in reverse on the climate action Canada needs to fulfill the Paris Agreement and its call to action on climate change. The post Canada cannot fulfill Paris Agreement, call to action on climate change while creating more tar sands pipelines appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.

The Canadian Progressive: Trudeau urged to reject pressure to champion expansion of tar sands operations, pipelines

Apr

27

2016

On Wednesday, over 40 Canadian groups wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal cabinet and urged them to reject the pressure to champion the expansion of tar sands operations and pipelines. The post Trudeau urged to reject pressure to champion expansion of tar sands operations, pipelines appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.

The Common Sense Canadian: 90% of world’s new electricity coming from renewables: Welcome to the end of the fossil fuel era

Apr

18

2016

Solar installation class (Haggerston Community College/Flickr CC licence) According to the International Energy Agency, a staggering 90% of all new electrical capacity brought online around the world in 2015 came in the form of renewable energy. That same year, China invested a record $110 Billion in clean tech – virtually 100% of its electrical capital – and ...

Accidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links

Apr

18

2016

Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Robert Frank discusses the essential role of luck in determining the opportunities we have – and how the advantages of a strong social fabric are too often ignored by the people who benefit the most from them: (C)hance plays a far larger role in life outcomes than most ...

The Canadian Progressive: Energy East threatens the drinking water of over 5 million Canadians: Report

Apr

15

2016

A new examination of Energy East reveals that TransCanada’s proposed tar sands pipeline “threatens the drinking water of more than five million Canadians.” The post Energy East threatens the drinking water of over 5 million Canadians: Report appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.

Politics and its Discontents: A Fox In The Henhouse: Alberta’s School Helpers

Feb

19

2016

In response to a recent blog entry that discussed Rex Murphy’s most recent oil-shilling efforts, The Salamander alerted me to a Desmog Canada story going back almost two years. It is a story with profoundly disturbing implications, dealing as it does with the infiltration by oil interests of Alberta’s education system under the guise of ...

The Canadian Progressive: In Alberta, First Nations engage in a complex dance of resistance to and cooperation with Big Oil

Feb

15

2016

In this illuminating piece, Seattle journalist Erika Lundahl examines how, in Alberta, First Nations are forced to “engage in a complex dance of resistance to and cooperation with” Big Oil “in order to survive.” The post In Alberta, First Nations engage in a complex dance of resistance to and cooperation with Big Oil appeared first ...

The Canadian Progressive: David Suzuki: Paris changed everything, so why are we still talking pipelines?

Jan

31

2016

David Suzuki wonders why Canadian politicians are still contemplating spending billions on new tar sands pipelines after the recent Paris climate summit confirmed that “75 to 80 per cent of known fossil fuel deposits must be left in the ground.” The post David Suzuki: Paris changed everything, so why are we still talking pipelines? appeared ...