Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Thomas Walkom puts the Cons’ anti-environmental hysteria in perspective by noting how our cabinet ministers are going out of their way to sound like the most fringy of lunatic Tea Partiers: America’s Exxon Mobil, Britain’s BP, France’s Total E&P, China’s SinoCanada Petroleum Corp.
Continue readingTag: Tar Sands
Accidental Deliberations: Spin of convenience
Following up on one rebuttal to the Cons’ shilling for the tar sands on the Gateway pipeline, let’s point out one other area where the Cons’ attacks apply far more strongly to their own side than to the voices they’re looking to silence. Here’s Joe Oliver’s criticism of the First
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Stephen Maher and Barbara Yaffe have learned to be duly skeptical of the Cons’ motives when it comes to Senate patronage. But John Ibbitson still has a ways to go – as he’s apparently still buying Con spin about new provinces holding
Continue readingMy salute to Joe Oliver
This one’s for you, Joe Oliver, Harper Government(tm) Minister of the Environment for your determination to kill Canada’s pristine wilderness
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Dr. Dawg views the latest attacks on workers by employers in Canada as a new front in all-out class warfare. And the New York Times notes that some of the main policies being pushed by the anti-worker side serve absolutely no purpose other
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Shoes, ships and sealing-wax, cabbages and kings
Global TV Noon News aired a report on the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline Sunday. It lasted 40-seconds while they allocated 11 minutes to a segment on cooking fish and five for a pet dog. Strange ‘news’ priorities but I guess they could have run a repeat of ET Canada or
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: "Ethical Oil" – an argument that make no sense
The Devil in the Tar Sands, Jody Williams and Desmond Tutu, Project Syndicate, 2011 CAPE TOWN – …”Oil from the tar sands of Alberta is the dirtiest in the world, and its extraction is already causing problems… “Opposition to the [Keystone XL] pipeline throughout the US is growing in intensity…
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Conservatives ready to serve paymasters
Harper warns of ‘hijacked’ hearings on Northern Gateway pipeline, Bob Weber, The Canadian Press: EDMONTON – Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he’s listening to concerns that hearings for the Northern Gateway pipeline will be “hijacked” by foreign interests. “We have to have processes in Canada that come to a decision
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Year In Dirty Energy: Keystone XL
tarsands protests.jpg This year, a deal between TransCanada and the U.S. government almost allowed one of the most disastrous plans in energy history to win aproval. The deal would have allowed TransCanada to build the Keystone XL pipeline across the U.S. border to carry an exceptionally dirty form of oil
Continue reading350 or bust: As Fossil Fuel Interests Sway Politicians, The Political Will To Act On Climate Change Disappears As Fast As Arctic Ice
This excellent interview with Patrick Bond, Director of the Centre for Civil Society University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, discusses the huge influence that the fossil fuel industry, with its deep pockets and bought-and-paid for politicians, has on the climate change debate. This industry is at the root of
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: NCC: Not Much Blood on Canada’s Hands!
NCC logo.jpg It's Christmastime in Canada – when all self-satisfied ideologues take a moment to lift the finger of blame and point it at somebody else. "Credit" for outstanding performance in this regard must go to National Citizens Coalition President andf CEO Peter Coleman. In ringing defence of the former NCC
Continue readingChiquita si, tar sands no
Chiquita Brands has caused a bit of a flutter on the Canadian scene by announcing it will avoid using fuel from Alberta’s tar sands. The company says it has joined 13 other companies in trying to reduce its carbon footprint. The announcement is timely. According to an industry report, the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your afternoon reading. – Dan Leger worries about the consequences of the Cons’ faith-based government: Despite the big majority and many years left in its mandate, the government seems to operate in a constant state of fear and insecurity. How else to explain the attempts to closet
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: ‘Consumer Energy Alliance’ Front Group Exposed by The Tyee and Salon
Consumer Energy Alliance.png In a must-read piece co-published today by Salon.com and The Tyee, Geoff Dembicki exposes the dark underbelly of the public relations and lobbying industry, revealing the interconnectedness between Alberta tar sands movers and shakers in Alberta and their oily compatriots in Washington. The investigative article focuses on the fossil fuel industry front group
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Yes, it’s absolutely asinine that the Cons’ attacks on Muslim women have been extended to denying citizenship based on a particular type of clothing. But after the Cons’ repeated efforts to suppress veiled voting, we shouldn’t expect anything less from them. And
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Jeffrey Simpson compliments the NDP’s leadership contenders for dealing with the issue of inequality, but rightly notes there’s a long way left to go: Good for the NDP leadership candidates for talking about income inequality in Canada. At their first leadership debate last
Continue reading350 or bust: Canada At Durban Climate Talks: Talking Green, Walking Dirty
Fresh from Ani’s blog, this video of the large crowd of people have gathered outside the negotiations room at COP17 to stand with Africa as the negotiations come to a close: Here are other recent posts from Ani, with her observations of COP17: Talking green, walking dirty: a snapshot of
Continue reading350 or bust: Durban: Youth Turn Their Backs In Response To Canadian Government’s Disregard For Their Future
Here’s another post from Ani, part of the Canadian Youth Delegation in Durban, South Africa where the 10 days of U.N. climate negotiations have less than 48 hours to go, and no agreement is in sight. Here is her account of the recent action by some of the other members
Continue readingThe Brits Are Not Amused: A Tale of Fibs & Desperation
The Brits are not amused with us at the moment, In a meeting with the British Foreign Office, Canada’s trade commissioner in the UK, Sushma Gera has reportedly informed UK officials that the Harper government is considering filing a challenge with the WTO over the EU’s Fuel Quality Directive claiming
Continue reading350 or bust: Canada’s Pollution Peddlers Arrive At COP17 in Durban
It’s a busy time for a climate activist; the updates from COP17 are coming in fast and furious, particularly from Canadians as the Canadian Minister of the Environment Peter Kent and his delegation arrived yesterday. Here are some of the articles that were in my inbox this morning: Mardi Tindal,
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