Day tripping
A one-day return trip from the lower mainland to Victoria had us leaving North Vancouver about 5:30 am. That put us in the Tsawwassen terminal early enough to confirm our…
Norman Farrell
Ocean life destruction in BC
Fish biologist Stan Proboszcz of Watershed Watch Salmon Society published an article about the killing of more than 800,000 wild fish in 2022 by open-net salmon farms. According to federal…
Ending fossil fuels benefits all
Many people in Canada are employed in fossil fuel industries. Were production of carbon-laden, climate damaging products to decline or end, many towns would be disrupted. However, quality of life…
Identifying methane emissions accurately
Dr. Volts, writer and researcher David Roberts, provides climate change information that is useful and understandable. His March 22 contribution is What’s the deal with these methane satellites? Roberts interviewed…
Happiness is… (2024 edition)
Overall, Canada ranks 15th in the World Happiness Report, although it is first among nations with populations of more than 30 million. However, when the happiness of citizens under age…
Accuracy of information act?
An article by Ben Parfitt was published in Policy Note, a blog by the BC Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). Parfitt reports that while the BC…
Batteries…
Large reductions in the cost of renewable technologies such as solar and wind have made them cost-competitive with fossil fuels. But to balance these intermittent sources and electrify our transport…
BC Hydro sales flat, spending not
After forecasting 40 percent growth over 20 years, BC Hydro has been spending billions of dollars. But the utility’s sales to residential, commercial and industrial customers in calendar year 2023…
Smile
Long ago, I read Ayn Rand. But then I grew up and realized that unfettered self-interest is not good and altruism is not destructive. Unlike Rand, I believe that communities…
Grim projections of warming underestimating the dangers?
According to GWU professor Dr. Uriyoán Colón-Ramos, raising concern about climate change requires that we talk less about fossil fuels and more about food. Because everyone is affected immediately by…
Costly oil & gas emissions
A peer-reviewed, Stanford-led study involving more than 50 scientists was published this week by Nature. It reveals alarming information about uncontained emissions from oil gas systems. The authors integrated approximately…
“Never again” must mean never again by anyone, against anyone
Maximilian Hess is a Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in London. He calls himself the child of an American Jewish and Catholic German couple and said antisemitism has…
A low IQ can be very appealing
A story from Terry O’Reilly about monkeys involved in shooting a TV commercial may explain who cult leaders recruit as followers.
BC NDP sanctioned destruction
Vancouver author and environmental journalist Arno Kopecky talks about the threat to Howe Sound from LNG operations.
Clean energy solutions
In 2017, Site C proponents said the dam was required because British Columbia needed dispatchable electricity. According to those keen on the megaproject, low-cost wind and solar power could not…
Claims of antisemitism used to defend Israel’s atrocities
I understand people who believe that Israel should defend its lands against armed attacks and fervently assert the country has a right to a peaceful existence. But I sympathize with…
The amazing natural world
This video is from National Geographic’s new docuseries Queens. It shows an encounter between a 60-year-old female orca whale and a great white shark. The first three episodes of the…
Eye in the sky
MethaneSAT is equipped with advanced sensing technology that allows it to precisely identify methane emissions at oil and gas sites across the globe. The satellite was launched on March 4…
Renewables are the key to low emissions, but…
Proponents of hydroelectric dams love to talk about these as low-impact, clean energy. But many of the proponents expect to gain financially from construction of these megaprojects. To them, self-interest…
Debunking LNG as a climate solution
It is worth considering a 2023 report authored for the David Suzuki Foundation by Daniel Horen Greenford, a postdoctoral researcher at Concordia University. It is titled ‘Debunking LNG as a…