Harperism operates in right-wing shadows
Stephen Harper is today’s éminence grise behind the Conservative Party of Canada. Since leaving the University of Calgary in 1985, Harper has been a resolute right-wing activist. After being turned…
Norman Farrell
Circumscribed freedom
The emphasis of individual liberty has always been entangled with white supremacy, settler colonialism, climate destruction, economic exploitation, and patriarchy. These “ugly freedoms” legitimate the right to exploit and subjugate…
Protect the unborn, not the already born
Some who favour right wing politics believe in protecting the unborn, but vehemently oppose protection of children already born. This is largely an American problem, where guns overtook car crashes…
Wildfires
Wildfires are clearly a major problem for Canadians in 2023. Primary causes are known but solutions conflict with policies of governments that prefer to eliminate forest diversity and promote fossil…
Canada, land of vanishing wonders
Mike Hanafin, “Brilliant doesn’t do this justice. @thejuicemedia usually skewers Australian (Australien!) govts/politicians for kissing up to Big Oil, Fossil Fuel extractors, & monopolist billionaires. But they noticed it was…
BC Hydro’s credibility gap
When BC Hydro said that growing demand required asset additions worth billions of dollars and contractual commitments of $50+ billion owed to independent power producers, should we have believed what…
Oversight? No! Undersight? Yes!
Lew Edwardson wrote the following as a comment on the post Lack of transparency at BC Hydro may conceal massive fraud. It deserves to be repeated in this separate post.…
BC’s contractual obligations worth tens of billions of dollars
BC’s government seems determined to continue the present model for private power in the intended 2024 call for additional electricity. The difference in 2024 will be that large contracts for…
Efficiency of BC Hydro dams slowly dropping – Site C may produce 1/4 less than promised
Site C was conceived when output per MW of capacity was higher than it has been in recent years. BC Hydro has regularly claimed that 1,100 MW capacity at Site…
Lack of transparency at BC Hydro may conceal massive fraud
Economist Dr. Jetson Leder-Luis of Boston University studies fraud in public spending. He estimates that fraud in large projects may divert five percent of spending. On the Site C power…
BC revenues from fossil gas
An examination of revenue the Province of British Columbia has taken in from production of fossil methane gas in the fiscal years 2000 to 2023.
Dangerous distraction
A key element of Canada’s future climate policy is carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS). The federal government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to advance the commercial viability…
Watch what they do, not what they say
BC’s NDP government promised, “On May 19, 2022, the Province introduced a new oil and gas royalty system that puts the interests of British Columbians first and eliminates outdated and…
Accelerating climate change
Eliminating methane emissions offers huge potential for quick, affordable climate action. Modern technology makes identification of leakage relatively simple, but industry and governments are dedicated to increased fossil fuel production.…
Naval deployment
As a change from the usual subjects at In-Sights, here are photographs taken by Lorne Simpson of Victoria, a friend of 50 years or so. Lorne is a keen observer…
A journalist who understands journalism
After 28 years as a key contributor at the Georgia Straight, Charlie Smith moved to Pancouver, a new arts and culture media outlet that aims to “shed light on how…
Methane control — low hanging fruit
Strategic interventions to cut methane emissions in the natural gas supply chain are relatively simple and cost-effective compared to the complexity and expense of decarbonizing the global economy. Prohibiting venting…
☠ Fossil methane gas ☠
Proponents tell us that fossil methane gas emits fewer greenhouse gases when burned than coal. “Natural Gas” has long been sold to us as a reliable, environmentally friendly, even classy…
Fuelling the fires
Premier David Eby and Ministers of British Columbia spent much time in August 18 news conferences. They talked about dealing with wildfires and assisting the tens of thousands of people…
Goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement may be unreachable
The UK’s Royal Meteorological Society wrote about the deadly heatwave that affected western North America in 2021. An underlying message was to prepare for more disasters like the destruction of…