Disheartening news
Down To Earth, a weekly newsletter from The Guardian, provided information that should distress every person hoping the climate crisis can be improved, or even moderated…
Norman Farrell
Canada fails, climate crisis worsens
With it now costing more than $100 to fill the gas tank of a small car, it is worth remembering a report on fossil fuel subsidies issued in February 2022…
Status quo danger
Greed of the fossil fuel industry in 2022 will drive conversion to alternatives faster than anyone imagined was possible…
Democracy is fragile
Government by the people for the people is more myth than reality in Canada and in the politically troubled country south of here. We cannot talk about our governments being…
Dollars in paradise
There was also something bigger, and even more disturbing: a domain of libertarian fantasy made real, in which professional intervention made it possible for the world’s wealthiest people to be…
Hidden billions, missing millions
In 2016, an unnamed whistleblower provided Munich daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung with encrypted internal documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm that sold anonymous offshore companies. These entities enabled…
Hydrogen – clean or dirty energy
Hydrogen made from electrolysis of water powered by solar or wind could help humans survive beyond the 21st century. The elemental gas could store surplus renewables power and help decarbonize…
REPLAY: Liberal plan of action
Reader Lorne Finlayson provided this to us in 2011, but didn’t indicate when the changes he predicted would occur. With Kevin Falcon and his right-wing friends now in control of…
Megaprojects: over budget, over time, over and over again
John Horgan’s five years as Premier will cap a 30-year career in provincial politics. While current opinion polls show satisfaction with his leadership, history will discount the blarney and examine…
The Faux-Feathered Falcon
Led by the accomplished but politically naïve Andrew Wilkinson, BC Liberals were crushed in 2020 by John Horgan, a man who was opposite of the Opposition leader. That led to…
Status quo bias and climate destruction
Tenacious adherence to old methods of energy creation ensures substantial economic and environmental damage and a path to human extinction.
Guys’ rules for girls
I have been working to bring order to the electronic congestion and confusion on my computer. That is a slow process since I keep finding old material to read. One…
BC Hydro: privatize and regulate strictly
As managed since 2001 under Premiers Campbell, Clark and Horgan, BC Hydro has been an unqualified disaster. The company has used falsehoods to justify capital spending of about $40 billion…
Energy innovation
Hindered by the political power exercised by fossil fuel companies and financial institutions supporting those industries, Canada’s federal government has been little involved in development of non-destructive renewable energy sources.…
Early forests in southwest BC
While clearing files from an old computer, I rediscovered one involving my maternal grandfather, long-time Chilliwack resident Jim Mahood (1885-1976). He recalled his career in the forests of southwest British…
Behave like our house is on fire… because it is
A 2021 study published online by Cambridge University Press aimed to learn about “experts” promoting the claim that human impact on Earth’s climate is either non-existent or insignificant. Researchers examined…
Indisputable peril
Perhaps this year’s most important publication is by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Almost one hundred scientists from thirty-eight nations report that risks to long-term human survival…
Her Majesty’s Disloyal Opposition
It is sad that in 2022, Canada’s second largest political party has stopped believing in community responsibilities and cooperation, mutual respect between individuals, the rule of law, and democracy itself.
The planet you think you live on no longer exists
Ben Rawlence’s new book, THE TREELINE, is a blend of reportage, nature, travel and science writing. Telling the story of our changing climate through six species of tree, it documents…
Neoliberalism, racism, assimilation
SFU Assistant Professor Kyle Willmott finds neoliberalism behind calls for assimilation and the rewriting of history to elevate racist abuses to “remarkable works” and “good deeds.” Dr. Willmott identifies the…