Polar Jet Brings Sahara to the Arctic
In today’s freak weather news, scientists have discovered a new “atmospheric mechanism” whereby the polar jet drags hot dusty air from the Sahara to the eastern side of the North…
The Mound of Sound
Michael Harris – On Climate Change, Canada Talks the Talk But Crawls the Walk
Michael Harris’ latest column warns don’t count on politicians, including Trudeau, to prevent a global warming apocalypse. To believe what a politician says when she’s campaigning to become the government…
The Globe Shreds Andrew Scheer
The Globe editorial board has torn a strip off Andrew Scheer for his antics in India. The Conservative leader is shunning pious photo ops at prominent temples and has not…
It’s a Tall Order
It’s called ‘living within your means.’ What parent doesn’t teach that lesson to his/her children. Part of giving kids an allowance is to help them learn how to control their…
The Real Danger of Climate Change – That Would Be You.
I have made an absolute Cassandra of myself writing about climate change for the past dozen years on this blog. Which is why the only surprise in Monday’s jarring report…
The "Unspeakable" Donald Trump
Jean Chretien has come out swinging in his remarks about America’s Mango Mussolini, Donald J. Trump. Chretien unleashes that unflattering opinion of Trump in a new book of anecdotes from…
The Case for Climate Pessimism
That’s the title of an article in The New Republic that, in the wake of the latest IPCC report, wrestles with the merits and drawbacks of climate optimism, “we can…
I Thought They Left Something Out. Gaping Holes in the IPCC Climate Report.
Yesterday’s report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was pretty jarring with its dire warning that we had just a dozen years to cut our carbon emissions by almost…
Is This the Smoking Gun?
A powerful article in The New Yorker chronicles “back channel” online communications between Trump’s team and Russia’s Alfa Bank during the 2016 election campaign. I’m borderline computer illiterate so I’ll…
What of Your "Moral Obligation?" What of Mine?
It strikes me as the height of naivete to expect something as foundationally amoral as a neoliberal government to recognize a “moral obligation to act” even on something as existential…
Suck It Up, Snowflakes!!
They’re already soiling their dainties down in Florida in fear of the arrival of Hurricane Michael later this week. Their climate change denier in chief, governor Rick Scott, calls it…
For Someone Who Claims She’s "No Quitter," McKenna is Sure Quick to Throw In the Towel.
“Bleat, bleat. Bleat, bleat.” That’s about as much sense as you’ll get out of Canada’s environment minister, Catherine McKenna. The latest and most worrisome report of the Intergovernmental Panel on…
The Moral Imperative of Climate Change
The time for pretending is over. World leaders have a “moral obligation to act” to avert the worst impacts of climate change and that’s going to take a huge and…
Best Case Scenario? We’ve Got Twelve Years.
The persistently optimistic, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, gives humanity twelve years to mend our ways. Within a dozen years, i.e. by 2030, the world must have massively curbed our…
"Fish or Cut Bait" Time Looms for Trudeau Liberals
For the past three years since his “Canada’s back” performance at the 2015 Paris Climate Summit, our freewheeling prime minister has perfected the laughable pitch that Canada can be a…
Eat the Rich – Unless They Get You First
When the Trump administration recently sought to justify scrapping Obama’s initiative to substantially improve vehicle fuel economy, it used what seemed to be a bizarre argument: we’re already screwed so…
The New Criminal Enterprise – Our Very Own Aristocracy
One thing that separated the aristocracy from the plebs was the rule of law. Sure, in theory you might hang a nobleman as quickly as you would hang a peasant…
When Samuel L. Jackson Ran Into Brett Kavanaugh
In case you haven’t seen it yet –
When Science Speaks Truth (Sort Of) to Power
It can’t be easy to be the bearer of bad news to a crew of powerful individuals who would rather not know. It must be all the harder for the…
Manitoba Nixes Trudeau Carbon Tax
Manitoba has joined Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario in rejecting the federal government’s carbon pricing initiative. The Manitoba government says it is pulling out of its plan to charge a carbon…