The Interview We Wish We Had With Premier Prentice on Budget 2015
“I believe we show who we are, and how much we care, by what we do.”—Stephen Harper, Canada’s prime minister In his March 24 “State of the Province Address” Mr…
energy
Homelessness in Canada’s North
Over at the blog of Northern Public Affairs, I’ve written a post titled “Ten Things to Know About Homelessness in Canada’s North.” Topics covered in the post include the high…
In France New Buildings Need Green Roofs
Green roofs or solar panels are now required on all new commercial buildings in the country of France. This is great because now buildings can have either a zero energy…
Laurie Blakeman Takes a Symbolic Step…in the Wrong Direction
Crikey! On Friday Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman announced that she’ll be running as a candidate for the Liberals, the Alberta Party and the Greens in the upcoming election… …and on…
Thinking Through the Fall-Out of Lower Oil Prices
Canada’s economic and fiscal debates in recent months have been dominated by the possible impacts of the sudden fall in oil prices since last autumn on growth, employment, and fiscal…
Looking for Heroes?
I’ve been watching The Book of Negroes this week. I have no words. I only recognize justice, integrity, brutality, acknowledgement, witnessing, story telling and a myriad of other foggy responses.…
Adding to the pile: Another legal challenge regarding Enbridge’s Northern Gateway proposal argues BC is required to make its own decision
Wednesday, February 18, 2015 The pile of lawsuits sitting on top of the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines and Tankers Project keeps getting bigger, and this time the Province of…
Low-carbon urban infrastructure: a view from Vancouver
I have a new case study (full pdf; summary article from the publishers) out as part of the Economists for Equity and Environment‘s Future Economy Initiative. I look at the…
Burlington Vermont Now 100% Powered by Renewable
The community of Burlington, Vermont have gotten their power grid to be fully renewable – they are so good at it that they can sell surplus energy to other places.…
The So-Called Transit Referendum: Don’t Be Duped!
By Emily Griffiths The Transit referendum “Yes” campaign has been asserting itself all over Facebook, Twitter, neighbourhood news boxes, and I can’t help but ask myself, Since when is increasing…
Don’t Play Tories’ Game on “Risk” of Deficit
Acres of newsprint have been devoted in recent weeks to the possibility that lower oil prices might push the federal budget back into a deficit position. As I argue in…
Energy From Drinking Water
Drinkable water right from a tap in your home is a relatively new and amazing thing. Just when you thought water delivery systems couldn’t get any better a company has…
Trudeau, Carbon Pricing, Regional Politics, and Technology Policy
Yesterday, Justin Trudeau appeared to be backing away from a national carbon price. He says some of the provinces have already implemented carbon pricing, so the federal government will be…
Tsleil-Waututh Nation: “Yes” to solar; “No” to Kinder Morgan
Wednesday, January 21, 2015 I was honoured to attend the Tsleil-Waututh Nation’s (TWN) launch and celebration of its new solar tracker. With the installation of TWN’s solar tracker, TWN signaled…
Why Fossil Fuel Divestment Makes Sense
Rolling Stone has a great article looking into the logic of divestment, that is the growing trend to remove investments in fossil fuel companies and investing in renewable companies instead.…
Should the CBC Walk the Proverbial Plank?
http://montrealsimon.blogspot.ca/2015/01/what-needs-to-be-said-about-cbc-scandals.html The only valid argument for saving the CBC is that it has a MANDATE, coast to coast to coast, to be there for all the people of this country,…
Science World Ignores Climate Science
Well, why would you support something called Science World when it participates in a program to brainwash students into supporting the liquid natural gas industry, despite the science indicating how…
WWF Offer Free Tools for Corporate Sustainability Initiatives
Need some help driving your office’s green initiatives? WWF Canada offers free downloadable tools including getting-started guides, spreadsheets, benchmarks, campaign poster templates for green initiatives on energy reduction, paper reduction,…
David Suzuki: Energy shift requires shift in conversation
The infrastructure already developed to accommodate cheap fossil fuels creates a psychological barrier to rational discourse on energy issues, says David Suzuki. The post David Suzuki: Energy shift requires shift…
Capitalists Working on Climate Change?
As you know, I’m not one to tout the marvels of capitalism, however there is this. Out of the 6 of the most hopeful climate stories of this year at…