BC’s Natural Gas Strategy nothing more than a fairy tale
I have an oped in Saturday’s Vancouver Sun. The editor wanted me to focus on the claims of economic gains for BC, so the piece ended up being a complementary…
energy
Earthgauge Radio October 18 2012: James Kunstler (part 2) and The Climate Reality Project
Download: earthgauge-podcast-oct-18-2012.mp3 On Earthgauge Radio this week, we continue our discussion on the limitations of technology in solving environmental problems and we learn about Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project. I…
Talkin’ bout a res-o-lu-tioooooon, yaaaaaaa, we know
Thursday, October 11, 2012 At the end of September, local government elected representatives from all over British Columbia listened to their constituents: On September 27, a majority of municipal councillors…
Regulating raw bitumen exports: an extremist notion or Conservative election promise?
Wednesday, October 10, 2012 In 2008 the Conservative Party promised to ban the export of raw bitumen to countries with lower environmental standards. Wow! In all the excitement of Government…
Trevor Greene stimulates thought
Joe Oliver probably knows nothing about the courage of people like Canadian Forces hero Trevor Greene. The Minister for Oil and Energy Companies was born to a wealthy Montreal family.…
Earthgauge Radio October 4 2012: James Kunstler, Fast for Climate Justice and the new “Passive House” in Wakefield
Download: earthgauge-podcast-oct4-2012.mp3 On Earthgauge Radio this week, we ‘re talking about techno-optimism, fasting for climate justice and energy efficient buildings. I have 3 interviews for you on today’s show: Novelist…
BC’s critical leadership vacuum
When Gordon Campbell was Premier, advantaging insiders and friends became the BC Government’s raison d’etre. Liberals were damn good at it too. When that sated Premier moved on, he left…
The plug-in has landed!
Yesterday (Sept 26) we had the pleasure of picking up our new Prius Plug-In, at a local dealership. Apparently it’s the first one sold in British Columbia (not including prototype…
Tesla Motors Builds Solar Charging Stations
Tesla, the electric car company, has unveiled solar powered electric charging stations in the USA. This is a good step toward sustainable personal transportation. Not only has Tesla created battery…
Douglas Channel Islands: Enbridge erases, Lori Waters replaces
Monday, September 17, 2012 One Sunday morning, Lori Waters received an intriguing link to the “Route Safety” animation videos for the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline. As one of many…
Earthgauge Radio kicks off season 2 tomorrow morning on CKCU!
Tune in to CKCU FM 93.1 tomorrow morning from 7:00-8:00 AM for the launch of the second season of Earthgauge Radio! On tomorrow’s show, I’ll be bringing you two interviews…
Typical Wind Farm Supports Nearly 1,100 Jobs
A recent report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in the USA has shown that in the country wind farms generate not just energy but 1,00 jobs at a…
Video: Sustainable South Osborne
The Riverview Hoop House was one of the projects on display during a walking tour of urban agricultural projects organized by the Sustainable South Osborne Community Co-op in June in…
Independent engineering report on Northern Gateway: “This is clearly an unacceptable risk.”
The Vancouver Sun is reporting today that, according to an independent analysis by three professional engineers, the Enbridge Northern Gateway proposal to ship oil sands bitumen from Kitimat along the…
Oil Prices and the Loonie Again
There’s a refreshingly pragmatic and detailed piece in today’s National Post by Peter Spiro questioning the assumed correlation between oil prices and the loonie. It builds nicely on previous discussion…
Romney’s "Oil Above All" Energy Plan Short on Variety, and on Energy
OilAboveAll-400×245.jpg Last Thursday, Mitt Romney presented his “oil above all” energy plan, in which he promised “North American energy independence” by 2020. Far from comprehensive, the plan echoes the familiar…
Canada’s tar sands cannot enhance U.S. energy security
The Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and oil executives have consistently claimed that the dirty Alberta tar sands oil is a boon to U.S. energy security. Here are…
Commemorating Joe Romm’s “Language Intelligence”
Joe Romm‘s book Language Intelligence is now out in the US (but maddeningly, remains unavailable in Canada). Early reviews proclaim it as both a rhetorical masterpiece, and a masterpiece on…
5 rules for a science-based decision on the Enbridge Pipelines
Monday, August 13, 2012 Prime Minister Harper was in Vancouver on August 7 and took the opportunity to tell Canadians that any decision on the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipelines and…