Energy McCarthyism
The high-and-mighty virtiol which greeted Tom Mulcair’s comments last week about the downside of oil-powered currency appreciation is lamentable (repeating the over-the-top reaction to Dalton McGuinty’s similar comments a few…
energy
Taxpayers carry financial risks for IPPs
In Kleptocracy: rule by thieves, I repeated news that BC Hydro spent $676 million with private power producers. Through idiocy or corruption, the public utility has been forced to buy…
Chapter from Heller’s Catch-22 ?
A comment that speaks for itself from the article Kleptocracy – rule by thieves: “I installed a 10 kW wind turbine on my Okanagan property 3 years ago, buying into…
Hypocrisy revealed
Federal Conservatives complain that environmental charities use money from outside Canada to campaign for effective regulation of energy industries. Contradicting the rhetoric, CRA records show that environmental groups are not…
Kleptocracy: rule by thieves
BC Liberals claim to be the “free enterprise” party of British Columbia but scams in play at BC Hydro are not examples of free enterprise. These are old fashion economic…
We Must Force the Politicians to Go Post-Carbon
We need to leave the tarsands oil in the ground. We need an increasing carbon tax. We need to stop subsidizing carbon energy producers. We need public money invested in…
Growing discomfort
This week, we learned that Stephen Harper, in Nixonian tradition, is using federal tax authorities to harass political opponents. From The Globe and Mail: “Tides Canada is having its charitable…
When the Landman is forced to pay legal costs
Thursday, May 10, 2012 In northeastern BC, the “Landman” is a representative of an oil and gas company, who shows up at your door when the company wants to drill…
Empire State Building Gets a Green Overall
The Empire State Building in New York has received a green overall that has cut 20% of the building’s energy consumption and will save the owners a ton of cash.…
Canada’s Oil: For Sale to the Highest Bidder
Want to know why Canada’s currency is sky-high despite our sluggish recovery, our large and persistent current account deficit, and our lousy export performance? Check out this fascinating story in…
Special treatment for oil industry means poor environmental laws
Thursday, May 3, 2012 The roll-back of Canada’s environmental laws – legal environmental protection that Canadians have worked for decades to put in place – give the oil and gas…
J.K. Galbraith: Inequality and Instability
An analysis of the economic and political context prior to the initiation of the should-have-been-expected recession in 2008, in which the global community continues to find itself and will continue…
Who is silenced under Canada’s new environmental assessment act?
Friday, April 27, 2012 With the release of the proposed new Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, we can say a bit more about the possible impact of changes to environmental…
The Great Canadian Divide: our road to failure
Canada is divided, perhaps more than the heyday of the Quebec separatist movement. There’s a divide between generations thanks to the budget and there’s a divide between eastern and western…
‘Ethical Oil’s predecessor died today
Before ‘Ethical Oil’ there was ‘Carbon Capture’. For years CCS technology was the standard response to environmental criticism of oilsands development. Of course it was a flawed public relations strategy…
New Poll: American Voters Very Concerned About Global Warming Pollution, Support Taxing Dirty Energy
global climate change.jpg A new poll released today shows that American voters take global warming pollution very seriously and want to see action from government and the private sector to…
Deconstructing the Wildrose Effect
So what happened in Alberta’s election yesterday, other than people telling pollsters that they want change, then chickening out when it came time to mark an X. The Politics, Re-spun…
The Oil Price-Loonie Transmission Mechanism
The most interesting comments from Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney last week, in releasing the Bank’s semi-annual Monetary Policy Report, dealt with the relationship between the price of oil…
Japan’s Largest Solar Power Plant: 70MW
Japan is about to build a new solar power plant and it’ll their largest one to date. The country is trying to improve their power grid and make it more…
Independent MLA’s speak out
FORT ST. JOHN – Independent B.C. MLAs Bob Simpson and Vicki Huntington’s visit to the Peace allowed them to see the region’s natural resource face to face, resulting in questions…