The Greatest MIstake Humanity Ever Made
There are those who argue that the greatest mistake we humans ever made was agriculture. And they have a point. For 200,000 years we lived a hunter-gatherer way of life,…
global warming
A Royal Contribution
If one subject is done to excess in the Canadian media it’s the royals. Witness the front page soap opera “Harry and Meghan move to Canada.” It is, therefore, refreshing…
The World’s Most Dangerous Man
There are a lot of unpleasant people running countries these days. North Korea’s Kim Jong-un for example, surrounding himself with nuclear weapons while his people starve. Or China’s Xi Jinping,…
Holocaust in Australia—We Are All Guilty
Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia, has been referred to as a blockhead, which is fair, and not because his large head is rather squarish. He was warned by his…
The Most Consequential Decision of the Decade
This is the time when we commonly look back over the year, or decade, or century, and pronounce our choice of the most significant event or events. There are endless…
Is This the Line in the Sand?
Crunch time. How far will Trudeau go to placate Alberta? Premier Kenney may just have drawn the line in the sand. He has said that the federal government faces a…
Reality is Confirmed
Reality is essentially what science tells us it is. Everything else is speculation. About the worst story about reality that science has been telling us lately is that we are…
Kudos to Carney (and Good Luck!)
Mark Carney is a banker par excellence, a Canadian boy who made the big time. He served as Governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013 and is…
Alberta—the Old South in the Cold North
Reading the book All God’s Children, I encountered a section about the relationship of the American South to the Union just prior to the Civil War. As I read on,…
Would It Help To Dump Alberta?
The G20’s Climate Transparency group issued its annual report this week grading all member countries on their climate performance and found them all wanting. The report said only about half…
Federal election results show why abandoning ‘social license’ was a dumb idea for Alberta’s oilpatch
Seeking “social license” for Alberta’s fossil fuel industry was said by the NDP government of former premier Rachel Notley to be a way to win approval for more pipeline capacity…
The Climate Case for Impeachment
Will they or won’t they? Impeach the Donald, I mean. As the U.S. Congress moves glacially along the impeachment path, I propose impeaching him not on the grounds of his…
Living with the apocalypse
Is it time to recognize that we are politically incapable of dealing with global warming? Is the gap between what is politically acceptable and what is scientifically necessary too great?…
Scapegoating the oil industry
I always admired that great philosopher Pogo. I still remember the picture of he and a friend looking out over their polluted swamp as he uttered those immortal words, “We…
Trust in science falls—due to global warming?
Greta Thunberg made a statement to the U.S. Congress the other day that, like most of what she says, was simple, profound and obvious at the same time. Simple (only…
Ed Whittingham seeks energy/environment middle ground
Alberta lives with two conflicting facts: first, humanity is faced with its greatest crisis ever—global warming—caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels; and second, humanity will have to rely…
The surreallity of life in Alberta
Living in Alberta, I sometimes get the feeling I live in a place shifted a few degrees off centre from reality. For example, in the real world we are faced…
Alberta isn’t immune to global warming
Living in Alberta one often gets the impression that when it comes to energy and the environment, promoting the oil industry is top priority while dealing with global warming is…
What’s wrong with our Conservatives?
If this country were any example, one might conclude that Conservatives cannot, or will not, grasp the severity of the global warming threat. In Alberta, for example, the UCP has…
Globe and Mail Letter
The Letters section in today’s Globe and Mail is filled with readers’ thoughts on climate change. One such reader is me. Please see the fifth letter from the top for…