Les Routledge

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Demand Fairness from Ottawa and Edmonton

A few weeks ago, Albertans voted to reduce the inequities in the federal equalization program. The deficit between the dollars that leave to and come back from Ottawa has recently been as high as $27 billion in one year. During times of crisis, it feels like salt in...

Shale Gas – Communications is Only One Step

It is good to see that the petroleum industry is attempting to get in front of public opinion regarding the safety and effectiveness of extracting shale gas.  That action is a good first step to deal with negative environmental activists who oppose all forms of extraction of fossil fuel resources.

However, could the producers afford to add a small element to their PR campaign budget to indemnify neighbors against the minimal risk that their ground water supplies will be contaminated by natural gas development activities?

Renewing The Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada hopefully has received a wake up call that it is no longer the natural governing party of Canada.  Now is a time of renewal as indicated in this editorial.

The people leading the renewal of the party have to look beyond appealing to the rent seekers and influence peddlers who have shaped the party policy in recent years.  This stance had led the party into a political dead end.

In times past, the Liberal Party has been a positive influence in Canada for advancing meritocracy and social mobility.  Those days may be long in the past, but they are still a history that the party can draw upon for renewal.  The party has to reach back into its past to find the principles that people should advance based on their skills and capabilities instead of their inherited privileges, social standing and ethnic/cultural background.

Funding Climate Research

Carbon Brief has issued an analysis of 900 peer-reviewed scholarly articles that examines the author’s ties to Exon.  The analysis offers an alarming headline

Analysing the ‘900 papers supporting climate scepticism’: 9 out of top 10 authors linked to ExxonMobil

The Popular Technology website took the analysis one step further and actually contacted those to 10 researchers and posed the following questions:

Study Finds Methane in Water Associated with Gas Production

A peer-reviewed study conducted by researchers at Duke University has observed an increase of methane content in ground water near gas wells in Pennsylvania and New York.

The study, published on Monday in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), said the methane sampled near the fracking sites had an isotopic fingerprint that pointed to its source.

Water from wells farther from the gas sites had lower levels of methane and a different isotopic signature.

Funding the Climate Scare Campaign

Tom, Harris has an Op Ed in the National Post that proposes actions the federal Conservative government should take on the climate change file now they have secured a majority government.

Climate always changes, sometimes dangerously so. Consequently, we should focus on helping our most vulnerable citizens prepare for whatever climate change nature throws at us next, cooling being by far the most dangerous possibility. But the vast sums being funnelled into trying to halt this natural phenomenon is a grossly inappropriate use of Canadian tax dollars.

Shale Gas Concerns Put in Context

The National Post has run an optinion article that outlines some of the risks associated with shale gas.  It outlines concerns voiced by environmental organizations and responds to those concerns. I tend to agree that Shale Gas does not entail much more risk than...