Worth A Look

The World’s Ten Largest Megacities

Originally published for The Huffington Post. The world is rapidly becoming urban. More than half the world’s 7-plus billion people live in urban areas (urban cores, suburbs and small towns). Nearly a quarter of the population lives in “cities” of a million or more....

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Transformers: More than Meets the Eye

The path to net zero, based on the much disputed belief that carbon dioxide is a pollution, is more steep and impractical than most people realize. Replacing fossil fuels with clean electricity will require much more power generation and a greatly upgraded grid to...

It Is Capitalism, Not Democracy, That the Arab World Needs Most: Property rights for aid: this could be the most effective anti-poverty strategy in history

To watch events in Egypt is like seeing a videotape of the Arab Spring being played backwards. The ballot box has been kicked away, the constitution torn up, the military has announced the name of a puppet president – and crowds assemble in Tahrir Square to go wild with joy. The Saudi Arabian monarchy, which was so nervous two years ago, has telegrammed its congratulations to Cairo’s generals. To the delight of autocrats everywhere, Egypt’s brief experiment with democracy seems to have ended in embarrassing failure.

It’s Time To Sequester Green Energy Subsidies, Not Mythical Oil And Gas Tax Breaks

One of the big applause lines in President Obama’s recent Georgetown “climate action plan” pitch declaring an all-out EPA war on coal and it’s fossil cousins said: “And because billions of your tax dollars continue to still subsidize some of the most profitable corporations in the history of the world, my budget once again calls for Congress to end the tax breaks for big oil companies, and invest in the clean-energy companies that will fuel our future.” This is hardly a new strategy theme.

How Rich Rockefellers Battle the People’s Pipeline: Rockefeller billions vs Canadian energy and sovereignty – and US jobs, security and families

How Rich Rockefellers Battle the People’s Pipeline: Rockefeller billions vs Canadian energy and sovereignty – and US jobs, security and families

Americans concerned about gasoline prices were encouraged by the Pew Research Center’s new poll, whose headline blared, “Keystone XL Pipeline draws broad support.” A score box showed 63% supporting and only 23% opposing the pipeline that would transport oil from Canada’s vast Alberta oil sands deposits through the Plains states to Texas refineries.

Let’s Worry About Skills, Not Outsourcing

If you landed back in Canada this week from outer space, or even southern Florida, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d hit a wormhole in time and that it was actually 1990. A debate is raging about whether business should outsource jobs if it makes the business more profitable. Wait, you might think, we settled this long ago. And except when it becomes campaign trail rhetoric in America, we understand that outsourcing is not a bad thing.

Smart Messaging Needed to Avoid Pipeline Lobbying Failure: Alberta premier must not support the climate scare when promoting her province’s hydrocarbon fuel resources in Washington DC this week

History is replete with tragic examples of those who collaborated with the enemy or sought to appease political correctness and wishful thinking for their own short term benefit. Nowhere is this more evident than in today’s climate change debate. Politicians from across the political spectrum, fossil fuel companies and academics who should know better, not only bow to the climate scare, but actively support it. They even use the unscientific, misnomer-riddled language of their opponents.

After Smoke Clears, Taxpayer-Funded Boondoggle Revealed

It was a different world in 2007 when then-B.C. premier Gordon Campbell announced that his would be the first carbon-neutral government in North America. The B.C. premier was a leader among Canadian politicians in introducing measures designed to curb carbon emissions. But like many of Mr. Campbell’s ventures, his attention and focus on the issue eventually waned and climate policy took a back seat to other matters.

170,000 New Homes for Sydney

The largest release of housing lots in 20 years will bring home ownership within reach for thousands of young families, the state government says. Up to 171,000 new homes will be built across 31 new and existing suburbs, alongside land for new jobs, shops, schools and transport.