Canada is in trouble, half of the population believes we are in a climate crisis that believes shutting down the oil and gas industry is needed, while the other half recognizes that Canada’s oil and gas industry is vital. These competing opinions run roughly along an...
Energy
Pipeline to Seattle
Canada is in trouble. Half of the population believes we are in a climate crisis, one requiring shutting down our oil and gas industry. The other half recognizes that our oil and gas industry is vital, and our ecological problems can be managed. To make matters worse,...
Economic, Strategic Challenges to Oil Sands Are No Reasons to Pile on Unnecessary Political Obstacles
Recently, Andrew Leach, an energy and environmental economist and political scientist at the University of Calgary, observed that there are a number of things that are currently challenging the oil and gas industry in Canada, particularly the oil sands sector, the...
Canada Missing Out on Shale Revolution
“It takes real skill to derail an industry where Canada has so many competitive advantages,” writes Rick Rule regarding energy markets. The chief executive of Sprott US Holdings, a natural-resource brokerage, says the barrier is politics, while Canadian firms,...
Featured News
Heroin: U.S. Withdrawal, Counternarcotics Policies in Afghanistan, and the Looming Epidemic
There are many natural and geo-political phenomena that will affect the next several decades; climate change, COVID-19 and its variants, social unrest, and rising tensions between China and the United States amongst them. As governments and societies learn to...
Why Cash Is Still King in Switzerland
When I audited an economics class in the Rice University School of Business, the lecturer compared inflation to slow-growing cancer and deflation to a heart attack. The implication was that deflation, which is the declining prices, is fatal and worse than inflation....
Human Welfare, Environment and Climate Science
Listen to Patrick Moore speak in Saskatoon on Climate Science here. (48 minutes)
Nuclear Power – The Progressive Voice Speaks
Agreeing with these folks make me want to check my assumptions and analysis.
Bad Idea – Cheap Power for Low Income People
"Manitoba could be the first province to see a low-income affordability program created to help poor people pay their electricity bills -- if the province's public regulator agrees with a U.S. expert. Winnipeg Free Press It should be up to the provincial government to...
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?
Manitoba Bold
First step to undoing Manitoba’s perennial policy backwater reputation as a transfer payment dependent province with uncompetitive taxes.
Costing Renewable Energy Mandates
Rates in 2025 estimated to be between 0.88 and 3.59 cents higher with a renewable portfolio standard.
Waste Heat – Renewable Energy
Waste heat from industrial represents a significant potential energy resource
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.
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...