The cancellation of the Energy East pipeline project by TransCanada Corporation, citing delays caused by the regulatory process, newly lengthened and thickened by Ottawa, is emblematic of forces conspiring against rational energy and regulatory policy.
Energy
Opponents of oil pipelines, such as the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast, have arguably caused unnecessary harm to the environment, reduced public safety, and slowed the Canadian economy.
The environmentalist war on fossil fuels has opened a new front: a war on pipelines. For years, activists claimed the world was rapidly depleting its oil and natural gas supplies. The fracking revolution (horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing) obliterated that...
Thoughts on Manitoba Hydro’s Solar Energy Program
On Earth Day, April 22, 2016, Manitoba Hydro announced its Solar Energy Program offering incentives and financial support for customers to adopt solar power to generate their own electricity and sell excess energy to Hydro. The Program was part of Hydro’s demand-side...
Featured News
Trade with Mercosur: Opportunities for Canada
In November 2018, Canada and Mercosur opened negotiations for a free trade agreement. The Mercosur, composed of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay (Venezuela is a suspended member from 2016), represents a bloc representing a GDP of over $3 trillion and a...
San Francisco to Canada: Hate Motivated Crimes—Thinking Globally and Acting Locally
San Francisco, by all accounts a liberal city of diverse communities, is in the grips of what by many is seen as a spree of racist attacks against its Black and Asian residents. According to some reports, anti-Asian crimes have more than doubled while hate crimes...
Roy Romanow stars as Eeyore on the Environment
Former SK Premier Romanow is Mr. Glum.
Cap-and-Trade — Useless, Dumb, and Reckless: Goldstein: Michael Ignatieff’s irresponsible election promise would be a financial disaster for Canada
Michael Ignatieff’s 2011 election Red Book promise to create a cap-and-trade market in carbon dioxide emissions, completes a triple play of stupidity on energy and environmental policy by the Liberals going back almost 20 years.
Election – No Time to Discuss Serious Issues
The former head of the Bank of Canada indicated that Canadians have to engage in a tough round of discussions about rising health care costs.
Canadians need to have a discussion about rapidly rising health-care costs, and soon, said David Dodge, former head of the Bank of Canada. Just not now.
What Really Threatens Our Future?: Beware of anti-energy policies claiming to prevent climate change
Energy sustainability is not about resource availability and pollution. Capitalism and human ingenuity have already addressed “sustainability” in these regards, if the statistics are to be believed.
Long Term Energy Supply
A leading bank has predicted that the world will run short of oil by 2060.
HSBC does not mean to scare you in its latest report, but it does point out that we are facing a massive energy crunch. That’s because the bank is just not optimistic there is much oil left in the world – in fact a mere 49 years of the black gold on current consumption levels.
While the article sounds scary, read a bit further into it and discover their finding is related to conventional supplies of oil. If prices stay at current levels or higher, unconventional oil such as tight oil and oil sands becomes profitable. Unfortunately, the article fails to mention how long those reserves will last. I have a suspicion that if oil sands supply from Canada alone is added to the mix, the crunch point is put off well into the future.
Compelled Investment
Manitoba Hydro has indicated that Bi-Pole III is now estimated to cost $3.2 billion, which is up $1 billion from their original estimate.
The cost of new hydro dam construction is also experiencing significant cost inflation. During recent PUB hearings, it was reported that the new Wuswatim dam will now cost $1.6 billion. That figure is nearly 80% above the initial budgeted cost of $900 million. Power generated from the dam is now expect to cost between 9 and 10 cents to produce.
Food Versus Fuel is Passe
Over time, we have read a lot about the food-versus-fuel discussion including here at the Frontier Centre.
While I can agree that market distorting subsidies should be eliminated, I do not buy into the narrative that using agricultural production capacity to produce energy is inherently evil.
Soaring food inflation is the result of “immoral” policies in the United States which divert crops for use in the production of biofuels instead of food, according to the chairman of one of the world’s largest food companies.
Smart Meters in California
PG&E, the utility in San Francisco, is offering to turn off smart meters for their customers for a price.
Earth Hour – A Dissent: An economist explains why he abhors Earth Hour
Why Earth Hour is a monumental display of ignorance about the true source of our lives and future prosperity.