Gwen and I raised three adult children in North Vancouver. Each lives in this community, as do our seven grandchildren. Before retirement, I worked in accounting and small business management. Since 2009, I have published commentary about public issues at IN-SIGHTS.CA.
More than a year and a half ago, the BC Government promised to end fossil fuel subsidies. But the second quarter report just issued estimates that royalty credits and infrastructure credits allowed methane gas producers will amount to $495 million in the 2023-2024 fiscal year. More importantly, the province’s report estimates year revenue from bonus bids arising from the sale of petroleum and natural gas rights will be precisely zero dollars in the 12 months ending March 31, 2024.
The 28th United Nations Climate Change conference begins this week in a middle east petrostate. UAE hired a team of lobbyists to “inoculate” COP28 and Sultan al-Jaber from “any potential criticism” and drum up support from “politically influential individuals.” COP28 president designate Jaber is managing director and group CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. BBC reports The United Arab Emirates plans to use its role as the host of UN climate talks as an opportunity to strike oil and gas deals. Canada is receptive because Canadian investors have put C$9 billion into UAE entities in the past two years…
In November 2023, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkeley, along with more than 60 congressional colleagues, asked the U.S. Department of Energy to reconsider liquified natural gas (LNG) policies because those do not “fully or accurately consider how these exports impact the climate, environmental justice, or domestic energy prices.”
According to IEA, Canada’s per capita emissions of methane are almost three times the global average, more than half from the energy sector. Methane releases in Canada are worse than reported because the energy industry and government regulators have had little interest in publishing accurate measurements.
Progress in dealing with climate change is too slow to meet stated goals. The world is on course to see global temperatures rise as much as 2.9°C above preindustrial levels if current climate action commitments remain unchanged. Canada is headed for 5.7°C in 2100 according to Berkeley Earth.
Glacier Media’s climate and environmental reporter Stefan Labbé has a disturbing report about heavy metals and other pollutants in waters moving from Canadian coal mines to the USA. The item is headlined B.C. coal mines linked to record-breaking toxin spike in U.S. waters…
Evidence is overwhelming that human activities contribute to climate change. Food, water, housing, civil infrastructure and essential services are impacted. Health and long-term survival of living forms are threatened. Continued increases in troublesome emissions threaten an extreme catastrophe beyond adaptation…
Ultra-wealthy elites…Political corruption…Vast inequality…
These problems aren’t new — in the late 1800s they dominated the country during America’s first Gilded Age.
We overcame these abuses back then, and we can do it again.
Much has been written about Bonhoeffer and many English translations of his works are available. One that caught my eye was on stupidity. It seems appropriate to review with a vile man likely to be the Republican candidate for President of the USA. If Trump wins, it may be the final Presidential election but that seems not to bother at least 40 percent of the electorate. That same political performer inspired right-wing extremists in Canada and with Stephen Harper’s direction, helped a major political party disavow rational conservatism and common sense.
Had they paid attention to science years ago, political and industrial leaders would have known the world was heading for a crisis. Climate change is widely recognized as an existential threat, but they paid no attention and did not care…
Methods of creating or capturing energy near demand points are gaining prominence and threatening the disruption of today’s giant utilities. A paper from Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology suggests millions of buildings can be energy self-sufficient with solar power, retrofitting, energy storage systems, and heat pumps. Many single family homes could abandon the electrical grid unless owners stayed connected to sell excess power to utilities.
According to the godfather of climate science, the 2015 Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, is “deader than a doornail.” Every person who cares about future generations should be sad and angry.
BC Hydro’s own numbers provide evidence that increased demand by domestic consumers over 20 years was less than one-third of that predicted and was double covered by the utility’s purchases from private power producers. But those facts did not stop the empire-builders from expanding their empire.
Revenues of Chevron Corporation in 2022 were one-third of a trillion Canadian dollars and the company’s comprehensive income was C$50 billion. Chief Executive Officer Mike Wirth’s 2022 compensation was C$32 million. So it is not surprising that Chevron’s CEO recently defended his company, saying “We are not selling a product that is evil. We’re selling a product that’s good.”
Seattle based writer David Roberts reports on energy matters. Recently Roberts explored the variability of renewable energy. Opponents of wind and solar power rely on this subject to raise objections. Despite virtually all of the electricity generated by BC Hydro being dispatchable, the public utility has discouraged addition of variable renewable energy (VRE).
Yale political scientist and anthropologist James C. Scott, author of the whimsical 2013 book Two Cheers for Anarchism, suggested pursuit of justice demands occasional insubordination and disregard for rules. He described “…an anarchist sensibility that celebrates the local knowledge, common sense, and creativity of ordinary people. The result is a kind of handbook on constructive anarchism that challenges us to radically reconsider the value of hierarchy in public and private life, from schools and workplaces to retirement homes and government itself.”
Published five years ago at my idled website Notable Discoveries. With a few updates, it is here for a change of pace after too much negative news. Long ago mother baked regularly, but I envied our neighbours’ store-bought white bread. It had a thin soft crust and gumminess perfect for spitballs. And children in those homes did not wear pajamas sewn from flour sacks…
After BC voters told Christy Clark to find a more suitable occupation, I planned to transition from blathering about politics to writing about travel and dining. I opened a site called Notable Discoveries and expected to let IN-SIGHTS go idle. That didn’t happen. COVID, inflation and health issues ensured that outside activities were limited. At the new website, I might have been writing about ways of poaching eggs on a hotplate…
In Canada, more than $100 billion is now being spent to expand fossil fuel production. Meanwhile, other nations are working to mitigate climate change and enable long-term human survival. For example, Airbus ordered new vessels to transport aircraft subassemblies across the Atlantic. The low-emission ships are powered by dual-fuel engines that can run on e-methanol produced from renewable sources. More importantly, propulsion is assisted by six Flettner rotors sails.
Today, charts about BC Hydro showing information that ought to alarm citizens of British Columbia. It will not of course, because corporate media does not bother to report meaningful data about the province’s largest crown corporation. Despite their continuous claims that demand was growing by 40 percent over 20 years, the company’s own sales records show that demand was slowly growing until 2005 and since then has been stable. But that fact did not prevent the utility from amping up their spending machine…
[…] In a June 2024 subcommittee hearing, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley questioned Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun on the company’s safety…
President Trump’s Iran [“Excursion”] was war-gamed in various ways for years in advance. The advice offered afterwards? Don’t. Why the…
There are examples worldwide of methods to produce electricity that provide us with solutions; some are tried and true and…
Trump declares USA is “stupid”. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/supreme-court-trump-birthright-citizenship-case-b2949973.html https://www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/news/trump-supreme-court-birthright-citizenship-debate-stupid-b2950293.html?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=embed1 President Donald Trump has branded the U.S. “stupid” after attending Supreme Court arguments over his administration's efforts…
in-sights.ca 
The last thing these guys think about is a healthy society. They live in a world where prestige and wealth…