A one-day return trip from the lower mainland to Victoria had us leaving North Vancouver about 5:30 am. That put us in the Tsawwassen terminal early enough to confirm our reservation for […]
Day tripping
Ocean life destruction in BC
Fish biologist Stan Proboszcz of Watershed Watch Salmon Society published an article about the killing of more than 800,000 wild fish in 2022 by open-net salmon farms. According to federal data, this was 16 times more destruction than the last decade’s yearly average. Proboszcz says that 2022 was not an outlier, that salmon farms have a long history of killing many species of fish and wildlife…
Ending fossil fuels benefits all
Many people in Canada are employed in fossil fuel industries. Were production of carbon-laden, climate damaging products to decline or end, many towns would be disrupted. However, quality of life would improve since toxic contaminants are by-products of oil, gas, and coal production. Overall employment would increase and stable populations would lead to safer communities…
Identifying methane emissions accurately
Dr. Volts, writer and researcher David Roberts, provides climate change information that is useful and understandable. His March 22 contribution is What’s the deal with these methane satellites? Roberts interviewed Mark Brownstein […]
Happiness is… (2024 edition)
Overall, Canada ranks 15th in the World Happiness Report, although it is first among nations with populations of more than 30 million. However, when the happiness of citizens under age thirty was ranked, Canada was listed at a miserable 58th, trailing countries like Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Some may wonder if those countries will be receptive if youthful Canadian refugees turn up at their borders.
Accuracy of information act?
An article by Ben Parfitt was published in Policy Note, a blog by the BC Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). Parfitt reports that while the BC Government is promising protection of ancient forests, senior bureaucrats are instead protecting low-value scrub and permitting logging of high-value old-growth trees. While British Columbia has the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, we need an Accuracy of Information Act. There should be sanctions when Ministers and Ministries make promises to the public while they work in secret to achieve the opposite.
Batteries…
Large reductions in the cost of renewable technologies such as solar and wind have made them cost-competitive with fossil fuels. But to balance these intermittent sources and electrify our transport systems, we also need low-cost energy storage. Lithium-ion batteries are the most commonly used. Lithium-ion battery cells have also seen an impressive price reduction. Since 1991, prices have fallen by around 97%. Prices fall by an average of 19% for every doubling of capacity. Even more promising is that this rate of reduction does not yet appear to be slowing down.
BC Hydro sales flat, spending not
After forecasting 40 percent growth over 20 years, BC Hydro has been spending billions of dollars. But the utility’s sales to residential, commercial and industrial customers in calendar year 2023 were a mere one percent higher than in 2007.
Smile
Long ago, I read Ayn Rand. But then I grew up and realized that unfettered self-interest is not good and altruism is not destructive. Unlike Rand, I believe that communities are richer when people interact, cooperate and assist those in need. However, I understand Rand’s appeal to young people who are emerging from their family and trying to establish a sense of adult independence. Almost a decade ago, Daniel M. Lavery wrote a piece for The New Yorker that imagined how Ayn Rand would have reviewed certain famous movies…
Grim projections of warming underestimating the dangers?
According to GWU professor Dr. Uriyoán Colón-Ramos, raising concern about climate change requires that we talk less about fossil fuels and more about food. Because everyone is affected immediately by the availability and the cost of food. Dr. Colón-Ramo notes that extreme weather in 2023 was the main disrupter of food prices, She says important products are among those most susceptible to changes in weather patterns. Yields and nutritional quality are reduced. Crop failures lead to dwindling supplies, which means higher food prices…
Costly oil & gas emissions
A peer-reviewed, Stanford-led study involving more than 50 scientists was published this week by Nature. It reveals alarming information about uncontained emissions from oil gas systems. The authors integrated approximately one million aerial site measurements into regional emissions inventories for regions in the USA. They found greenhouse gas releases were about 3x government estimates…
“Never again” must mean never again by anyone, against anyone
A child of an American Jewish and Catholic German couple, Maximilian Hess has had his life shaped by antisemitism. Hess says today’s world seems turned upside down. Comments that are undeniably antisemitic are ignored while legitimate criticisms of Israeli actions in Gaza are labeled as hostility toward all Jews.
A low IQ can be very appealing
A story from Terry O’Reilly about monkeys involved in shooting a TV commercial may explain who cult leaders recruit as followers.
BC NDP sanctioned destruction
Vancouver author and environmental journalist Arno Kopecky talks about the threat to Howe Sound from LNG operations.
Clean energy solutions
In 2017, Site C proponents said the dam was required because British Columbia needed dispatchable electricity. According to those keen on the megaproject, low-cost wind and solar power could not be integrated into BC Hydro’s systems. At the time, 97.5 percent of the utility’s generating capacity was hydro. Like batteries, reservoirs store potential energy. When consumers use electricity from wind and solar sources, hydropower utilities keep water behind dams, ready for use when needed…
Claims of antisemitism used to defend Israel’s atrocities
I understand people who believe that Israel should defend its lands against armed attacks and fervently assert the country has a right to a peaceful existence. But I sympathize with innocent Palestinians whom Israel has displaced, starved, and massacred. I reject the notion that Israel can be excused when the country destroys hospitals, schools, mosques, food and water supplies, and kills or injures more than 100,000 people not responsible for attacks on Israel…
The amazing natural world
This video is from National Geographic’s new docuseries Queens. It shows an encounter between a 60-year-old female orca whale and a great white shark. The first three episodes of the seven-part docuseries are available to stream on Disney+.
Eye in the sky
MethaneSAT is equipped with advanced sensing technology that allows it to precisely identify methane emissions at oil and gas sites across the globe. The satellite was launched on March 4 and its data will be available to the public free of charge later in 2024…
Renewables are the key to low emissions, but…
Proponents of hydroelectric dams love to talk about these as low-impact sources of clean energy. Many proponents expect to gain financially from construction of the megaprojects. To them, self-interest is always more important than public-interest. But many of the proponents expect to gain financially from construction of the megaprojects. To them, self-interest is always more important than public-interest. In British Columbia, the financial cost of electricity from Site C will be 4x to 6x that of wind and solar alternatives. Authorities choose to disregard human and environmental costs and leave them unmeasured.
Plug pulled on PowerBC
The item below the separator was published in March 2018. That was three years before the Site C budget doubled to $16 billion, and we’ve now entered the fourth year since the dam budget was publicly updated. While overall inflation in Canada has been about 16% during the past four years, the non-residential construction industry experienced historic levels of inflation in 2022 and 2023. No one should be surprised when after the October 2024 provincial election, the Site C budget is revealed to be above $20 billion.
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