“Conservation First,” a mantra of the current Ontario government’s predecessor, was in that government’s hands little more than a vaccuous new age slogan, which served a dual political purpose: virtue signalling to self-styled greens, i.e. “progressive” voters, for whom energy…
The business of green energy: Ford vs the banks (and NDP)
Almost immediately after the June 7 provincial general election, Ontario’s new government cancelled an array of so-called green energy projects. The one that has so far gotten the most attention was White Pines, a wind turbine development in Prince Edward…
The unintended consequences of green energy: or, why Oakville is in Napanee
As of around mid-August 2018, a former chief of staff of a former Ontario premier had spent four months in jail for his part in a fiasco known as the Gas Plant Scandal. This fiasco involved the politically motivated cancellation,…
Climate change ironies in Canada: choosing the devil’s excrement over God’s gift
Oh the ironies. The Canadian Federal Court ruling on the Trans Mountain pipeline Thursday last week is brimming with them. The current federal government won the election of 2015 in part because of its resounding promise of a major departure…
Climate politics and carbon proprioception in Alberta: after the peace, a phony war?
It’s allegedly war, allegedly again, in the Alberta climate change policymaking debate. The (alleged) belligerents: the NDP government and oil industry on one side, the environmental lobby on the other. A recent article has the provincial NDP government and oil…
The “official” case for carbon pricing: weak and wanting
Ontario has swung hard away from conventional environmental thinking. The incoming government, elected June 7, has signalled it is taking Ontario out of the cap and trade system its soon-to-be-predecessor took us into, and has cancelled a slew of similarly…