I recently spoke with a New Brunswick energy official about the possibility of the Harper Conservatives revisiting the Pt. Lepreau funding issue. (You will recall last summer’s announcement by then–New Brunswick minister Andy Scott that the federal Liberals would not…
Harper’s Kyoto dilemma, part II
Carbon taxes, emissions trading, outright fines… these are the most prominent suggestions for reducing Canada’s greenhouse gases (GHGs). It is significant that the prominent people advancing them—Stéphane Dion, Michael Ignatieff, Bob Rae—happen to be Liberal leadership hopefuls, out of government.…
Clean air, Clean coal, Electricity, Greenhouse gas emissions, Kyoto, Natural gas, Ontario, Political communication
Natural gas lobby launches new PR campaign to gasify Nanticoke
It looks like Jack Gibbons, the never-say-die head of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, is back trying to land the juicy Nanticoke gas contract for his clients in the natural gas industry. The July 21st Toronto Star wrote up the…
Canada stuns world with Kyoto plan—maybe
Over the past few weeks I have been offering (admittedly unsolicited) advice on how the Harper government can stickhandle through the tricky Kyoto issue. I have advised the prime minister to use Ontario’s recent nuclear announcement as an example of…
Power generation, air quality, and talking to Americans: how to truly lead by example
Ontario’s electricity debate has produced more than its share of wacky ideas. But none is more bizarre than the notion that closing the provincial coal-fired generating plants will compel the Americans to follow our example. American utilities generate over half…
Kyoto faces crucial test as new round of emissions trading begins
As climate change attains unprecedented prominence as a global public issue, we face a further test of humankind’s ability and willingness to do something about it. The countries participating in the European Union’s Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) are set to…