It can be politically advantageous to have scoundrels in your midst. When scandals hit and the public grows weary of your political party, you can toss out the malefactors, bring in an untainted new leader, make a few cosmetic changes and declare the problem solved. Your real policies even might escape scrutiny. This is a […]
Upgrading Alberta’s electricity transmission lines to keep pace with a fast-growing province generated bitter controversy lasting almost a decade. Then, one day a few months back, I noticed new transmission towers marching through the fields near my acreage north of Calgary. They had sprouted like mushrooms in the night. Soon, the 500-kilovolt, direct-current wires began […]
There’ve been downsides to Alberta’s energy-driven economic boom. My wife and I often whine about Calgary’s staggering traffic, its freeways sometimes resembling rush hour even at 2 a.m. There’s an increasing chippiness and remoteness among more and more people. It’s not just the hordes of newcomers; we locals are losing our friendliness and familiarity. The […]
North America is approaching self-sufficiency in oil and gas, a status with long-term economic and political implications
Neil Young's comparison of the cycle of resources assessment, development and reclamation to atomic bombs is outrageously false
The low price of natural gas is having a dire impact on Alberta. The introduction of LNG plants may change that
Improved technology and more efficiency mean North America could eventually become an oil exporter
B.C.'s opposition to Northern Gateway borders on the bizarre
Alberta says it's cutting back. But the numbers tell a different story
Oil producers are turning to the railway as an alternative to expensive pipelines