Author Archives: Blair

The GHG intensity of the Canadian oil industry – what the scientific research actually says

Posted on January 15, 2021 by Blair

Uncertainty is a fact of life in science. Understanding and communicating uncertainty is an essential element of the scientific pursuit. Uncertainty in research comes from the fact that, in most situations, we don’t have perfect information and can’t be absolutely … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Oil Sands, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Understanding what the PBO report says about the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project

Posted on December 9, 2020 by Blair

Another day has passed and another report has been released about the viability of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project (TMX). This new report titled “Trans Mountain Pipeline – Financial and Economic Considerations – Update” was produced by the Parliamentary … Continue reading →

Posted in Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Evaluating what the new Canada Energy Regulator report actually says about the viability of the Trans Mountain Pipeline

Posted on November 27, 2020 by Blair

This week the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) presented its Canada’s Energy Future 2020 report and almost immediately the contents were misrepresented in the media by activists and pundits alike. In the Globe and Mail Gary Mason stated that “the regulator … Continue reading →

Posted in Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Another day, another flawed CCPA report, this time about the Trans Mountain Expansion Project

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Blair

Yesterday, I was directed to a new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) about the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) project. As I have written previously, every time I get a notification about one of their reports, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 11 Comments

Understanding future demand for heavy oil – Why the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project is a good bet for Canada

Posted on September 22, 2020 by Blair

In the last couple weeks the campaign against the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) project has been turned up to 11. My social media feed is full of claims like: “100+ economists sent a letter to @JustinTrudeau confirming that #TMX … Continue reading →

Posted in Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 10 Comments

Thoughts on living a public life with a stutter and on the value of early and intensive speech therapy

Posted on August 22, 2020 by Blair

I have always envied people who can simply talk without it being a mental workout. As an advocate for evidence-based, environmental decision-making I often get asked to appear on television or the radio to speak on scientific topics of interest. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Revisiting activist myths about the Trans Mountain Pipeline – or Why Climate leaders may sometimes need to build pipelines

Posted on August 18, 2020 by Blair

Activists are trying to get the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project (TMX) back in the news. On my social media feed I first saw Dr. Tim Takaro hanging in a tree then watched him as he was replaced by YouTuber … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Pipelines, Renewable Energy, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 9 Comments

More chemically-uninformed fear-mongering about the Trans Mountain Pipeline – this time about the dangers of diluted bitumen

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Blair

In my last post, I presented details of how activists were misrepresenting the health risks of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) project due to their lack of chemical expertise. In that post, I noted that it represented another of … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil Sands, Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

A Chemist looks at a major activist study about the Trans Mountain Pipeline Project and finds a hot mess

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Blair

It is construction time again on the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) and the activists are out in force. Interestingly, I saw that Dr. Tim Takaro was back in the news. This time he is up in a tree to try … Continue reading →

Posted in Chemistry and Toxicology, Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Fact-checking the Wilderness Committee narrative about the recent oil spill at the Trans Mountain Sumas Pump Station

Posted on June 17, 2020 by Blair

Last weekend the Trans Mountain Pipeline had a spill at its Sumas Pump Station in Abbotsford. According to Trans Mountain the Initial estimates are that 150-190 cubic metres (940-1195 barrels) of light crude was released and was fully contained on … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 10 Comments