Author Archives: Blair

Imagining a politician debating his former self on Site C

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Blair

Last evening, while relaxing, I imagined a fascinating debate. It involved the Climate Scientist Dr. Andrew Weaver (Sci W) going up against the Politician Dr. Andrew Weaver (Poli W) on the topic of the Site C Dam. The basis of … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Climate Change, Site C, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Why BC should not plan to rely on cheap electricity imports in a post-Paris Agreement world

Posted on June 19, 2017 by Blair

There are a few things in life upon which British Columbians can depend: the sun rising in the east and setting in the west; rain in Vancouver in November; the Canucks frustrating their fans; and people complaining about the price … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Site C, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

No, efficiency and conservation cannot replace the electricity supplied by the Site C Dam

Posted on June 15, 2017 by Blair

One of the most common talking points used by the activists in the battle against the Site C Dam project has been that energy efficiency and energy conservation can more than make up for the electricity generated from the Site … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Climate Change, Site C, Uncategorized | 10 Comments

On the costs of fighting climate change and the Site C dam

Posted on June 10, 2017 by Blair

The other day I was invited to present some information about the Site C Dam for a local news broadcast on Global BC. After a telephone pre-interview, I met a reporter for an interview on tape. After asking all the … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Climate Change, General Politics, Site C, Uncategorized | 7 Comments

More scare chemistry: on the use of “solvents” in extracting oil sands

Posted on June 6, 2017 by Blair

As a Chemist I am often asked to comment on “scare chemistry” stories. That would be stories that use the public’s lack of knowledge of chemistry to scare us into doing something that may not be good for us. This … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Oil Sands, Uncategorized | 18 Comments

On Site C, Pipelines and Noble Cause Environmentalists

Posted on June 2, 2017 by Blair

I am a pragmatic environmentalist. As an environmentalist I am always on the look-out for how we can make incremental changes to improve the world around us. As a pragmatist, I acknowledge that we need to advance our cause through … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Climate Change, Pipelines, Site C, Uncategorized | 10 Comments

On those proposed Northwest refineries, neatbit and the Trans Mountain expansion project

Posted on May 31, 2017 by Blair

As everyone interested in Canadian oil production knows, the new NDP/Green coalition (or not-coalition as the case may be) in BC has made one of the core planks of their agreement a promise to block the construction of the Kinder … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, General Politics, Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

More On Renewable Natural Gas and shoot first, aim later environmentalism

Posted on May 27, 2017 by Blair

In a previous blog post I introduced readers to the concept of Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) and the mindless anti-everything environmentalism of one of my favourite foils  Mr. Ed Wiebe. As I discussed in that earlier post Mr. Wiebe posted … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

More on that UBC Site C study – I rebut a rebuttal

Posted on May 12, 2017 by Blair

As readers of this blog my know I was recently asked to produce a short piece for Business in Vancouver titled: UBC Site C dam analysis misses mark on electricity demand. My article highlighted some of the shortcomings of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Site C, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

The climate crew: alienating allies and fighting the wrong fights

Posted on April 29, 2017 by Blair

As readers of this blog know, I am a pragmatic environmentalist. I believe in the dangers of climate change and unlike most of my critics, I live a low-carbon lifestyle and have actually helped achieve policies that reduced my province’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Climate Change, Climate Change Politics, General Politics, Uncategorized | 41 Comments