Author Archives: Blair

Factoids, truthiness and the promulgation of misinformation in the oil sands debate

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Blair

This morning I opened up my twitter account and the “while you were away” feature had an interesting tweet highlighted. It was from the National Observer which reports itself to be: “a new publication founded by the Vancouver Observer’s award-winning … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil Sands | 3 Comments

Some pitfalls in the road to an affordable, low-carbon energy future

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Blair

I was chatting on Twitter yesterday and had another interesting discussion with one of the people with whom I regularly spar. He is a recent convert to environmental activism and, like many of his kin, has a limited science background … Continue reading →

Posted in Leap Manifesto, Renewable Energy | 1 Comment

The Machiavellian battle against climate change using Energy East

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Blair

As many of my regular readers have probably noticed, I have been asked to produce the occasional blog post at the Canadian edition of the Huffington Post. My most recent post deals with the Energy East Pipeline (Energy East Pipeline … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Energy East, Pipelines | 16 Comments

More thoughts on Aquifers, Shills and the Commoditization of Groundwater

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Blair

Late last week I posted my thoughts on Aquifers, Drought and the Nestlé water bottling plant in Hope and the response has been overwhelming. My Twitter and Facebook feeds exploded and I was even interviewed by a local radio station … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 16 Comments

On Aquifers, Drought and the Nestlé water bottling plant in Hope

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Blair

Today’s topic comes to us courtesy of my local newscast. As many of my readers know, much of the Pacific Northwest (including parts of British Columbia) is under drought. As a consequence of the drought-like conditions we have been put … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 17 Comments

On RCP8.5 and "the Business as Usual" Scenario – Different beasts not to be confused

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Blair

This weekend I finally got the opportunity to read Dr. Matt Ridley’s recent essay “The Climate War’s Damage to Science” in the Quadrant Online. As a fellow Lukewarmer I try to keep abreast of Dr. Ridley’s essays and articles and … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change | 7 Comments

So do you really need an $8000 water treatment system in Langley?

Posted on June 21, 2015 by Blair

I figure it is time for a change of pace post on this blog. For the last little while I have gotten into some relatively heavy technical stuff that has scared some of my most faithful readers (including my mom) … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Deconstructing the 100% Fossil Fuel Free Wind, Water and Sunlight USA paper – Part II What about those pesky rare earth metals?

Posted on June 18, 2015 by Blair

My last post: Deconstructing the 100% Fossil Fuel Free Wind, Water and Sunlight USA paper – Part I Why no nuclear power? introduced my readers to the report in Energy & Environmental Science titled: 100% clean and renewable wind, water, … Continue reading →

Posted in Fossil Fuel Free Future | 13 Comments

Deconstructing the 100% Fossil Fuel Free Wind, Water and Sunlight USA paper – Part I Why no nuclear power?

Posted on June 16, 2015 by Blair

Last week there was quite a stir as a big report came out in Energy & Environmental Science titled: 100% clean and renewable wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) all-sector energy roadmaps for the 50 United States (100% WWS USA hereafter). … Continue reading →

Posted in Fossil Fuel Free Future | 8 Comments

More on that "Toxic Benzene Plume"

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Blair

Today’s blog post is intended to provide some further commentary on the “toxic benzene plume” from my previous blog post: Questions about the City of Vancouver May 27th Trans-Mountain Expansion Proposal Summary of Evidence. As readers of my blog know, … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Environmentalism and Ecomodernism, Risk | 2 Comments