Category Archives: Energy East

A layman’s guide to the behaviour of diluted bitumen in a marine spill

Posted on August 22, 2016 by Blair

Having listened to the arguments for and against the Energy East and the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) projects one of the things that really struck me was the low quality of the scientific knowledge used in the debates. In particular, … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Chemistry and Toxicology, Energy East, Oil Sands, Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 26 Comments

When anti-pipeline activist pretend that facts don’t matter

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Blair

In my last post I bemoaned the lack of intellectual rigour among the activists fighting pipeline expansion in BC, Ontario and Quebec. I thought I had presented three pretty solid examples where the opponents of the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy East, Oil Sands, Pipelines, Trans Mountain | 11 Comments

On the absence of intellectual rigour and honesty in the pipeline debate

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Blair

Well it seems that with the re-commencement of the NEB hearings on the Energy East project and the Trans-Mountain consultations all I seem to be talking about these days is pipelines. As a pragmatic environmentalist I find this disheartening, not … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy East, Oil Sands, Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 9 Comments

On pipelines, oil-by-rail, and the relative risk of catastrophic spills in the aquatic environment

Posted on July 25, 2016 by Blair

As my regular readers know besides this blog I also write a blog at the Huffington Post. It typically consists of shorter versions on my pieces here. Well my most recent post on the Trans-Mountain Expansion project has received a … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Energy East, Oil Sands, Pipelines, Risk, Risk Assessment Methodologies, Risk Communication, Trans Mountain | 16 Comments

On the empty platitudes of the anti-pipeline advocates

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Blair

This week was a busy one in the Energy East pipeline debate with Denis Coderre and his merry band of municipal politicians stepping out of their jurisdictional depth to come out against the pipeline and our Prime Minister saying he … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Energy East, Oil Sands, Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 10 Comments

Debunking more Myths and Fables about the Energy East Pipeline

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Blair

Well my last post summarizing why I support the Energy East pipeline has been out for only a couple days and the response has been quite positive. I can usually tell when a post is doing well: when my social … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Energy East, Oil Sands, Pipelines, Uncategorized | 14 Comments

A Chemist in Langley’s take on Energy East

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Blair

I have written a lot about pipelines at this blog and last night while watching Denis Coderre attempt to hijack the Energy East pipeline discussion I said to myself: enough is enough I want to write a blog post to … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Energy East, Oil Sands, Pipelines, Uncategorized | 15 Comments

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

Where the new Pembina Report misses the mark on Energy East

Posted on April 14, 2015 by Blair

Numerous people have sent me links to the Pembina Institute report: “Crafting an Effective Canadian Energy Strategy: “How Energy East and the oilsands affect climate and energy objectives”. Having quickly read the report I must admit to being a bit … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Energy East, Pipelines | 5 Comments

The Energy East Pipeline: Dispelling Some Myths

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Blair

Another couple oil train derailments (Gogama and Galena) in the last week have brought my attention back to the topic of oil pipelines. As I have written elsewhere, the safety record of oil-by-rail is one of the reasons why I … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Energy East, Pipelines | 6 Comments