Category Archives: Uncategorized

Debunking some Viral Climate Change Alarmism

Posted on March 14, 2019 by Blair

As my regular readers know, the emphasis of this blog is evidence-based, environmental decision-making. I care that reliable scientific data is being used to make informed policy decisions. As such, I try to push back when science is abused by … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Climate Change Politics, Environmentalism and Ecomodernism, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Why sample design matters or Why that “Insects are Vanishing Paper” does not tell us much about world insect populations

Posted on March 11, 2019 by Blair

As followers of this blog know, one of my big interests is evidence-based, environmental decision-making. I care that good scientific data is being used to make informed policy decisions. As such the recent “insects are vanishing” meme that is spreading … Continue reading →

Posted in Environmentalism and Ecomodernism, Risk Communication, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

On the Achilles Heel of these Climate Damages Lawsuits: Municipal Zoning Bylaws

Posted on March 8, 2019 by Blair

By now everyone has heard about West Coast Environmental Law’s (WCEL’s) Climate Accountability Letters campaign. This is the campaign where a group of enterprising lawyers are: asking your municipality (or regional district) to send “Climate Accountability Letters” to 20 of … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Climate Change, Climate Change Politics, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Debunking more activist talking points about BC LNG: on “illegal dams”, electrification, and LNG as a bridge fuel

Posted on March 5, 2019 by Blair

The thing I really don’t understand about the activist class in BC is their intellectual incoherence. They argue that climate change is an existential threat to our planet; but that we should only fight climate change using a small suite … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Environmentalism and Ecomodernism, Site C, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Questioning the PBO’s math on the value of the Trans Mountain Pipeline

Posted on February 1, 2019 by Blair

The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), Yves Giroux, produced a report this week on the estimated value of the Trans Mountain Pipeline (TMP) and the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project (TMEP). This report has a lot of people up in arms … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

New research puts a stake into the heart of the “Bridge to Nowhere” argument against BC LNG

Posted on January 28, 2019 by Blair

As someone who has followed the BC LNG debate pretty closely, I can’t count the number of times I have heard the expression “natural gas is a bridge to nowhere“. This expression derives from an infamous article by Cornell Biologist … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Environmental Absolutists are going BANANAs and it will hurt, not help, the environment

Posted on January 24, 2019 by Blair

Anyone who follows the energy beat knows that the latest chant from the environmental absolutist world is “No new fossil fuel infrastructure” (NNFFI). The slogan has been attributed by most sources to Bill McKibben of 350.org. Around here you hear … Continue reading →

Posted in Fossil Fuel Free Future, Pipelines, Risk, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Sorry folks, but the plural of anecdote is data

Posted on January 21, 2019 by Blair

One of the reasons I started writing this blog was for science outreach. I like to discuss how we do science. Tonight I am going to go back to my roots and discuss an oft-misunderstood concept in science. The role … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

On Wil Horter’s Gish Gallop about Alberta heavy oil and the Trans Mountain

Posted on January 14, 2019 by Blair

On December 26th, 2018 the National Observer published an article Discount Frenzy: The dirt on discount oil by Wil Horter, the former Executive Director of the Dogwood Initiative. In December 28th, I prepared a reply called Fact-checking the National Observer … Continue reading →

Posted in Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Why a Pragmatic Environmentalist supports BC LNG – doing the climate math

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Blair

As a pragmatic environmentalist , I am often asked how I could support the BC LNG export industry? I prepared a Twitter thread on the topic but have since been asked to show my work. This blog post builds on … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Climate Change, Climate Change Politics, Uncategorized | 16 Comments