Another Pipeline War

There is no shortage of pieces that analyze the effect of the West's near-constant interventionist policies in the Middle East.  Many of those policies can be clearly seen as root causes of the current problems with ISIS, among other jihadist groups.

This recent, lengthy article discusses how, once again, it's about oil, and pipelines.

Fixing Harper - Part 10 - Restoring Hope on the Prairies

In a recent article, posted on February 24th, 2016, the blog section of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) focused on the Canadian prairies, a region that has been especially damaged by many policies of the former Conservative government.

The post was called "How the Federal Liberals can Restore Hope on the Prairies".

The swath of destruction wreaked by the Conservatives was widespread and is briefly documented in the article.

One thing that the article does not mention is the losses incurred by prairie farmers since the Harper Conservatives dismantled the Canadian Wheat Board.  One comment posted after the article noted that prairie farmers have lost $6.5 Billion since the Wheat Board was done away with.  The damage is documented on the Canadian Wheat Board Alliance's website.

I wonder how many supporters of the Harper Conservatives who make their homes on the Prairies actually realize what was done to them?

The question is: can it be fixed?

Rex Pontificates - Trolls Proliferate

Rex Murphy, the CBC's purveyor of profound polemics, unleashed an attack on anyone concerned about climate change.

Trolls popped out of their holes in near-record numbers.

It was so much like a Republican convention.  And the "discussion" was just about as intelligent.

Reading through the comments to the article on Facebook (why, oh why do I bother?), the usual cogent points appeared, again and again.  Not a scintilla of sense, or facts.  "The climate is always changing", "it's -40C in Calgary today - what warming?", "it's not warming", "Arctic ice is expanding", "we produce so little CO2 in the grand scheme of things... How could it possibly affect the climate?", "30,000 scientists say it isn't happening".

What can one say in the face of such profound nonsense?  Maybe only this: Actually spend some time reading Skeptical Science.  If you have an open mind, you may find something useful.  Also consider that NASA might know more about the atmosphere than Rex Murphy.

This got me wondering, though.  Rex has done this before.

He got all serious about the niqab "debate" during the all-too-recent longest election campaign in Canadian history.  Remember that one?

He tried to calm fears about the evil Stephen Harper, in an article appearing in the National Post back in 2012.

He appeared on Strombo, trying to reassure us that Harper was "just an ordinary guy".

It goes on.  And on.  Rex retired from "Cross Country Checkup" last September.  He should retire from commentary as well.  Some things have a best before date and Rex has passed it already.

Behind Closed Doors - Taxing Taxpayers' Credibility

Behind Closed Doors.  How the Rich Won Control of Canada's Tax System... and Ended Up Richer.

by Linda McQuaig

This rather entertaining read was published almost 30 years ago.  Oddly, the situation hasn't changed very much, other than to continue the trend of allowing the rich to enhance their financial situation to the detriment of everyone else in the country and the hollowing out of the nation's fiscal resources and, consequently, it's ability to do what needs to be done to run the country.

Way back in 1988, this brief review appeared.

Not all were positive.  McQuaig obviously takes a quite ideological stand (according to some) on the need for fairness and equity in the tax system.  It could be argued that allowing the continued existence of a tax system that allows huge amounts to income to remain completely un-taxed is an ideological position, but there you are.  

A much more recent interview with Linda McQuaig makes it clear what her concerns are with the tax system.

And this analysis, from 2005, examines the data from a slightly more recent perspective.

Don't call it class warfare to demand better treatment of employment income and cuts to the generous perks handed out to the rich.  The class warfare has been going on for decades and the top 1 or 2% have been the main beneficiaries.

It may have been published nearly 30 years ago but it's well worth a read.

To Pipeline or Not to Pipeline

Coincident with the plunge in the price of crude oil (and commodities in general), has been an increasingly virulent debate over pipelines.

Supporters claim that pipelines are safer than rail for transporting crude oil.  Perhaps so, but is that the full extent of the argument?

Even if pipelines are better than rail, they aren't perfect, and more and more people are demanding something much closer to perfect when toxic substances are being shipped past their doors, under their soil or across their waterways.

Pipeline proponents wave the national unity flag and claim that Energy East would be able to supply all of Eastern Canada's energy needs so we wouldn't need to keep supporting that nasty Saudi regime, even though we seem quite happy selling them weapons.  The problem is.... Energy East would be for export, not domestic consumption.  And that's assuming, at the present price of crude, that it would make ANY economic sense to sell a product well below it's cost of production.

The elephant in the room is still climate change.  But we're still having this old argument being put forward that there isn't a scientific consensus.  It's the same old song and dance, even though the Science IS in.  So why are some people content to keep doing everything the way we've always done things?  Since climate change IS the world most pressing problem, why is anyone still listening to this same old nonsense?

What about a carbon tax?  What about alternative sources of energy?  What about increased efficiencies? What about a different discussion?

Speaking of BC's Carbon Tax.  Those on the side of doing nothing about climate change assert that it hasn't worked.  Ignore for a moment the fact that the tax hasn't been increased for years and needs to be much higher, consider this: Studies show that it IS working. 

As the article points out: 

"Yet Cross argues (without evidence) that it is “a fantasy” to think we can reduce fossil fuel use (and greenhouse gases) without harming the economy. This is a bizarre claim. Canadians know from everyday experience in their homes and businesses that there are many economically sensible ways to conserve energy and reduce fuel use – like switching to fluorescent light bulbs, or fuel efficient cars and furnaces.
If putting a price on carbon is such an economically bad idea, why is it being recommended by the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, the World Bank, and the CEOs of major oil companies?”

Other opponents point out that solar power (or wind, or geothermal, or whatever) has it's own carbon footprint.  Very true.  Nothing we can do, as humans on this planet, will be perfect.  Everything will have an impact at some level.  But let's consider that some forms of energy production are considerably better than others.  The Parliamentary Office of Science & Technology in the UK recently came out with this article, the "Carbon Footprint of Electricity Generation".   Of course some will look askance at such reports.  This is Canada, after all, and acknowledging science disappeared under the Harper regime.  So obviously, appeals to science-based decision-making wouldn't work here.

Or in the USA, where the Congressional Committee on Science is headed by a gentleman who uses snowballs in Congress to "prove" that climate change and global warming isn't happening.  

Despite the obvious fact that a decade of Harper failed to get any pipelines built, some Albertans rant constantly about how Trudeau isn't helping to get Alberta crude to market.  Now that Harper has been defeated, Michael Harris has turned his acerbic wit on the oilpatch supporters, taking a quote from the former, short-lived, Alberta premier, Jim Prentice.

There is talk of a revolution.  An overthrow of government....  A kudatah, no less.

And here we are.

Fixing Harper - Part 9 - The Conservatives as Soap Opera

It's like the CONservatives think nobody remembers last season - the last 10 seasons, for that matter.  But here it is.  The National Soap Opera on Parliament Hill.
Rick Mercer Calls On Tories To Cut The Harper-Era Amnesia Shtick
Rona Ambrose said that this session of Parliament would be better.  Less heckling and behaving like children.  That's not what's happening.

Tony wants the Liberals to"be more transparent".  $50M on gazebos, Tony?  Remember that?

The CONs in general are upset that pot isn't legal yet.  Remember how they claimed legalizing pot would usher in the end of the world?

And Jason can't stop acting like a racist, bigoted, jackass.  Not much has changed, obviously.  Certainly not for Jason....

So, here we are.

 

You'd think the CONservatives would take October 19, 2015 as a learning experience.  You'd be wrong about that.