Climate change and status quo bias

September 4, 2012

One perpetual question in climate politics is whether radical political change is necessary to achieve climatic stability, or whether the necessary energy transition can be achieved in a ‘stealthy’ technocratic way. This question is linked to the general question about radical versus incremental change, which is in turn touched upon in Sam Harris’ The Moral […]

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Climate change and democratic legitimacy

August 29, 2012

The ordinary understanding of the legitimacy of democratic governments is that their authority derives from a popular mandate; the government can legitimately impose laws on citizens because those citizens have the ability to replace the government if they choose. The argument that popular consent makes the decisions of democratic governments legitimate is based on the […]

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New record sea ice low

August 28, 2012

According to the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center the Arctic summer sea ice has reached a new record low, below the shockingly low value from 2007.

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Canada should phase-out fossil fuel exports

August 23, 2012

There are a few scientific facts about the world that are vital and increasingly well understood. Foremost among them is the reality that human beings have already put a dangerous amount of greenhouse gas pollution into the atmosphere. Nonetheless, the world as a whole continues to demonstrate a ferocious appetite for fossil fuels. Burning those […]

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Intensity-based targets for the oil sands are inadequate

August 13, 2012

There has been a bit of talk in the media about adopting federal intensity-based greenhouse gas pollution standards for the oil sands: “The federal government is using Alberta’s greenhouse-gas emissions target – criticized as too accommodating to industry – as the launching point for a national oil and gas carbon policy, even as the province […]

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Why ‘ethical oil’ may be an own goal

July 9, 2012

Don’t tell him, but I think Ezra Levant’s whole ‘ethical oil’ concept might be a psychological own goal for the people trying to promote the unrestricted growth of Canada’s oil sands. The intent of the campaign is to draw attention to ethical abuses connected to oil from sources outside Canada. For instance, the lack of […]

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Peak oil is unlikely to solve the climate crisis

July 3, 2012

An interesting report released by Leonardo Maugeri (PDF) at Harvard’s Belfer Center argues that the world still has huge amounts of unconventional oil and that recent concerns about ‘peak oil’ are ill-founded: “My field-by-field analysis suggests that worldwide, an additional unrestricted supply of slightly less than 50 mbd is under development or will be developed […]

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“Behind the Scenes of Conservation – Great Bear: Our Crucial Choice”

June 18, 2012

The World Wildlife Fund has put together a beautiful video showing some of what would be put at risk by the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline: For more information see: Canadiansforgreatbear.ca

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NRTEE report on climate policy

June 13, 2012

The National Round Table on Energy and the Environment has released a new report on Canada’s climate change policy: Reality Check: The State of Climate Progress in Canada In their summary of the report, they explain: Despite making progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Canada is not on track to achieve the federal government’s 2020 […]

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Government interference in the Northern Gateway pipeline review process

June 2, 2012

Both the public statements and the actions of Canada’s federal government have served to undermine the independence and integrity of the ongoing review of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline. Neither government ministers nor the prime minister have been shy about asserting that the pipeline is to be built regardless of the concerns of local residents […]

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