Who could have ever imagined that North America would surpass Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas liquids? A decade ago, that would have seemed laughable. Yet that’s exactly what has happened; and it’s not just Saudi Arabia that has been left in North America’s dust — Russia has, too. […]
Comment: Who is Unifor fighting for?
Imagine you are a union member who pays dues off every paycheque to have the union protect your job, then one day you find out your dues are being used to make your job obsolete. That’s what’s happening to plenty of members of Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector union. Unifor announced this month it is joining […]
Comment: A renewed appeal for Keystone
What’s going on with oil and energy these days? Last week, SNL Financial noted that, “Canada’s crude oil producers are looking to markets other than the U.S. to sell increased output amid delays in pipeline expansions, according to the president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. “In terms of growth potential, Keystone is obviously […]
Comment: Canadian connection reinforces need for Keystone XL pipeline
The United States neighbors two countries, and we like them both, but let’s face it: Whenever there’s a problem for our nation involving one of these borders, it’s almost never Canada’s. While our border with Mexico is constantly involved with issues like illegal immigration or drug shipments, it’s hard to remember the last such conflict […]
Comment: Climate plans amount to ‘wishful thinking’
Alberta’s strategy to address climate change has proven to be little more than “wishful thinking.” When the Alberta government introduced its Climate Change Strategy in 2008, the document was branded with the words “Responsibility, Leadership and Action” but eight years later – with greenhouse gas emissions nowhere close to meeting the provincial target – there’s […]
Plan to ship from the oil sands to the east coast runs into a snag
Oil-sands opponents rallied in Bretton Woods, N.H., where New England governors held their annual meeting with eastern Canadian premiers. On the table – energy trade and innovation. “We are calling on Northeast leaders to oppose projects that would bring more tar sands oil into the region, and to implement a regional clean fuel standard along […]
Comment: Understanding the Hold-up Behind the Keystone XL Pipeline
For years the Keystone XL pipeline has been a source of heated debate. While both complex and nuanced, the arguments both for and against the pipeline can be easily divided between the pro-oil business interest that sees cheaper gas and new American jobs, and the anti-oil environmentalist which fears the pipeline would only increase our […]
Comment: Foreign money working against pipelines
Now Northern Gateway has been approved by the federal government, it’s time to turn the page and wait for U.S. President Barack Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. Obama’s supporters come from several interest groups, and the environmentalist movement is one of the largest. It contributed millions of dollars to his campaign, with the […]
In case you haven’t realized it, patience is a virtue no matter which side of the Keystone XL debate you are on
It’s been a long battle for both sides of the Keystone XL pipeline debate and it likely won’t be over any time soon. In fact the U.S.’s ambassador to Canada is suggesting Canadians need to be patient when it comes to the controversial project. Here’s what Bruce Heyman told CBC, “I think that people need […]
Oil sands myths
Let’s address the green myths that developing Canada’s oils sands will be “game over for the climate” and that the Keystone XL pipeline is the “fuse to the biggest carbon bomb on the planet.” The first myth stems from a May 9, 2012 New York Times column by James Hansen, the retired director of NASA’s […]