Theoretically, nuclear fission could play a big role in providing energy-rich lifestyles to people around the world without climate change. At the same time, there are severe economic, social, and political headwinds to even maintaining existing capacity, much less building more. Now, I fear that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will add further causes for concern. […]
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I have rarely seen such a concise and numerically-backed summary of Canada’s climate change policy outcomes than this one from Steve Easterbrook’s blog in 2016: Several things jump out at me from this chart. First, the complete failure to implement policies that would have allowed us to meet any of these targets. The dip in […]
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A group from Singapore called Students for a Fossil Free Future has a new report: “Fossil-Fuelled Universities: A Call for Universities to End Links with the Fossil Fuel Industry.” There is also a summary. They found linkages between the fossil fuel industry and universities in terms of endowments; board members; donations; professorships and fellowships; scholarships, […]
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Next week, the Toronto city council is considering a proposal to adopt a net zero target by 2040. I have written to my city councillor and the mayor supporting the idea as better than nothing, but also explaining why net zero promises risk prolonging rather than curtailing fossil fuel use: Councillor Mike Colle and Mayor […]
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I have written before about The Economist‘s inconsistent positions on climate change and fossil fuels. When writing about science or climate change specifically — and in most of their leading editorials — they stress the potential severity of the crisis and the need to take action. In their broader coverage, however, they tend to prioritize […]
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An article which I wrote with some University of Toronto professors: Universities must dump their fossil fuel investments before fundraising
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The Trudeau government has released the Speech From the Throne to open the 44th Parliament. There’s a section on climate action, but it goes on an on about “growing the economy” and doesn’t even mention fossil fuels, much less the need to abolish them. It’s not super encouraging that the speech is called “Building a […]
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Not mutually exclusive: They are about to launch a bicentennial fundraising campaign with themes including healthy lives, sustainable future, and the next generation. They feared negative public relations attention if they launched the campaign while continuing to refuse to divest The university’s investment managers have decided that they can better retain authority and control by […]
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From today’s Globe and Mail: Efforts to combat climate change shouldn’t shun any particular energy source, Saudi official says Harper says Canada’s climate-change policy unfairly singles out ‘certain parts of the country’ I know Canada’s major media sources tend to be reflexively pro-fossil, but it’s still remarkable to see people insisting that the industries causing […]
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Today I received and began reading George Hoberg’s new book: The Resistance Dilemma: Place-Based Movements and the Climate Crisis. The usefulness is threefold. It speaks directly to my concern about how the environmentalist focus on resistance isn’t a great match with building a global energy system that will control climate change. It references much of […]
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