Thoughts on BC Politics and More

According to the B.C. Environment Ministry, up until recently, wind projects generating more than 50 megawatts of power or involving 15 or more turbines have been subject to an environmental assessment through the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office (BCEAO). The Ministry has stated that wind projects have typically taken one to two years to complete the environmental assessment process — although no wind projects have been reviewed since B.C.’s Environmental Assessment Act was updated in 2018. An important feature of the environmental assessment process is to analyze valued components (VCs) (either environmental, social or economic) that may be affected by the wind project. The overall goal of the environmental process is not to stop projects but to ensure that harms identified are mitigated. There are nine new wind power projects approved, with projects ranging from 94 megawatts to 200 megawatts. The Province wants to develop projects quickly, stating they are moving approvals thr...

USED WITH PERMISSION of the authors -- originally published in the Calgary Herald Greta Thunberg, the teenaged Swedish environmentalist, has focused global attention on the climate change debate like never before. So, as she tours Alberta, what better time for a reality check than to look at a country that is furthest ahead in already adapting steps that Greta is advocating. That country is Germany. And it’s not a pretty sight. Germany embraced the rush to renewables before anyone else, and did so with gusto. The result? Germany’s largest news magazine Der Spiegel published an article on May 3   of this year entitled “ A Botched Job in Germany .” The cover showed broken wind turbines and half-finished transition towers against a dark silhouette of Berlin. Germany’s renewable energy transition, Energiewende, is a bust. After spending and committing a total of US $580 billion to it from 2000 to 2025. Why is that? Because it’s been a nightmar...

We rarely hear about the dark side of renewable energy sources like windmills. Governments and the media are determined to convince us that wind power is part of our future and refuse to admit that there may be problems that affect our ecosystems. Our hysterical approach to climate change as an emergency precludes realistic assessment of the risks that wind farms entail. Hysterical people toss common sense, critical assessment and reason out the window. That is why our government talks of climate change in terms of “ an emergency ”. They don’t want us poking around and finding the multitude of flaws in their policies and positions. Fortunately, we have enough cooler heads to question the government’s motives and their position is increasingly difficult to justify. We will see many governments crash and burn long before pred...

Science is a plodding, evolving discipline that thrives on critical examination and questioning of discoveries and theories. The most arrogant and inane statement the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has ever uttered is that “the (climate) science is settled”. Science is never ‘settled’. It sits awaiting the next discovery and incremental improvement. The theory that variations in the minuscule amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere drives climate change is the equivalent of accepting that a vial of iodine can contaminate an entire lake. Electrical vehicles cannot exist without hydrocarbons used in lubricants, fashioning the framework and cladding, glass, batteries, computer controls, and on endlessly. Then there is the problem of recycling the whole mess at the end of its life cycle. Technology for solar and wind power is still in infancy; that is the beauty of science. The underlying science is incrementally improving and moving towards an elusive goal ...