Oil workers at the centre—getting transition priorities right
"They will not be left behind.” So said Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan at a news conference this week. The “they” he was referring to…
Alberta—boom or boon?
I opened the CBC website one morning this week to be confronted with the headline “High oil prices a potential boon for beleaguered Alberta.” I…
Big Oil’s bad week
As I have said elsewhere, I don’t do a lot of finger-pointing at oil companies when placing the blame for global warming. They produce the…
All hands on deck to rig the oil market
The oil industry and the free market are not well acquainted. The price of oil has long been manipulated more by cartels than by free…
Use the war room to educate Albertans?
In December 2019, the Alberta government launched the Canadian Energy Centre. The new UCP government had fulfilled its election promise of an energy "war room"…
Parsing Alberta’s oil industry
One could divide Alberta up in various ways. First, as in most provinces and elsewhere, there is town and country, the old story of liberal…
Denmark throws down the gauntlet
Denmark has taken another important step in its shift to a green economy. Earlier this month, the Danish parliament agreed to cancel licenses for oil…
Kenney channels Notley
During the NDP’s brief sojourn as government of Alberta, it pursued a policy oft-referred to as “social license.” The idea was that if the province…
The green wave swallows Exxon
I have read so many articles about banks and investment firms high-tailing it away from oil recently, I hardly pay attention when another crops up…
The pecten transitions
All those years ago when I earned my keep in the oil patch, I was fortunate to toil for Shell Canada. I was paid well,…
Alberta and the plastics promise
In the 1967 film “The Graduate,” young Benjamin Braddock (played by Dustin Hoffman), fresh out of college, is taken aside by a middle-aged neighbour at…