IntenseDebate

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Obama's health care bi... · 0 replies · +1 points

I'm just looking forward to not having to hear about health-care at every turn. Maybe we can just get back to watching the Americans lose their minds on a bunch of other topics.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Roaring right back · 0 replies · +2 points

Well I'll believe it once I'm gainfully employed again. But certainly a good reason to hope all this madness will end soon.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - "A corrupt petro-state" · 0 replies · 0 points

They've also been less than opaque when it comes to how they report their reserves. I still content pricing and scarcity will necessitate change long before the most optimistic government targets will. Plus at that point it;s about saving money and everyone is for that.

My point is that the government plans for serious reductions are at least 10-20 years away. In 5-10 years we will see substantive permanent increases in oil prices. You mentioned earlier how consumption barely decreased during the peaks of last year. I think you're forgetting just how fast that price both came and went, far to quick for meaningful lifestyle changes. If a barrel of oil were to have a nominal price of 150$+ /BBL for a period of at least two years you would see massive amounts of reduction out of sheer necessity. This could be devastation for the economy but at the same time will be great for those who seek efficiency.

Plus there would be a strong incentive for the public to buy into these efficient technologies. Far more persuasive than any carbon tax although I will readily admit that one is indeed needed.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - "A corrupt petro-state" · 2 replies · -1 points

"Market dynamics won't be enough on their own, because the producers of oil know plenty about market dynamics and fight to make sure that their product is, at a minimum, affordable in the long-term."

I have to say I completely disagree, resources companies could not care less about affordability. I tend to subscribe to the view that the era of cheap energy is over. I would cite the work of someone like Jeff Rubin as supporting opinion. Really I see a world coming where there will be such scarcity that hydrocarbon pricing will be completely beyond any measure of control and alternative will win-out by necessity. Sure coal will continue to be a base element in our energy supply but I do think in 20 years the use of oil (at least in the developed world where we actually pay the full price for it) will fall off a cliff and a good portion of emissions right along with it.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - "A corrupt petro-state" · 10 replies · -1 points

Still doesn't change the fact we don't live in a vacuum. Creating our own emissions policy is foolhardy if it harms us competitively in comparison to the US. We're in 10th on a per capita basis (UN 2005) not bad when you consider how much energy we produce.

And besides market dynamics will solve this emissions issue within the next 20 years regardless of Government policy. Remember those pesky 150$/BBL prices last year. I think there's a good chance prices like that will become a permanent fixture on the economic landscape and drive the market toward achieving efficiency. I remember how much my own employer freaked out about energy usage at 50$ and when things hit 150$ we were trying to get all we could out of every drop.

My point is Monbiot, bestows on us a power we do not have. Nobody is following Canada's lead on energy policy because ultimately we don't matter. We're followers by necessity.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - "A corrupt petro-state" · 12 replies · 0 points

Last time I checked our 35 million strong population is just a drop in the bucket globally. We really don't mater at all to anyone. I think this Monbiot Ass-hat can move to Africa and commune with the trees and leave the rest of the adults in the room to make some real decisions.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Obama's man in Ottawa · 0 replies · +1 points

All I know is that place in Rockcliffe park is pretty swank.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - So, anyone have any br... · 0 replies · +1 points

Well as long as they don't spend it singing kumbaya, it certainly can't hurt. Well knowing them they'll find someway to screw this up.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Toking tourists not we... · 2 replies · +2 points

Just take my damn tourist money and be happy about it.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Why the Russians want ... · 0 replies · +2 points

"Eastern European countries will start looking to an imperial-minded Moscow rather than the U.S. for protection"

Fine by me. The americans need to shed the dead weight of global empire maintenance and get thier own house in order. Let the russians start wasting billions of dollars on the task.

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