The common sense proposition of phasing out Alberta’s coal plants
In moving away from coal, Alberta would be in the mainstream of a trend that’s now picking up speed around the world.
Energy
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It is time to confront Canada’s staple trap
Perversely, governments get captured by the staple industry and lock the country in. Our currency becomes a petro-dollar, our state a petro-state.
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Conservatives learn efficiency, not fossil fuels, the path to energy security
Energy efficiency is an obvious solution because it is quick, portable, abundant, and cheap. Unlike pipelines that take years to build, energy efficiency efforts can be ramped up within months.
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Keystone XL and Canada’s Resource Trap
Canada’s brand of the resource curse is called the “staples trap”. The pattern was articulated by celebrated Canadian economic historian Harold Innis in his studies of Canadian staple resource economies.
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Why is Joe Oliver okay with 2°C of warming?
Even though Canada has an abundance of clean energy resources and the potential to find the innovative capacity to take advantage of them, the staples mentality informs the federal government’s policy and politics.
