Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
In an unprecedented move Rob Morgan, the CEO of the Alberta Energy Regulator, has bowed to intense bullying from an Australian-based coal company and cancelled a planned public hearing on a large underground project near the town of Grande Cache.
For too long, discussions about energy have been confined to the realms of technicians and engineers. The energy we consume and the infrastructures sustaining its seemingly endless supply—whether fossil fuels or electricity—have largely remained out of sight and out of mind for much of modern history.
If our country is to meet the mounting challenges faced by an uncertain future, we need to focus on credible fact-based information – not industry sponsored hype.
Renewable energy will overtake coal to become the world’s top source of electricity “by 2026 at the latest”, according to new forecasts from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
To make the energy system resilient requires identifying all potential risks and their impacts, maintaining flexibility and redundancy in the system, and ensuring a wide range of stakeholders are involved in decision making.
Electrical transformers are becoming a key chokepoint for maintenance and expansion of the electrical grid in the U.S. and worldwide.
Climate-focused think tank InfluenceMap has uncovered that industry influence appears to have led to the delay and dilution of UK policies on the roll-out of heat pumps, the development of ‘sustainable’ aviation fuel and the granting of new oil and gas licenses.
Across the continent, from the DRC to South Africa, large-scale energy and infrastructure projects are being pushed in the name of climate goals. Yet, as multiple speakers highlighted, these projects often bypass the very communities they claim to serve. People are not at the centre of these plans; they are at best an afterthought, at worst a disposable obstacle.
There is no “if we all just did x” solution, shorn of local context, to the unravelling of the high-energy global economy. This kind of contextless thinking exemplifies what I call in my forthcoming book the ‘world environmental problems’ framework. It signally fails to provide plausible solutions.
Is land – which to some cultures is the original mother, to be revered and cared for – just another commodity which can and should be exploited in the interests of human ‘progress’? Is energy another such commodity as well?
Top down decisions about “national infrastructure” may save time on paper but are not a good way to make progress. It appears autocratic and shifts objectors onto the streets or into the courts. Real consultation takes time and effort. But it builds trust and leads to better outcomes.
Climate harms from projects like YaREN’s proposed plant pose an immediate threat to Ingleside’s community. Texas is one of America’s most climate-vulnerable states – facing among the highest risks for drought, flooding and temperature-related deaths.
