Articles

Alberta’s economic future in peril without shift away from fossil fuel

November 8, 2017

by Gordon Kent | Alberta needs to start shifting quickly out of the oilsands to avoid serious economic trouble as the world moves away from fossil fuels, a University of Waterloo professor says.

Author Sees Early Best-Before Date for Alberta’s Oilsands

November 8, 2017

by Maurice Smith | Alberta chose the wrong path when it doubled down on the “junk energy” contained in the oilsands in recent years, and must move fast to join the energy transition away from fossil fuels if it hopes to avoid falling off the climate change cliff.

B.C.’s green shift is a window to the world

August 12, 2017

In May’s provincial election, the Green Party won its first multiple-seat breakthrough in North America, and by a fluke of electoral arithmetic, it now holds the balance of power in the legislature. Today, B.C.’s citizens are exploring uncharted political territory of potentially huge significance to people outside the province.

Trump needs a war

June 28, 2017

Donald Trump needs a war. He needs a war to fire Robert Mueller. Special counsel Mueller oversees an aggressively expanding investigation of Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election…

Who’s the chicken in Trump’s high-stakes game?

April 28, 2017

U.S. President Donald Trump loves to play chicken – the game of chicken, that is. And while his predilection toward the game is bad enough, it also turns out that he plays it badly, and that’s truly scary.

How Western Civilization Could Collapse

April 18, 2017

by Rachel Nuwer | The political economist Benjamin Friedman once compared modern Western society to a stable bicycle whose wheels are kept spinning by economic growth. Should that forward-propelling motion slow or cease, the pillars that define our society would begin to teeter.

Crisis analysis: How much damage can Trump do? (A lot)

March 19, 2017

This structured analysis of crisis risks arising from the Trump presidency was published in 2017, but it remains relevant to a potential second Trump presidency in 2025.

How Climate Change’s Effect on Agriculture can Lead to War

February 17, 2017

by Ryan Bort | On February 12, the temperature in Magnum, Oklahoma, reached 100 degrees. It was a state record for the month of February, besting a mark that was set in 1918. The average February high in Magnum is 56.

Canada Must not Give Up the Fight on Climate Change

January 2, 2017

Those of us concerned about climate change generally inhabit an old-fashioned reality-based world. Scientific research and evidence drive our concern. Although we wish the climate problem would vanish, that motivation doesn’t override what science tells us.

President Trump Will Make Chaos the New Normal

November 24, 2016

During the election campaign, Donald Trump made the normalization of abnormality a signature political tactic. The more he violated the conventions of U.S. political life, democratic practice and civil discourse, the more he excited his followers.