-Ontario is about to join the list of jurisdictions offering a standard premium for renewable energy. This is similar to the programs European countries have for wind and solar, though the premiums are not expected to be as generous. McGuinty may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's nice to have a sane energy policy in this province again, in marked contrast to the preceding Conservative government. Of course, given that the Tories ruined the electrical system in Ontario it's not hard to beat them.
-Staying with wind energy, Engineer-Poet has an excellent post on why nuclear is obsolete - by the time we can get one (1!) reactor up and running, the wind industry could potentially install hundreds of reactors worth of generation.
-Meanwhile, the tar sands are getting a bit of attention for two reasons: A report from the Polaris institute (PDF) which says that Alberta is essentially being desecrated to fuel American imperialism. (This is news?) While we're busy selling poison to the yanks, another report also notes that Albertans are poisoning themselves to do so. Are we seeing the beginnings of an anti-oil movement in Alberta? My bet is no.
That report by the Polaris Institute makes the argument that Canada should at the very least renegotiate NAFTA to eliminate the "proportional exports" clause which requires that Canada maintain high levels of exports exclusively to the US. This is usually sold as an example of American imperialism by the left, but it's important to note that the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney offered that to the Americans - it wasn't demanded by Washington. To put it bluntly, we were whores, not battered wives. We shouldn't try to play the victims on this one - we were stupid for electing Conservatives in the first place. Sadly, not something that's gone out of style.
Obviously, I can't imagine Harper and the new Conservatives seriously renegotiating NAFTA. That would require that the government (either party) take Canadian sovereignty and Canadian interests seriously, and not just use them as a campaign gag. Besides, if you read the comments at The Oil Drum, the idea of invading Alberta seems to occur way too naturally to Americans. Jon Stewart jokes about it, but some people don't seem to get the punch line.
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I like the idea of small renewable energy projects. I think we need to jump into this thing head first, and produce as much rewable energy as possible. I also like the idea of a lot of smaller entities being given the opportunity to profit from this. In this day and age, there are far too many instances where huge corporations control the entire market, leaving the barrier to entry completely insurmountable to anyone else.
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