Blog

Oil Sands Perspective

Jim Letourneau — Thu, 17 May 2012 22:23:44 +0000

I'm reprinting this article from Stockwatch.com as it provides some sorely lacking balance to the discussion of how we're going to maintian our awesome energy intensive lifestyles.

Fraser Inst. speaker says activists distort oil sands

by Stockwatch Business Reporter

"Oil sands developers sell much-needed fuel at a profit and leave the land cleaner than when they found it. That's good enough for me." This is hardly the viewpoint one might expect from the co-founder of Greenpeace. Dr. Patrick Moore, who spoke at a Fraser Institute luncheon in Vancouver on Monday, is an unlikely advocate for the expansion and legitimacy of the Alberta oil sands. Yet he firmly believes Greenpeace and other green groups are wrong to demonize the industry, and asserts their environmental campaigns are increasingly based on fear rather than fact.

The "Greenpeace dropout"

Dr. Moore helped found Greenpeace in 1971 and left it 15 years later, disillusioned with the members' radical anti-science agenda. Now he is an outspoken critic of the "dream fantasy agendas" that mark many a modern green group, and a staunch defender of pragmatic energy policies. The Alberta oil sands, in his view, represent one of Canada's most important and innovative industries.

Not only is oil sands development essential, Dr. Moore argues, but developers often leave the production sites in better environmental shape than they were before oil was taken from the land. Companies are required by law to return their mine sites to thriving ecosystems. Dr. Moore recalls visiting one such reclamation site, where a herd of more than 300 wood bison roamed the land, managed by the Fort McKay First Nation. Trees, shrubs and lakes can return to a former mine site in a blink of Mother Nature's eye.

Ask Greenpeace, though, and this temporary disturbance to the land is portrayed as nothing less than a mini-apocalypse. The group takes aerial pictures of oil sands mines in the middle of operations and falsely implies that this is how they will always look. This is one way such activists distort the debate on environmental issues. Other tactics include peddling unproven beliefs as fact and denouncing those who disagree as "environmental criminals."

Much of this activism is simply misdirected, but there is also a certain hypocrisy among environmentalists who demonize oil companies while using oil to run their cars, heat and cool their homes, and otherwise enjoy a society that depends on oil for over one-third of its energy. Dr. Moorerelates the story of the "Greenpeace diesel dilemma," in which Greenpeace members had strong words for a Swedish plant that used wind power when it could, but coal as a backup. Those same members' brand-new ship, which they so proudly touted as wind-powered, relied on regular diesel, not bio-diesel -- Greenpeace is against bio-fuels such as wood, which is scorned as a "Stone-Age fuel" despite being the most abundant renewable energy on the planet -- when the wind died down or blew them the wrong way.

Getting a green grip

Too few environmentalists propose sensible solutions to energy problems, says Dr. Moore. "Apparently it is reasonable to be 'just against' oil pipelines, or 'just against' oil tankers." Activists condemn pipelines and tankers without bothering to explain how Canada would function if Alberta oil could not get to market. This knee-jerk "No!" should not be a satisfactory response.

Dr. Moore says that while Greenpeace's influence over public opinion remains strong, its influence on policy is thankfully waning. This is perhaps the result of the European debt crisis, which was caused in large part by "following Greenpeace's advice" on energy policy. Because wind power and solar power require massive subsidies to compete in the energy market, only countries with money to burn or citizens to tax can afford them -- and burn and tax they have.

Two recent events have given Dr. Moore hope for the future: Canada's abandonment of the Kyoto protocol, "which was a stupid idea to begin with," and the European Parliament's decision not to attend the Rio+20 conference (also called Earth Summit 2012) in Brazil, the stated reason for which is "prohibitively high hotel costs." Dr. Moore believes the public is steadily becoming less enamoured with costly and unreliable alternative energy sources. This is a good thing.

After years of fighting for fact-based environmentalism, Dr. Moore feels that "the chickens are finally coming home to roost." By emphasizing science over sensationalism, he believes the world can meet its energy needs both sustainably and economically.

You can send comments to Karen Baxter: karenb@stockwatch.com

Book Contest

Jim Letourneau — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:52:38 +0000

A Musical Gold Mine - New Music for Old People

Jim Letourneau — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:10:10 +0000

I found the most amazing music discovery source last night. I've checked out Al Kooper's website many times. He has a good top 100 records of all time list on it. On his personal website he makes no mention of a very good column that he writes for The Morton Report. What the fuck is the Morton Report? Doesn't matter. Al Kooper does a weekly column for them called New Music for Old People. He listens tall all the new music that comes out on iTunes every week and picks out 10 songs he likes. He's overqualified, to put it mildly, but I'm grateful he's sharing some of his insights. The fact that he's been doing this for decades because he's a music freak (Burnaholics Anonymous) makes it even better. Not all the music is new, some weeks he picks a theme but at the end of the day its his unbiased opinion. That's hard to find in the music press. Is the new Garbage album any good? What would you compare it to, old Garbage? Kooper has a very broad perspective one what is good but also what is fun (Me First and the Gimme Gimmes!).

I found out about it through a Bob Lefsetz post on Playlists. I hate Bob Lefsetz because he makes fun of Springsteen. I love Bob Lefsetz because he takes on pompous blowhards like Gene Simmons.

Check out New Music for Old People!

Mother's Day Salad

Jim Letourneau — Mon, 14 May 2012 02:30:48 +0000

Normally my salads are about cleaning out the fridge and salvaging unused produce. The healthy foods are the last to go at our house. I’m writing this recipe down because this salad turned out better than most. Maybe I was just extra hungry from a morning bike ride but my parents like it. The salmon used in this recipe was caught at Langara Lodge, Haida Gwaii - Queen Charlotte Islands and hot smoked (with peppercorn spice added) by St. Jean’s Cannery and Smokehouse, Nanaimo., BC. Now that I’ve included one ingredient that is impossible to get at Costco, I’ve got a good shot at this recipe being published in a magazine.

Ingredients

One package of St. Jeans Cannery hot smoked peppercorn salmon
3 heads of Romaine lettuce
1 Avocado
½ Onion
1 Clove Garlic
1 Red Pepper
1 Orange Pepper
Dill
¼ cup Tamari Almonds
Butter

Saute the onion and garlic in some butter and sprinkle in the dill from 2-3 twigs. This salad doesn’t have any dressing added so this gives it some depth.

Make a salad out of all the other ingredients. Rinse the lettuce, tear up the leaves into fancy salad sized pieces and dry them in the long lost salad spinner. Dice the peppers or cut them into fancy salad strips, whatever makes you happy. Upon reflection, it would be better visually to cut them into strips. Throw all that produce into your biggest salad bowl, add the avocado and buttery onion/garlic mixture along with some more dill. Toss the salad and it is s ready for consumption.

About the salmon. I didn’t use lox or nova aka “flat salmon” (a local term from the prairies) but it would probably work pretty well. Any kind of hot smoked salmon (ie foil packed, not in a refrigerator) should work.

A great way to say "I love you mom!"

Nigeria's Sovereign Wealth Fund - Launched

Jim Letourneau — Sun, 13 May 2012 20:03:21 +0000

According to the Wall Street Journal, Nigeria's $1 billion sovereign-wealth fund is set to start operating in the next few months, said the country's finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in what would mark a crucial step to help the governement finance the revamping of its ramshackle roads and power grids.

I've done some digging and here is one of their first investments...

Thanks to Ian for passing on the graphic!

A Tale of Two Time-Lapse Movies

Jim Letourneau — Sat, 12 May 2012 20:32:03 +0000

I'll show the good one first... The Sandpit by Simon O'Hare filmed in New York. You can find out how he made it here.

Mine was taken at Week 2 of Coachella on a very hot Saturday afternoon. I used an iPhone with the Time Lapse Camera HD app. I used the corner of large potted tree planter for stabilization. During the filming, my camera suddenly disappeared. It had fallen into the planter during a brief breeze. There was water in the bottom of the planter. My phone was drenched. You win this time Mr. O'Hare!

The Inventors Hall of Fame

Jim Letourneau — Fri, 11 May 2012 19:47:19 +0000

Ten names were added to the National Inventors Hall of Fame on May 2, 2012. Each one of them deserves to have a book written about them. Only one could be considered a household name.

Akira Endo - first statin drug,
Barbara Liskov - software design
Kumar Patel - carbon dioxide laser
Lubomyr Romankiw and David Thompson - magnetic thin-film storage heads
Gary Starkweather - laser printer
Alejandro Zaffaroni - controlled drug delivery systems (transdermal patches)
Mária Telkes - pioneer in solar energy;
Dennis Gabor - conceptualized holography
Steve Jobs - technology

These kinds of people change the world. The reality TV people keep us numb to possibilities.

The Van Halens

Jim Letourneau — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:54:28 +0000

Eddie, Wolfgang and Alex put on a heckuva show last night in Calgary. Despite a tumultous rock and roll history, the band delivered a great show. Eddie got his teeth fixed. He looked healthy.

I recieved a couple of unsolicited comments about ear plugs. First, a fellow in the beer lineup asked me "Did you buy those here?" It is a bit pathetic that you can get ear plugs at a NASCAR race but not a rock and roll show. As an aside, NASCAR fans have better teeth than Van Halen fans on average. The second comment, which I could barlely hear (because I was wearing ear plugs) was in a more mocking tone from a female attendee, "you're wearing earplugs!?". Today a clever comeback line came to me... "no, I just have flourescent orange ear wax, thanks for noticing." Last night it was don't make eye contact, her boyfriend could be vengeful.

The band doesn't seem to change their set list from night to night but repetion and structure probably help to keep flamboyant David Lee Roth (who can be replaced... as the only non Van Halen in the band) on task. I wonder if the Sheepdogs took their name from Roth's infatuation with sheepdogs.

Eddie Van Halen is one of the greatest guitar players on the planet and it was spine tingling to see him in action. This year I've seen more than my share of greatness live, Stevie Wonder, Mary Hart (she makes the list for scolding Hollywood actors quiet down at the Palm Springs International Film Festival), Tony Stewart, Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Roger Federer, Chris Difford, Glenn Tillbrook, and Howlin' Pelle Almqvist. I'm adding Eddie Van Halen to the list and its not even June yet.

It took me a while to figure out which part of the show to video so there's some jumping around at first as I tried to track the different big screen shots. It gets better as it progresses but it is still just another shakey YouTube concert video.

The Four Components of Innovation

Jim Letourneau — Tue, 08 May 2012 05:27:56 +0000

Great stuff from How Do You Create A Culture Of Innovation?

Questioning: Asking probing questions that impose or remove constraints. Example: What if we were legally prohibited from selling to our current customer?

Networking: Interacting with people from different backgrounds who provide access to new ways of thinking.

Observing: Watching the world around them for surprising stimuli.

Experimenting: Consciously complicating their lives by trying new things or going to new places.

I'm one of the aliens that are referred to in the article so I can read these kinds of posts all day long. The pace of change is quickening. We have an awesome future.

Summary of Canada’s Rare Earth Deposits

Jim Letourneau — Tue, 08 May 2012 04:51:15 +0000

DNI Metals (DNI.V) in a Nutshell

It's nice to see a brief summary of what all the Canadian rare earth companies are up to. I'm an adviser to DNI Metals so I thought I'd share this version of their story by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

Canada has 1.1 billion pounds of rare earths locked in black shale deposits (the Alberta Black Shale Project) worth an estimated $206 billion that were previously not recoverable unless large amounts of cyanide and arsenic were used to liquefy the ores—a process that is considered dangerous and illegal in many parts of the world. Now, a new, more cost-effective and environmentally friendly technology that uses water, air and microbes (a technique known as bioheap leaching) can be used to release the rare earth from the black shale deposits.25 The new technology has a limited track record—only one mine (operated by Finland’s Talvivaara Mining Company Plc.) is producing metals through bioheap leaching. Toronto-based DNI Metals, a junior mining company, has said it needs $1 billion to get the project going.26

(source) - Canada’s Rare Earth Deposits Can Offer A Substantial Competitive Advantage