Optimism
April 13, 2008
Al Gore speak on optimism, responsible citizenry, democracy, and political activism in the context of global warming.
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A Couple of Movies
April 6, 2008
I think it’s very important that people become more aware of the problems we are facing together as a society (as a species really) and come to some sort of opinion on them. Regardless of whether or not you accept these problems as real and threatening or not is to, to me, not the point. The point is to become educated on the topics and make up your own mind and discuss and debate the issues. Only through dialog can we determine what is real, what is myth and what, if anything, can and should be done.
As mentioned in the previous post, main stream media isn’t really much of a help. Here’s three movies I’d recommend to anyone interested in the topics of peak oil, climate change and population overshoot.
What a Way To Go
The End Of Suburbia
A Crude Awakening
Posted in Climate Change, Movies, Peak Oil, Population Overshoot No Comments »
Thank God for the CBC
April 4, 2008
For the most part the way we understand what’s going on in the world comes from what we see, hear and read on major news outlets. No one has the ability to witness all the world’s events first hand and develop their own opinion on them. Our view of these events is that which is told to us, and often our perspective on these events is influenced by the manner in which they are reported.
Posted in Culture, Media, Peak Oil 2 Comments »
A Sea Change
March 31, 2008
A Sea Change is a movie from Niijii films. According to the web site for the movie
Oceans today are 30% more acidic than before the Industrial Revolution.
If we continue to burn fossil fuels at today’s rates, within the next century we are likely to see a bottom-up collapse of the world’s marine ecosystems that will last hundreds of thousands of years.
Acidification of the ocean is a topic I know very little about. I’m looking forward to learning more when the film is release in August of this year. You can see the trailer for the film on the web site.
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Wide View and Natural Steps
March 30, 2008
Peter Salonius is a soil microbiologist with the Canadian Forestry Service. I recently received from Mr. Salonius some information to post on nextparadigm. The first is an article written in 1998 called Population Growth in Canada and the United States: A Role For Scientists
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Pricing Carbon
March 8, 2008
The David Suzuki foundation recently published an overview of how carbon taxes and a cap and trade system would work and how it would benefit the environment as well as individual Canadians. The article can be found on their web site. Follow the link called “Pricing Carbon”.
For those who find themselves confused about what exactly these terms mean and how they might work, this is a great introduction to the topic.
Posted in Canada, Environmental Policy, Fossil Fuels No Comments »
Baraka
March 8, 2008
I watched the film Baraka the other night and was absolutely amazed. The film contains no dialog, but rather is a series of film sequences laid over a soundtrack. The film contrasts various images of natural landscapes, spiritual and religious ceremonies, indigenous people with images of busy cities, sweat shop workers and environmental disasters. The cinematography is breathtaking. No words are spoken, none are needed. A very powerful experience!
If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend this film.
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The Price of Bread
March 7, 2008
The high-level concept of peak oil is pretty straightforward. For the past 150 years or so global demand for oil has been steadily rising and continues to do so today. Currently, we consume somewhere between 80 and 85 million barrels of crude a day. So far oil supply has been able to meet oil demand. But oil is a finite resource meaning there is only so much of it available. If demand continues to rise, there will come a time that supply cannot keep up. And when demand exceeds supply, prices trend upwards quickly.
Posted in Fossil Fuels, Industry, Peak Oil No Comments »
360 Degree View
March 6, 2008
From the office building I work in there is a good 360 degree view of the city of Saint John, New Brunswick. Looking out the east side of the building you can see the Irving Oil Refinery. In front of the refinery you can see the Irving Paper plant. To the right you see the three red and white stacks of the Courtenay Bay oil fired 109MW generating station owned by NB Power.
Posted in Canada, Fossil Fuels, Industry, New Brunswick No Comments »
More wind power for New Brunswick
March 4, 2008
The New Brunswick government has announced another wind project for the province. This one is a 99 Megawatt project to built at Caribou Mountain near Bathurst.
Posted in Canada, New Brunswick, Renewable Energy No Comments »
