Originally Posted by sun burnt in aus

It's definitely an attack on their wealth - no question. Or more precisely their ability to even get by. If someone came along and said we want to end your ability to earn a living, now!, you'd be a wee bit perturbed to say the least. I didn't spend a lot of time there, on me recce, but I didn't meet anyone that didn't say it needs to end. Most seem to put a 10 to 15 year time frame on it. Interestingly enough, I airbnb'd it around Edmonton, and the more left wing, affluent the people I stayed with the more they were against oil and gas and wanted it shut down now. And when I pointed out that if they get their wish and shut down oil and gas in the next few years, who do you think is going to pay you the $750,000 you think your house is worth now when you need to leave the province because it's completely collapsed. You'll be lucky to get 50k... For some reason there was no answers to that.

Since I've come back, one thing I've notice is inter-provincial thinking hasn't changed, most are either ignorant, or at worse obtuse. No one wants to know that the provinces don't operate in a vacuum. If Quebec and BC tank Alberta which they seem keen to do, BC may not completely tank but it will flounder badly as a result for years. And Alberta, like the Maritimes, will be another welfare boat anchor the country's neck that they can ill afford for decades to come. Everyone will be negatively affected.

The country needs to stop the American style politics and derision and find a solution to keep it strong. I'll go back to Australia in a couple days and be watching the election and the next few months closely. And there may be a chance I will pull the pin on Canada (not that anyone would care LOL) if they look like they're going to bite off their nose to spite their face. I certainly ain't interested in living in BC - not interested in a mortgage when I'm 100, and the rest of the country doesn't really appeal to me. I never thought I would ever say this, let alone think it, but depending on this next election, Australia maybe the better option for quality of life.

Originally Posted by CanadaJimmy

I don't think anyone expects Alberta to turns the taps off overnight, heck the Liberals bought the oil pipeline just for them (though apparently they didn't like that?), but the carbon tax is designed to put pressure on fossil fuel industries to try and be more efficient at least and maybe start to transition to greener tech. Alberta actually receives the most hours on sunlight in the entire country, making it perfect for solar energy.

Originally Posted by CanadaJimmy

I don't think anyone expects Alberta to turns the taps off overnight, heck the Liberals bought the oil pipeline just for them (though apparently they didn't like that?), but the carbon tax is designed to put pressure on fossil fuel industries to try and be more efficient at least and maybe start to transition to greener tech. Alberta actually receives the most hours on sunlight in the entire country, making it perfect for solar energy.

Originally Posted by Shard

Wouldn't it be better to incentivise the green tech rather than tax the carbon? Or is that what's happening?

Originally Posted by sun burnt in aus

If you listen to the left leaning parties and the mulling of coalitions and they form government Alberta is dead.

Solar is great but the world over, other than a few European countries, it's been mismanaged. And sorry for all the windies, wind power is a joke. And waves are even worse than that... So I get why albertans are resistant to investing in any alternatives at the moment because, more than likely, in ten or twenty years there will be another energy fad that's perpetuated by some click bait hungry journalists that grips the world and or they will find that what's been taking place now has no real future viability. Being a technology leading province or company is an extremely expensive and a risky proposition and can be argued is not where government should be dipping it's toes.

Originally Posted by Shard

Wouldn't it be better to incentivise the green tech rather than tax the carbon? Or is that what's happening?

Originally Posted by Oakvillian

Both, I think.

Alberta is in a very strong position to lead Canada's green tech sector. Plenty of appropriate resources (sunshine, wind, space) and plenty of people with the right sort of technical knowledge to make commercial sense of the opportunity.

IMO the Greens' argument against the pipeline expansion is a weak one. For the next decade at least (and probably a lot longer) Canada's economy and infrastructure will be dependent on fossil fuels. Right now, too much of Alberta's oil is put in tanker cars and taken by rail to wherever it's going - that is dangerous (just ask the residents of Lac Megantic) and environmentally unsound. At the same time, massive amounts of Saudi oil are being delivered by tanker to refineries on both coasts, which is politically pretty ropy and not exactly environmentally golden either. A sensible decision to get Alberta oil to tidewater, to service both Canada's domestic needs and provide revenue from exports to help with defecits and so on, would be wise. And some of the profits from that exercise ought to be ring-fenced for incentivizing better commercial exploitation of green tech, not just in Alberta but across the country. There's hydro resources in BC, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes that could be put to much better use if there was a proper national energy strategy rather than the stupid petty fighting between provinces which leads to the ludicrous situation of exporting hydro power to the US at a financial loss, while simultaneously importing power from coal-fired stations. (I don't have a reference for that and may not have my facts completely aligned there, but recall hearing something about the ridiculousness of the arrangements between Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland, in particular).

Here endeth my party political broadcast on behalf of the Curmudgeonly Old Git party.

Originally Posted by Oakvillian

Here endeth my party political broadcast on behalf of the Curmudgeonly Old Git party.

Originally Posted by Shard

Have you been living in a cave ?

Originally Posted by sun burnt in aus

No, a single story bungalow in Queensland. I'll leave you to do the research on wind turbines and their impact on terrestrial flying species yourself. You may have the narrow view that putting them in the ocean is a great idea but most the the world doesn't live next to a body of water that would accomodate hundreds of wind turbines. So really I should ask you: are you ignorant or obtuse. remember: turn about is fair play

Originally Posted by dbd33

I'm not sure what "the Canadian brand" means. Is this intended to relate Trudeau and a horse's arse? If it's not some sort of pun please explain.

Originally Posted by Oakvillian

Both, I think.

Alberta is in a very strong position to lead Canada's green tech sector. Plenty of appropriate resources (sunshine, wind, space) and plenty of people with the right sort of technical knowledge to make commercial sense of the opportunity.

IMO the Greens' argument against the pipeline expansion is a weak one. For the next decade at least (and probably a lot longer) Canada's economy and infrastructure will be dependent on fossil fuels. Right now, too much of Alberta's oil is put in tanker cars and taken by rail to wherever it's going - that is dangerous (just ask the residents of Lac Megantic) and environmentally unsound. At the same time, massive amounts of Saudi oil are being delivered by tanker to refineries on both coasts, which is politically pretty ropy and not exactly environmentally golden either. A sensible decision to get Alberta oil to tidewater, to service both Canada's domestic needs and provide revenue from exports to help with defecits and so on, would be wise. And some of the profits from that exercise ought to be ring-fenced for incentivizing better commercial exploitation of green tech, not just in Alberta but across the country. There's hydro resources in BC, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes that could be put to much better use if there was a proper national energy strategy rather than the stupid petty fighting between provinces which leads to the ludicrous situation of exporting hydro power to the US at a financial loss, while simultaneously importing power from coal-fired stations. (I don't have a reference for that and may not have my facts completely aligned there, but recall hearing something about the ridiculousness of the arrangements between Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland, in particular).

Here endeth my party political broadcast on behalf of the Curmudgeonly Old Git party.

Originally Posted by Shard

Your views on wind energy are embarrassingly out of date, especially if you originate from the UK, now a world leader in wind farms.

Originally Posted by sun burnt in aus

And what did I say about the rest of the world and their access to a body of water adequate for accomodating hundreds if not thousands of wind turbines...

Originally Posted by sun burnt in aus

Solar is great but the world over, other than a few European countries, it's been mismanaged. And sorry for all the windies, wind power is a joke. And waves are even worse than that... .

Originally Posted by Shard

Here's what you said.......



Is it a joke or is it not? That's the problem when you start spewing random ideas and opinions, you end up making ridiculous statements and sound foolish. Nobody is proposing wind farms in the Great Sandy Desert or Stanley Park, but they have an important place in the green energy sector and should be recognised accordingly.