Keep Biking All Winter! Are you Crazy?

Up to the end of September a lot of us in the earth caring community have been taking note: there seems to be way more bikes on the streets. And it’s not only casual, recreational riders… we’re noticing 7:00 to 8:00 am commuters, people with backpacks and bike racks – folks using their bikes as car replacements. That’s good news and exactly what we’ve been hoping could happen as people think of ways to reduce their impact on our irreplaceable planet.

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Just Announced – A National Tax on Carbon

So the Trudeau government has just done what any honourable government would need to do. It has placed a tax on carbon. The Harper government had previously committed to reducing Greenhouse gas emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. Although this is laudable, until yesterday little had been done in Ottawa to move towards this commitment. In the end, how one is going to achieve one's commitments is more important that the fact that one has made a commitment. If we as a nation are going to reduce our GHG emissions, we need to change the way we do things, and if we are to change the way we do things, we need incentives. The carbon tax will be that incentive.

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Why Not Tax Carbon?

Parliament is now again sitting, and a carbon tax is again being talked about. Premier Brad Wall of Saskatchewan seems to be leading the opposition to such a tax. Any opposition to such a tax is shortsighted, and one needs to ask why anyone would oppose a tax on the carbon. I can think of only two reasons. It could be a lack of understanding with respect to this tax. It could be an attitude that “I intend to look after myself, and I don't care about anyone else.”

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Human Productivity, Energy Efficiency

In the years since southeastern Manitoba was settled by European immigrants about 140 years ago, the increase in human productivity has been remarkable. In food production alone, consider that 140 years ago, about 70% of the population was committed to farming. By contrast, today it is less than 5% of the population. And this increase in productivity is not limited to food production. It extends into all areas of production.

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What is Efficient – Really?

Last week I compared the relative efficiency of walking and driving. Which we consider more efficient depends on the criteria we apply: if it is time expended, driving is more efficient; if it is energy expended, walking is more efficient.

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