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Friday November 19, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday November 19, 2021

From fire to ‘atmospheric river’: Why B.C. is trapped in a world of climate extremes

The past few months will not soon be forgotten in Merritt, B.C.

August 13, 2021

During a record-smashing heat wave that devastated British Columbia this past summer, its population of more than 5,000 people endured temperatures reaching 44.5 C. Soon after, it was racked by drought conditions and was the subject of an evacuation alert because of nearby forest fires. And on Monday, an evacuation order for the entire B.C. Interior city was issued in the face of epic flooding.

These climate-change-fuelled extreme weather events are connected: With intense heat comes wildfires, and with wildfires come changes to the soil and vegetation that can exacerbate the effects of heavy rainfall.

Similar scenes played out across B.C. Other communities that have suffered extreme flooding and landslides include Princeton, Abbotsford and Hope.

Bridges were washed out, and numerous highways were cut off in both directions by multiple mudslides and flooding. Some stranded motorists were evacuated by helicopter. At least one person has died.

It’s all because of heavy rainfall from a phenomenon known as an “atmospheric river.” They occur commonly throughout western North America, but this one has dumped atypical amounts of precipitation throughout the region.

According to preliminary Environment and Climate Change Canada data, 20 communities across B.C. experienced record rainfall for a Nov. 14, including Abbotsford, Langley, Nanaimo, Vancouver and Victoria. Though the final tallies aren’t in, for some communities those are historic records.

November 10, 2021

“Abbotsford and Hope had their wettest days in their record-keeping,” said Armel Castellan, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada. “It’s certainly above a 50-year return period, and actually over 100 in many locations.” (A 1-in-100-year event has a 1-per-cent probability of occurring in any given year – that is, exceedingly rare.)

Recent research has shown a rising trend in atmospheric rivers making landfall on North America’s West Coast in recent decades. As the world continues to warm, they’re expected to become even more frequent and more intense.

“It’s so important to point out the role that climate change plays in these kinds of events,” said University of British Columbia climate scientist Simon Donner.

An atmospheric river is an intense and narrow band of moisture-laden air commonly associated with mid-pressure cyclones that bring heat and moisture from the tropics to the poles. They’re a bit like high-altitude air currents, such as the jet stream, except they’re concentrated in the first several hundred metres above the Earth’s surface.

They’re long (more than 2,000 kilometres), narrow (up to a few hundred kilometres wide) and can be up to a few kilometres deep. According to a Journal of Hydrometeorology study cited by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the passage of an atmospheric river over a coastal site takes on average 20 hours. (Continued: The Globe and Mail) 

 

Friday April 12, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday April 12, 2019

Ontario tightens purse strings, PCs don’t plan to balance books until 2023-24

May 17, 2018

Ontario’s books won’t be balanced within the Progressive Conservatives’ mandate, but the government’s first budget serves up an era of gradual belt-tightening with a side of booze.

The Tories peg the current deficit at $11.7 billion, and they don’t expect to eliminate the red ink until 2023-24. Drastic and widespread cuts that many had feared did not materialize in this budget, but the path to balance shows that much of the heavy lifting comes at the halfway mark to the next election, and after it.

March 27, 2009

The budget constrains spending growth – and shows cuts in post-secondary and social services – but is still nearly $5 billion larger than the last budget from the previous Liberal government, who the Progressive Conservatives often slam for their spending habits.

“We have developed a reasonable path to balance,” Finance Minister Vic Fedeli said. “Our path to balance in five years is a thoughtful and a measured approach to take … Our entire premise is to protect what matters most.”

The budget contains no new taxes. In addition to tackling the deficit, the government is also taking aim at the net debt – currently pegged at $343 billion – through ensuring surpluses and unused reserve or contingency funds go to paying it down.

March 20, 2004

As well, planned legislation would require the government to develop a debt burden reduction strategy, and make the premier and finance minister pay 10 per cent of their salaries for each missed reporting deadline for documents such as the budget and quarterly economic accounts. (Source: Global News)  

 

Thursday May 17, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 18, 2018

Sound bytes and witch hunts won’t quell hydro anger

According to Environment Canada, the odds of getting hit by lightning are lower than one in a million. 

April 17, 2015

Unless you’re the Kathleen Wynne Liberals. In that case, you get zapped pretty much any time the subject of hydro comes up in Ontario. It doesn’t matter whether the specifics are big or small, the subject is a lightning rod for Ontarians’ anger and discontent, both with hydro rates and with the Liberals.

It happened again this week, with predictable results. But let’s try to drill down a bit to get past the rhetoric and sound bytes.

CBC was first to report that, back in January, Hydro One board members voted to boost their own compensation. After that boost, those part-time jobs pay $185,000. And at the time of the board decision, Hydro One’s share price was falling. 

April 14, 2018

Predictably, outraged followed from all the usual players. Doug Ford waxed apoplectic, promising to fire the bums and the CEO as well. Andrea Horwath reminded Ontarians, again, that we wouldn’t be in this position if the power utility was still under completely public control. And Kathleen Wynne, still smoking from the lighting strike, also condemned the raise while saying her government has already planned a review of utility governance including compensation.

All this sound and fury? It masks a difficult truth. Not one of the three parties has a believable, viable plan to really do what Ontarians want — to reduce electricity rates substantially and over the long term. 

Consider: Horwath’s NDP promise to cut hydro rates 30 per cent. They will “end the oversupply of power” and “aggressively” renegotiate contracts. You don’t need to be an expert to recognize this is pretty loose talk. Cutting rates that much would probably mean selling power for less than it costs to make. How will that help?

The numbers problem

The NDP also promises to buy back the part of Hydro One the Liberals sold to the private sector. That sounds like bringing back the good old days, but open your wallet first. Those shares have been appreciating in value. They will cost a lot of money. The government would need to use dividends it gets from the privatization to buy back the privatized share. Not only would be expensive, but it would take years, according to credible industry experts. 

Doug Ford’s hydro solution is even less realistic. So he fires Hydro One executives and the board. (It’s not even clear he could do this since it is not a public company at this point.) What then? He’ll need a new board and a new CEO. That means his cronies and will replace the Liberal ones there now. Will they work for nothing? Hydro One CEO Mayo Schmidt’s salary sounds ridiculously high at over $6 million, but his wage and that of all the board is a drop in the financial bucket overall. 

June 4, 2015

Beyond firing the CEO and board, and paying hefty severance penalties to do so, Ford has no plan for hydro. He is simply beating a convenient scapegoat, but he doesn’t have a better idea. And keep in mind it was Ford’s party that began the privatization of power under Mike Harris. 

The Wynne Liberals? Sadly or not, it doesn’t matter because no one is listening to them. 

Simplistic solutions won’t get the job done, and making Hydro One public again is a massive and expensive undertaking. No one in this election is being straight with voters, that much is clear. (Source: Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

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