Oil sands – mackaycartoons

Thursday February 27, 2020

March 5, 2020 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 27, 2020

Jason Kenney’s tantrums do not flatter Alberta

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is good at a lot of things. But when it comes to pointing the finger, he’s an absolute champion. Pointing the finger of blame at his predecessor Rachel Notley. At British Columbia for balking at his pipeline demands. At the rest of Canada (except Saskatchewan) for not sufficiently supporting Alberta’s oilpatch interests.

December 10, 2019

But when the federal government is the target, Kenney is a gold-medal Olympian finger pointer. Take this week’s Teck Frontier oil sands mine decision, for example. Announcing the company’s decision to not move forward with the project (even before the federal cabinet had approved or denied it), Teck CEO Don Lindsay said very clearly the reasons for shelving Frontier are a mix of low investor interest and environmental concerns. He pointedly did not blame the federal or any other government, although he made reference to Canada needing energy policy solutions that satisfy competing interests.

November 21, 2019

But to hear Kenney and his ministers talk, Teck holds Justin Trudeau personally responsible for the pullout. Kenney and friends certainly do. They say the Trudeau government’s lack of enthusiasm for new oil projects has created the national crisis we are now experiencing, and has also discouraged investors like Teck to the extent that they want nothing to do with investments like the $20 billion required for the mine north of Fort McMurray.

It is not hard to imagine that the sort of civil conflict now playing out across Canada over resource development would cause companies like Teck to be squeamish. But are political and societal volatility really enough to derail a project like this? To believe that, as Kenney seems to, would be beyond naive.

December 15, 2015

Lindsay wrote in his letter: “Global capital markets are changing rapidly, and investors and customers are increasingly looking for jurisdictions to have a framework in place that reconciles resource development and climate change.”

Speaking of money, Teck’s stock recently dropped more than 20 per cent in under a week. Like a lot of fossil-based resource companies, it is struggling, most recently with a weak fourth quarter. The simple fact is the global landscape is changing, and those “capital markets” are increasingly skittish about investments that rely on fossil fuels.

Lindsay has also said in the past that if the price of oil doesn’t increase significantly in the coming years, Teck would not be financially viable. There is no indication that will happen.

Bottom line: Teck was an iffy bet at best, and the uncertainty caused by deeply divided public opinion may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.

April 11, 2018

But isn’t the Trudeau government responsible for the current lack of consensus over resource policy? It certainly shares some of the responsibility. But leave it to a partisan extremist like Kenney to say with a straight face there isn’t blame all around. So Alberta is only a victim here? Its reluctance to commit to enforceable emission caps isn’t part of the problem? Its refusal to support any sort of price on carbon, even though the majority of Canadians expressed support for just that in the last election? (Parties that support a price on carbon got more electoral support than ones that didn’t, especially Kenney’s ideological roommates the Conservatives.)

Alberta’s problems are real. But they cannot all be laid at the feet of the federal government. The rest of Canada wants a serious plan to address climate change. Kenney may not like that, but unless he can figure out a way to move Alberta someplace else — say, next door to Kentucky — he would be wise to become part of the solution instead of being a champion, foot-stamping finger pointer. (Hamilton Spectator editorial)

Thursday December 20, 2018

December 23, 2018 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday December 20, 2018

Ottawa’s Gift to Alberta

December 13, 2018

The $1.6-billion aid package Justin Trudeau just handed Alberta’s wounded oilpatch is little more than a handkerchief for drying the province’s bitter tears.

It shows the federal government is aware of Alberta’s plight. It permits the prime minister to parade his capacious empathy. And it proves Ottawa is willing to act on behalf of that province’s oil and gas sector, though only in a limited way.

But it will accomplish almost nothing meaningful. It won’t staunch the bleeding in Alberta’s economy or ease the pain of its people because it does nothing to cure what really ails them — the oil pipeline bottleneck. Only a new pipeline or pipelines will fix this. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

November 15, 2005

Meanwhile, traditional Christmas pudding is dying out, new figures show, as under 35s are shunning the traditional dessert.

Decked with a sprig of holly, brandy and flickering blue flames, it has been considered the pinnacle of Christmas dinner since Victorian times.

December 20, 2007

Changing tastes down the generations mean sales of Christmas pudding are in slow but steady decline, falling at around 1 percent year on year, Tesco’s 2018 Christmas report has revealed.

It found that less than half of Brits now eat it on Christmas Day.

Just over one in five (23 per cent) people aged between 18 and 35 eat Christmas pudding, it said, with younger consumers favouring alternatives like chocolate pudding and pannetone.

However Christmas pudding is still the most popular Christmas day dessert among over 55s, six in ten (59 per cent) of whom eat it on Christmas Day. (Source: Telegraph)

Thursday May 5, 2016

May 4, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 5, 2016

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized Elizabeth May on Wednesday for suggesting that the Fort McMurray fires should be linked to global warming.

Responding to comments made earlier, Trudeau said May’s suggestion that the disaster was “very related to the global climate crisis” was neither helpful, nor accurate. But he agreed with part of May’s message.

“It’s well known that one of the consequences of climate change will be a greater prevalence of extreme weather events around the planet,” Trudeau told reporters at a news conference.

“However, any time we try to make a political argument on one particular disaster, I think it’s a bit of shortcut that can sometimes not have the desired outcome. There have always been fires. There have always been floods.

Pointing at any one incident and saying: ‘This is because of that,’ is neither helpful, nor entirely accurate. We need to separate a pattern over time from any one event. What we are focused on right now on is giving the people of Fort McMurray and the rest of Alberta the kind of support that they need right now and in the months and indeed the years to come.”

May had told reporters that the devastating destruction caused by the wildfires in Fort McMurray was a sign of worse things to come if the planet doesn’t scale back its consumption of fossil fuels.

Prompted by questions from reporters at a separate news conference, May said that scientists cannot link specific events to climate change. But she noted that the disaster was following a pattern.

“The fact that the forest fire season has arrived so early in northern Alberta is very likely a climate event – very likely related to extreme high temperatures and very low humidity, very low precipitation and it is, as we saw in the quote from one of the firefighters – it’s a firestorm,” she said. “It jumped a highway, it jumped a river. It’s a devastating tragedy right now and I think our focus is always on the right now: to think for the firefighters, for first responders, for people who are losing their homes. It’s a disaster. But it’s a disaster that is very related to the global climate crisis.”

May’s comments drew a vicious backlash after they were reported on social media websites from critics who accused her of exploiting the tragedy to advance a political agenda. (Source: National Observer)

Letter to the Editor, May 11, 2016 – Environmentalists are offended

RE: Fort McMurray cartoon (May 6)

The cartoon showing environmentalists clapping at the terrible tragedy in Fort McMurray is outrageous libel. Forestry experts say the majority of wild fires are caused by humans. If the environment was taken seriously instead of those concerned being called tree huggers by irresponsible smart alecks, chances are this tragedy would never have happened. To claim those who care about this planet are happy that their fellow citizens have suffered horribly is disgusting. – Bill Prestwich, Dundas

Reaction:

Prestwich is correct in one sense, the Fort McMurray victims could have avoided the fires but not by listening to the advocates of anthropogenic climate change. Instead, the town planners should never have built homes so close to the forests or should have cleared a wide swath of trees to prevent naturally occurring fires from jumping. I accept that Prestwich is not laughing at the victims of the fire but when he claims that the fires might have been avoided had people listened to “concerned” environmentalists presumably like him, I sense a very conceited man who feels vindicated by the fires. That’s almost as bad as pointing a finger and laughing. – Steve

Letter to the Editor, May 9, 2016 – Cartoon unfair to environmentalists

RE: Fort McMurray fire disaster cartoon (May 5)

Your editorial cartoon depicting environmental advocates making fun of Fort McMurray was unfair. We do not laugh at the people who are victims of the fire. But we do recognize that their activities are part of the reason our planet is in such trouble due to climate change. It is unfortunate these people were victims of the changing environment, but it is a situation they helped create. – C. Farmer, Hamilton

Reaction:

C. Farmer, those people are no more to blame for the fire than you are. That’s the problem with fanatics. – Pat

From spec.com…

Tuesday December 9, 2014

December 8, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

OPEC’s decision ushers in new world of oil

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday December 9, 2014

OPEC’s decision to cede no ground to rival producers underscored the price war in the crude market and the challenge to U.S. shale drillers.

Terence Corcoran: Nobody can truly say what the real price of oil should be — but looking at OPEC’s blowout, the world may be getting closer to the right number. Read on

The 12-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries kept its output target unchanged even after the steepest slump in oil prices since the global recession, prompting speculation it has abandoned its role as a swing producer. Thursday’s decision in Vienna propelled futures to the lowest since 2010, a level that means some shale projects may lose money.

“We are entering a new era for oil prices, where the market itself will manage supply, no longer Saudi Arabia and OPEC,” said Mike Wittner, the head of oil research at Societe Generale SA in New York. “It’s huge. This is a signal that they’re throwing in the towel. The markets have changed for many years to come.”

The fracking boom has driven U.S. output to the highest in three decades, contributing to a global surplus that Venezuela Thursday estimated at 2 million barrels a day, more than the production of five OPEC members. Demand for the group’s crude will fall every year until 2017 as U.S. supply expands, eroding its share of the global market to the lowest in more than a quarter century, according to the group’s own estimates.

mand for the group’s crude will fall every year until 2017 as U.S. supply expands, eroding its share of the global market to the lowest in more than a quarter century, according to the group’s own estimates. (Source: Financial Post)

Tuesday September 23, 2014

September 23, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday September 23, 2014

Stephen Harper to skip UN Climate Summit, attend dinner instead

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is hosting a major climate summit in New York on September 23, “to mobilize political will” towards reducing global emissions.

U.S. President Barack Obama will be attending, as will U.K. Prime Minster David Cameron.

In fact, 125 heads of state will be there.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, however, will not.

In a statement released by the Prime Minister’s office on Wednesday afternoon, spokesperson Jason MacDonald said that Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq will attend the summit in his stead.

“The Prime Minister will take part in the related dinner with the Secretary-General to discuss climate issues,” noted the statement.

Incidentally, Harper will be in New York that week to attend the Every Woman, Every Child event hosted by the Secretary-General on September 25th and to address the UN General Assembly.

The climate summit is not an official negotiating summit but comes one year ahead of a 2015 meeting in Paris where world leaders are aiming to a achieve a new legally binding and universal agreement on climate change — the first one since Kyoto.

Ban Ki-Moon hopes the summit on September 23 will be a catalyst towards that deal.

“Time is running out. The more we delay, the more we will pay,” he wrote in an op-ed for the Huffington Post last week.

“Climate change is accelerating and human activities are the principal cause, as documented in a series of authoritative scientific reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The effects are already widespread, costly and consequential — to agriculture, water resources, human health, and ecosystems on land and in the oceans. Climate change poses sweeping risks for economic stability and the security of nations.” (Source: Yahoo News Canada)