Author Archive

Canada: Runaway train is a metaphor for global warning

Montreal Gazette: In the aftermath of the Lac-Mégantic hell, almost all the reform talk is about regulations. There are demands for rules to ensure more workers on trains. To improve the brakes on rail cars. To thicken the shells of tanker cars. This concern for safety is imperative and overdue, Yet it also taking attention away from the underlying cause of the Lac-Mégantic nightmare: Our society’s dependence on planet-heating fossil fuel, the product aboard the runaway train. The world needs to tackle this ever-increasing...

Canada: Risks of shale gas seem to outweigh the advantages

Montreal Gazette: The Charest government wants to permit the exploitation of shale gas while applying safeguards to prevent permanent damage to the environment. Is that a realistic ambition? Let’s see what steps Quebec can and cannot take to prevent environmental harm. Here are some measures that would help. Quebec: Could insist on stringent rules for capping wells that are not in use. This would help keep methane from leaking from wells, as has already happened at 19 of the 31 gas-exploration sites in Quebec....