Author: Brian Zinchuk

Reject Net Zero by 2050, says Sask United

Climate Cult Drill, Baby, Drill 49 Comments
Nadine Wilson. Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan

 

Several commenters on SDA frequently point out if you accept the premise of your opponent’s argument, you’ve already lost. Looks like that’s what the Saskatchewan United Party is saying here.

Saskatchewan United Party calls on Sask Party government to reject Net Zero by 2050 policy. Leader Nadine Wilson says the Sask Party government seeks to shut down coal and natural gas for wind and solar, gets punted from assembly for calling government liars.

NDP calls for break on fuel tax, finance minister says it would be temporary

Wind peters out in Alberta, yet again, on Wednesday

Op-Ed: Kaase Gbakon: A (Hungry?) Tiger in Your Tank: Part 2

 

Carbon tax, carbon tax, carbon tax

Climate Cult 17 Comments
Leader of the Opposition Carla Beck during Question Period on March 4. Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan

Guilbeault calls Saskatchewan premier ‘immoral’ for breaking carbon-price law.

Estevan MLA Lori Carr tries to show a difference between Sask Party and NDP on carbon tax in statement.

Premier Scott Moe during Question Period on March 4. Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan

That statement was referenced in the exchange between Scott Moe and Carla Beck in Question Period on the federal carbon tax. The NDP thinks Saskatchewan should have negotiated a carve-out deal.

A plan to save coal, power generation, and the oil industry in SE Sask

Climate Cult Drill, Baby, Drill 23 Comments
Boundary Dam Power Station

What if there was a way to keep coal mining jobs in Saskatchewan, continue to produce low-cost electrical power, and extend the production of a substantial portion of Saskatchewan’s oilfields not by decades, but by generations? And in doing so, we could still dramatically reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and maybe save some money by reducing our nuclear rollout?

Recent developments from Whitecap Resources showing using CO2 in the Frobisher formation led to initial results of 5x improved production. Not 5%, or 50%, but 5x. That’s 500%. I’m not saying it’ll stay anywhere close to that, but we should be taking a very serious look at this development, especially since most new drilling in southeast Saskatchewan is focused on the Frobisher, part of the Mississippian. While the Bakken was a flash in the pan, the Mississippian has been the mainstay of SE Sask oil production for generations. And this is a generational opportunity, but we will let it slip through our fingers if we shut down our coal-fired power plants.

This is one of the most significant opinion pieces I’ve ever done with regards to energy. It basically puts it all together.

 

Carbon Tax, Round Three, Fight!

Climate Cult 20 Comments

Carbon tax war heats up between Saskatchewan and feds. Duncan says Saskatchewan won’t remit carbon tax after his “walk in the rain.” Wilkinson says no carbon rebates for Saskatchewan after province says it won’t remit. Moe says no rebate = no carbon tax.

Also,

Where are we going? Higher!

Trans Mountain’s latest cost estimate climbs 10 per cent

About that walk in the snow… SaskEnergy minister takes a walk in the rain

Climate Cult 17 Comments

Justin Trudeau may not have taken a “walk in the snow,” like his father did 40 years ago on this day, but Dustin Duncan took a walk in rain in front of Parliament, and decides we’re not remitting carbon tax to the feds. 

This is the guy who, by a recently passed law, gets to be sacrificed on the cross for our carbon tax sins.

(The decision was clearly made before, but it makes good political theatre.)

No forecast for snow in Ottawa today, unfortunately. Maybe the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change changed the climate?

 

So long, spinny things in front of mountains!

Climate Cult 42 Comments
Wind turbines won’t be allowed near mountains anymore. And when these reach end of life, those sites won’t be rebuilt with new, larger ones, if these rules stick.

Don’t block our mountains or mess with good farmland: #Alberta releases renewable power rules. And reclamation is going to be paid up front. This story is the full meat, potatoes, gravy and carrots on Wednesday’s wind and solar announcement.

And what’s the pool at for Trudeau resigning today? It’s 40 years to the day since daddy took his “walk in the snow.”

Should Saskatchewan again have a sovereign wealth fund?

Drill, Baby, Drill youmightbeinsaskatchewan 15 Comments

With Alberta going all-in on its sovereign wealth fund (posted yesterday), should Saskatchewan take another look at one of its own? We had one, but it didn’t last long, and turned into something of a slush fund for Crown corporations, apparently. I dug up this discussion paper that was written by U of R professor Stuart Wilson which is actually pretty good. I republished the entire paper, with his permission, on Pipeline Online.

Perhaps ironically, Norway’s massive sovereign wealth fund was originally modelled on Alberta’s. And that fund is now worth US$1.42 trillion dollars (with a “t”). (Norway has less oil than Alberta).

Alberta’s going all-in on its sovereign wealth fund

Climate Cult youmightbeinsaskatchewan 22 Comments
Danielle Smith

Danielle Smith goes all-in on revitalized sovereign wealth fund for Alberta. Saskatchewan had one, once, but that was 32 years ago. Details in story.

Quick Dick McDick: Climate Cult Megaspecial You gotta be $#!++!\ me

He even references “climate cult,” my favourite SDA category!

CJME/CKOM radio host Evan Bray visits the Estevan coal mine, and much learning ensues

I’m trying. I really am. But they make it so hard sometimes…

Climate Cult 9 Comments
Brian Crossman

Brian Crossman in Pipeline Online: “I am. I’m really, really trying. I had a bit of a rough year health-wise, which of course leads to over-thinking your place in the world. So, I thought I would try to be a better person. You know, be nice to strangers, try harder at all the important things, do better at being charitable. But the biggest change I wanted to make was to quit complaining about, berating and outright insulting our political leaders.”

Eye in the sky to track Russkies on the ground

Military 215 Comments

Canada’s paying about $118,000 each for 800 drones to be supplied to Ukraine. Notably, none of these seem to be fitted to drop grenades or mortar bombs, which is a crying shame.

This is at least Canada doing something. However, as a former reservist who follows such things, I don’t think we have that many drones in our entire military here in the land of the beaver. I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am. We should be making a matching order, ourselves.

EDIT: missed this part: “can handle a variety of payloads up to 3.5 kilograms, including munitions.”

If the Russians aren’t stopped in Ukraine, we’ll be fighting them in a NATO country next. I know nothing of this news site – if it’s Russian or what (says you can read in Russian), but it has several articles making noise that Russia is starting to agitate on Norwegian islands in the Arctic. Wasn’t it just a month ago Norway’s top general warned of impending war with Russia?

Guilbeault takes out the trash on Clean Electricity Regulations

Climate Cult 10 Comments

 

The Friday before a long weekend, Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault released his updates to the proposed Clean Electricity Regulations. This is the full update, verbatim.

In Pipeline Online’s continuing mission to ensure Canadians know exactly what Guilbeault is telling them, here’s his verbatim release on the Clean Electricity Regulations.

Remember what I said the previous week about taking out the trash day? Guilbeault did exactly that. Interesting, that.

And for something a little different, yesterday was Family Day. Not everyone gets to go sledding. While I took these photos three weeks ago, they’re pretty representative of what Family Day is to a lot of people in the oil sector – just another day.

Clean Electricity Regulations, LNG and fusion, oh my!

Climate Cult 46 Comments
Steven Guilbeault. X/@s_guilbeault

Guilbeault’s proposed Clean Electricity Regulations have been slightly modified. This is the Canadian Press story. I’ll be working on this to have a lot more in depth next week.

In my editors note, I point out: Pipeline Online will have extensive coverage on this early next week, including reaction from the Saskatchewan government. The “Clean Electricity Regulations”, if implemented, will be one of the largest and furthest reaching policies in recent Canadian history, impacting almost every aspect of our society and economy.

I should point out the most important lesson I ever learned about government communications came from a first season episode of The West Wing, called Take out the Trash Day.

This announcement from Guilbeault came out early Friday afternoon. Imagine that.

https://twitter.com/s_guilbeault/status/1758547663958483250?s=20

Also:

Peter Zeihan makes some sense, kinda sorta, out of Biden’s LNG export approval pause.

And who needs small modular reactors when we can apparently just jump to fusion? Hasn’t fusion power been just 30 years away for something like 60 years?

Guilbeault lights a firestorm

Climate Cult 66 Comments

There’s a truism in politics: “All politics is local.” And there’s nothing more local than the road full of potholes in front of your house. But Minster of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault, supposedly speaking on behalf of the entire federal government, seems to think we don’t need any more roads. The reaction was fast and furious.

Liberals rebrand carbon-price rebates in bid to make policy more palatable

The Saskatchewan and Alberta NDP distance themselves from their federal brethren regarding banning promotion of oil and gas.

Also regarding the NDP’s banning everything, because, why not?

NDP to move bill calling for ban of coal exports as Canadian output booms

The one charger to rule them all…

Climate Cult 32 Comments

The charger format war is over. The one charger to rule them all is Tesla’s. A major stumbling block in EV adoption has been overcome, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Any organization installing electric vehicle chargers, including SaskPower, FCL and government, should take note of this major development, and cease wasting money on now-obsolete tech, as FCL has been doing (especially in installing CHAdeMO chargers). I mentioned this is a presentation several months ago to the Building Owners and Managers Association Regina. Turns out I was bang on the money.

Edit: missing link added above. Thanks.

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