Greens and Climate Change activists have it all wrong in Germany, where government will convene a high-level session promising a further 30% reduction in GHGs
GREENPEACE MAKES A WHALE OF AN APPEARANCE AT THE FRANKFURT CAR SHOW (AP Photo 12 Sept)
“The automotive industry makes money by destroying the environment,” Marion Tiemann, a transport expert at Greenpeace and one of the event’s organizers, said at the protest. “We’re in the midst of a climate crisis.”
Continue reading “Germany Reduces GHGs by 30% But the People Still Want More”
With the IPO for Aramco due later this year, a drone strike on its second largest facility sets the stage for the unravelling of the Petro Dollar on the International stage. A humanitarian crisis has beset Yemen since the 2015 Saudi-influenced civil war.
10 HOUTHI DRONES HIT THE SECOND LARGEST OIL PRODUCTION FACILITY IN SAUDI ARABIA
Ten drones delivered missiles to the second largest oil processing site in Saudi Arabia. Houthi rebels from Yemen, backed by Iran, took responsibility. Saudi Arabia produces about 1/10th of the world oil supply. However, the ruling family is readying to divest itself of Aramco (Saudi Arabian Oil Co.) with a initial public offering later this year.
STORMTROOPERS (Bloomberg Photo)
UPDATE 15 SEPTEMBER: Political turmoil engulfing this global financial center showed no signs of abating as tens of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators marched Sunday in defiance of a police ban, with many venting their anger at Beijing just two weeks before China celebrates the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic.
On Friday 23 August Xi hit back. China announced retaliatory tariffs on the US threat to impose 30% import fees on goods Made in China. ‘
Fred Dufour | AFP | Getty Images
Even before Trump signed into law the legislation giving overt support to protests in Hong Kong yesterday, it had become clear that China was “Out of Ammo”. The most feared retaliation, that Beijing would sell its holdings of US Treasuries sending the dollar spinning, has been proven a fallacy. China sold 25% of its US reserves in 2019 without appreciable disruptions in the US economy. The halt of buying soy beans from US farmers has hurt. However, farming safeguards already in place appear to be holding. Finally, the threat to halt export of the so-called rare earth minerals is something Australia has already bested by going shopping somewhere else—Canadian miners take note.
In a masterful strike, Trump took ‘The Art of the Deal’ international. Unable to regulate international corporations, he did the next best thing.
TRUMP: THE ART OF A DEAL WITH XI. Photographer: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP Getty Images
Tariffs and free trade agreements are Trump’s way of projecting the power of government over corporations that are American in name, but operate internationally to avoid US taxes. To close the loophole Trump will slap tariffs on goods designed in the USA, but made in China. As a sidebar he gets leverage over his #1 rival, China’s president Xi.
In an open letter in over 30 Canadian Newspapers today, an oil industry PR executive argues for privileging 20th century solutions
Suncor Energy oil sands project near Fort McMurray, Alberta, 13 June 2017 (Photo: Larry MacDougal/AP)
Oil from Alberta’s Tar Sands will be worth as much as the sands that hold it, making it difficult to get the oil to market at a competitive price. That day is not far in the offing. Rather than increase pipe-line capacity, lets focus on dropping demand. How many electric cars do we need to get on the road to match the throughput of a pipeline reaching the Burrard Inlet, the home of more than 1 million Canadians? Damian Newman, president of an oil industry public relations firm, fails to factor this calculus in his open letter to all Canadians.
28 July 2019—China’s woes multiply as demonstrations in the streets of the Hong Kong ‘special zone’ continue for 8 weeks in a row. In the former British Colony residents have grown uneasy that the Communist government in Beijing will reneg on their promises of freedom and human rights for Hong Kong citizens.
AUGUST 2019 HONG KONG AIRPORT SWARMED BY DEMONSTRATORS. Photographer: Kyle Lam/Bloomberg
In what began as demonstrations to stop an extradition bill, concerns have now seen as engulfing the core ‘one country, two systems’ rule that will see Hong Kong joining China in 2047 without ‘special concessions.’ People of Hong Kong have taken to the streets to protest the sky-high housing prices and to make a show for free & elected government.
With house prices hovering 13x over median household incomes in Vancouver, what do Modern Tram systems offer that Skytrain cannot deliver? In just two words—Affordable Housing!!
ALSTOM HYDROGEN FUEL CELL POWERED TRAIN
In a report (see page 12 in the linked agenda document) presented at Translink Mayors Council, June 2019, Translink summarily rejected the South Fraser Community Rail’s carefully wrought proposal for returning Interurban passenger service to the Fraser Valley. The report sees it as:
One of many ideas that will be included as part of Transport 2050 [review].
Show Me the Money (‘stupid’)
US PENNY (1943)
It’s a Bizarro World… It is the third week in May and it’s raining in Santa Barbara—VERY Vancouver. The day before at the Mount Shasta Tesla Superchargers I met a Tesla owner reporting he’s paying 1.8 cents per mile in fuel costs. The one-cent coin is no longer legal tender in Canada, where distance is measured in kilometres and volume in litres… But the penny still dropped for this Canadian—driving a gas car in California costs 10¢ a mile. Driving a Tesla costs 5-times less than that!
Continue reading “My 2-cents on Climate Change, ‘Smart’ Cities and Global Warming”
It is high time all levels of government acted in concert to protect land values for all Canadians.
BC Finance Minister Carole James and Attorney General David Eby announce government action against money laundering [CBC News photo]
Releasing a government report that states that over CAD $7.4 Billion in money laundering is expected to have taken place in BC last year, the Attorney General and the Finance Minster made news yesterday with their revelation of illegal monetary practices going unchecked in the province. Yet, they failed to announce a solution to runaway housing prices in British Columbia. With two-thirds or $5 Billion of the illicit cash changing hands in real estate, the report estimates the illegal transactions drove BC housing prices up 5% province wide.
Continue reading “The Whack-A-Mole Money Laundering Game and the Housing Crisis”
lewisnvillegas 