Green Oil Author Satya Das on Al Gore and Oil Sands.

Satya Das has a Green Oil blog post on Al Gore comments on the oilsands from Toronto the other day. Definitely worth a read. http://greenoilbook.com/the-blog/1-green-oil-blog/24-we-can-meet-mr-gores-challenge

I see Leo de Bever the CEO of AIMCo is talking  in the Edmonton Journal today about the lack of producitvity and high costs in the Alberta energy sector. I wonder if the energy sector is still holding out for return of ridiculously high commodity prices to justify high costs. If our sector can't compete on costs, perhaps we need to get the Alberta energy look at sharpening their pencils.

We also need to sharpen our literacy skills too. Cambridge Strategies just co-sponsored a series of meetings with Literacy Alberta. New research shows that Alberta can't continue to compete with the same old approach. In some professions we have over skilled people under-utilized. What a waste of the education dollars we spent on them. Other sectors have under skilled people who have literacy challenges that hinder their ability to do the jobs. Think productivity, competitiveness and also safety.

Once I have been through Reboot Alberta (http://www.rebootalberta.wordpress.com/) this weekend I will be very active on this blog on the literacy needs of Albertans.

The work I was doing a while back to support community based agencies serving persons with developmental disabilities is heating up too. I expect a major expose to be coming out on how the provincial policy and funding systems is jeopardizing our collective social duty to these vulnerable citizens too. More on that soon as well.

Gore Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Way back in February I predicted that Al Gore would win both an Oscar and the Nobel Peace Prize this year. Congratulations Mr. Gore. I also called the selection of Ed Stelmach as the winner of the Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership and Premier of Alberta as well as Stephane Dion’s win of the federal Liberal leadership last December 2. So I am thinking of buy a deck of Tarot cards and turning professional.

In the meantime I am now predicting no fall federal or Alberta provincial elections. The only way we will get a federal election is if Harper forgets to put on a policy condom and does not practice safe-politics. There is no doubt Harper is intent on trying to screw Dion and if Mr. Harper doesn’t wear protection - an “accident” could happen.

That accident would result in an artificially induced premature election. The end result would a new born minority Dion government or a born-again minority Harper government. Another inevitable result of an election accident will be a serious possibility for some still born political careers for party leaders. That includes Mr. Harper’s leadership position. This could happen if he is perceived to have engineered an unnecessary election and as a result the nation turns on him…and I don’t mean the Quebec nation.

Steps and strategies are being planned to avoid the Conservative’s “con” of declaring everything being a “confidence vote” - starting with the Throne Speech. It would be funny and sad to see the Liberals being aggressive in the Throne Speech debate but ending up staying away from the vote so as not to bring down the Harper government and forcing an election.

It would be even funnier and even sadder if the Cons stayed away at the last minute from their own Throne Speech vote too. That would leave the Bloc and the Dippers to vote against it and thereby forcing an election. An election now is what Harper wants and by staying away from a vote on the Throne Speech – the Bloc and the Dippers alone could decide it is time for an election.

This game of vote extortion and political chicken over Harper’s push for an election is classic Harper and shows his penchant for clever politics. When partisan politics and personal power aspirations of the Cons and Mr. Harper over-ride the interests of the nation and its citizens this kind of absurdity can happen.

I am not predicting this turn of events…after all I am on a winning streak prognostication-wise and have to guard my reputation. However, I would not be surprised, only dismayed, to see Harper engineer his defeat on the Throne Speech with such tactics in order to make it look like someone else forced an election on him.

Harper has said everything his government will introduce in the next session of Parliament, starting next week, will be a confidence vote. Given Harper’s Cromwell-like lust for even more centralized political and personal power, if he doesn’t play this voting trickery with his caucus staying away from a vote next week, we can expect it sometime – anytime?

I will predict one thing, with this bullying attitude of Harper and his proclivity for power-grabbing political tactics, Canada can expect uncertainty and anxiety as the dominant over-arching reality for awhile.

Good government is almost always good politics. “Good politics” is almost inevitably bad government. This lack of good government and the excessive exercise of politics by tactics by the current Harper regime are not good for the nation and not good for the economy.

Al Gore Sells Out in Calgary

UPDATE APRIL 28 - AL GORE SAYS HARPER'S NEW ENVIRONMENT POLICY IS A FRAUD! OUCH!!!!

Al Gore’s has just Blogged about his Oscar winning “slide show” presentation in Calgary this past week. Yes that is right Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" was welcomed in Calgary, right in the darkest heart of “the most carbon intensive sources of energy yet produced.” His presentation sold out in 3 days…hardly a cold shoulder to his core message I would say.

Gore is an admitted sceptic about Alberta and our commitment to CO2 emission issues but he admits “In Alberta they have devoted a lot more attention and resource to developing technologies to capture and sequester carbon….” That observation is true and more good news on CO2 efforts in Alberta is coming.

I agree with Al Gore that the issues are serious and solutions have to be found immediately. I saw him present his "slide show" about a year ago in Quebec. He had a few facts wrong about the oil sands and we had a chance to correct his presentation. I was sceptical about him too at first but for the full 90 minutes he spoke he had me on the edge of my seat.

One thing for sure that comes through loud and clear from Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" is that our values and behaviours have to be revisited and revised but as he says, “…the conversation has been taken to a higher, more productive level.” Nowhere is that more true that amongst thoughtful Albertans. Nowhere else can this oil sands emission challenges and the energy and water use problems and reclamation responsibilities associated with oil sands extraction be solved than right here in Alberta.

Albertan know and accept this. Now we have to get government and politicians in particular, to get it. They have to actually start seeing the parade Albertan and other Canadians citizens have formed around ecological issues so they can start leading from the front and not just be watching from the sidewalk.

Al Gore Wins an Oscar - Will a Nobel Be Next?

Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” just won the Oscar for Best Documentary. I predicted this in an earlier posting. At that time I said he would win the Nobel Peace Prize too. I should start taking bets…anyone out there prepared to give me odds?

There are a growing number of Progressive websites in the United States with petitions and pushes to draft Gore to run for President in 2008. That effort should be heating up a bit now.