
How will debt-addled governments deal with an oil price boom? Not very well
A fascinating article was forwarded to me recently (thank you KG). Some wise guy I’d never heard of (Louis-Vincent Gave of Hong Kong-based advisory firm Gavekal) gave a startling brilliant interview. I’m not sure what made it so great, but it had a clarity, purposefulness, and vision seldom seen elsewhere. By me anyway. Howard Marks […]

The daunting task of energy education perfectly illuminated by the stupidest news story of the year
Another year of drawing attention to energy literacy draws to a close, with a bleak reminder of what we’re up against. In the news recently was a popular item that displays the immense challenge of getting the general public to understand complexity. First, and by way of analogy, let’s say you were at a huge […]

The problem isn’t fake news, it’s abandonment of news – here’s how to fix it
Last month, a man named Adolph Hitler Uunona was vigorously elected in a Namibian regional election. The result is not as bad as it might appear at a glance; Namibia was colonized by Germany early last century, the place had German presence heavier than schnitzel, and his father “probably didn’t understand what Adolph Hitler stood […]

Polarization as strategy – No other way to interpret activist loathing of Shell’s voluntary “Drive Carbon Neutral” plan
How low can environmental/energy dialogue go? No one really knows. Every week, we set another all-time low. Anyone involved with energy on a practical level -that is, anyone that is part of energy solutions rather than political machinations – knows full well how challenging it is to move away from a global hydrocarbon-based system. Due […]

Rational, independent thought: kicked to the ditch on the divided social media highway to hell
Thanksgiving season is a great time of year; crisp fresh air, harvesting this and that, fall colours, and the day itself is a good reminder to be thankful for everything we have (which for most of us is a lot). Thanksgiving also brings memories of big conversations with people we don’t see every day, and […]