By Andrew Nikiforuk, The Tyee
The abrupt decision by Teck Resources to withdraw its application for the Frontier bitumen mine project reveals a truth that politicians like Jason Kenney and other industry boosters continue to deny — that investing large sums of money in Canada’s oilsands no longer makes any financial sense.
By Martin Bush, DeSmog Blog
Several major economies, including the U.S. and Canada, rely heavily on fossil fuel production and exports. But the surging market penetration of renewable energy technologies, energy efficiency improvements, and climate emission policies are certain to substantially reduce the global demand for fossil fuels.
By Gordon Laxer, Resilience.org
Proponents call them oil sands while opponents call them tar sands. Whatever they’re called, Alberta’s bitumen reserves are so massive, James Hansen warns that it could be game over for the world’s climate if all are extracted and burned.
By Jeremy Leggett, Jeremy Leggett blog
It is rare for a report to hold the potential to change the world, but one study published last month may do just that. The Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD — a group of experts assembled by the G20’s Financial Stability Board) aims to give investors, lenders and insurers visibility of how climate-change risk will affect individual businesses, and a road map for reacting to it.
By Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams
Marking the divestment movement's "undeniable success," a new report shows the value of funds controlled by individuals and institutions who have vowed to dump their fossil fuels assets now surpasses $5 trillion.
By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
Heavy snow and winter cold settled this month on thousands of Native Americans and their supporters encamped on the banks of the Cannonball River, some 30 miles south of Bismarck, North Dakota.
By Andrew Nikiforuk, The Tyee
At the end of the day the $10-billion wildfire that consumed 2400 homes and buildings in Fort McMurray may be the least of the region's problems.
By Jeremy Leggett, Jeremy Leggett blog
In my book, given the stakes, no novel can rival this epic real-life drama.
By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
More than a decade later economists and financial analysts are again identifying powerful signals of economic distress, this time in the energy, mining, power-producing, and farm industries.
By Nafeez Ahmed, Alternet
It’s not looking good for the global fossil fuel industry. Although the world remains heavily dependent on oil, coal and natural gas—which today supply around 80 percent of our primary energy needs—the industry is rapidly crumbling.
By Sharon Kelly, DeSmog Blog
Sixty-five percent of the world's coal production is unprofitable at today's prices, a new research report by Wood Mackenzie, a commercial intelligence company often cited by investment analysts and the coal industry itself, concluded.
By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
Bankruptcies, project shutdowns, regulation, and emission limits curb enthusiasm for fossil fuels.