Hmmm – I arrived home after a hard week of BIOL 2010 (PLANTS) lectures and more missed deadlines, to pick up the Globe and Mail Friday edition for a nice, relaxing read, when I suddenly sat up straight at Neil Reynolds’ Business section column – The mythical assertion of fossil fuel scarcity. It’s all about a recent article by Professor Emeritus Peter Odell, in the European Energy Review (I haven’t downloaded and read it yet, but I will).

“Wow!” I thought, “it kind of goes against everything that I have been reading about Peak Oil, for much of the last decade”, so it must be important. And then, I ask myself, who is this Odell? Quickly checking him on Google Scholar, I found that my academic work is cited more than his, and he’s 30 years older than I am.

From David Adam’s article about the CARMA International report, Western Media Coverage of Humanitarian Disasters, January 2006:

“The western media’s response to … humanitarian disasters is driven by “selfishness and egocentricity”…  Domestic politics, tourism and feel-good tales about western heroism and donations make a story… rather than human suffering.” The Guardian, 30 Jan. 2006

I had two thoughts yesterday morning, when I heard the CBC news reporting the devastating earthquake near Port-au-Prince. The first was about how limited the capacity of Haiti will be to respond to this disaster, given that it is one of poorest countries in the world. Haiti has one of the smallest per capita ecological footprints in the world, at just 0.5 ha per person. Compare this to a whopping 7.1 ha/person for the average Canadian. Yes, one average Canadian consumes the resources used by a total of 14 Haitians.

The hard-working folks (including many York U grads!) at the City of Toronto Environment Office have launched the e-newsletter, Live Green News.

It has lots of important information, including grant and contest info.

Of interest to all members of the university community and beyond:

What? Wendy Michener Lecture in the Faculty of Fine Arts

When? Thursday January 14 2010 3pm-5pm

Where? Sandra Faire & Ivan Fecan Theatre, Accolade East Building, York University, Keele campus

“While scientists tell us that we already have the technologies required to avert catastrophic climate change, policy-makers and businesses continue to seek new technological ‘solutions’. Meanwhile, global consumption and emissions continue unsustainably, with minimal abatement. I believe that to change the lifestyles of entire populations, a cultural shift is required, and thus it is cultural agents which must take the lead. The past three years of work at Arcola Theatre provide examples and lessons.” - Ben Todd, Arcola Theatre

I started writing this blog post in June 2009, which was long before I found out that Lomborg was back on the public stage. In retropect, it’s interesting to see how my thinking was evolving. I was very cool with giving skeptics a fair hearing, and the tone is quite light. However, 6 months on, I am definitely feeling much less patient than I was back in the summer. How times change…

My blog about animal rights activists‘ tendency to be as biased in their use of the peer-reviewed literature as climate change deniers got me thinking that I’d better pay some attention to both groups’ claims that the majority of scientists are actually biased against them.

In the case of animal rights activists, a recent court case about cormorants, upheld Parks Canada’s culling of cormorants on Middle Island to reduce mortality of the trees, plants and other animals.  Birders have striven to make the case that cormorant numbers were always really high, and that they should not be managed.  But there’s actually not a lot of evidence to support their position.