Articles by John McGrath

Can you strip-mine in scuba gear?

There's a problem with reading too much science fiction while trying to be an environmentalist, and it's this: I know the idea of mining the ocean floor for precious metals is likely to be environmentally destructive. All the same, I can't help but get a bit of wide-eyed nerd-glee at the idea of underwater mines. It's right up there with flying cars and rocket packs, in a way. Or maybe that's just me.

Smogalot

Well, the dog haze of summer is upon us here in Toronto, Ontario. We're in to several days of smog, with several more to come, and 30+ celsius weather. Bleah.

This all makes the recent news that Ontario might not be able to shut down its coal plants as promised disheartening, to say the least.

When the Rivers Run Dry

After reading a few things -- namely this from Ezra Klein, this from Brad Plumer, and a Prospect article by Jon Margolis -- I resolved to learn more about the world's water woes. After all, I'm already a giant energy nerd, so why not become a giant water nerd?

Perhaps I should lose some weight, and be a more modestly-sized nerd. In any case, number one on my reading list was When the Rivers Run Dry by Fred Pearce. Read the Salon review here.

The one-word review of Pearce's book is: Terrifying. Whether he's writing about the Indian peasant farmers who draw from poisoned wells every day, the oblivious Arizonans who run fountains in the desert, or the apocalyptic moonscape that is the Aral Sea (once a thriving fishery, now a toxic cesspool), Pearce manages to convey the immense wreckage human activity is making of our lifeblood. No, not oil. The other precious fluid.

Tar sands fever

Via GCC, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers has announced that by 2020, Canada will be producing almost 5 million barrels of oil, almost all of that being from tar sands.

This explains, in large part, why Canada has opted for empty symbolism: We've hitched our wagon to the tar sands, come hell and high water. I'm actually pretty sympathetic to our new Conservative government, who at least made their disdain for Kyoto honestly known. The previous Liberals were happily pursuing the same policies while pretending to care about Kyoto.