Riddle Me This

The note before last, I left you with a riddle. Finish the acronym PDS: Pretty Darn S----d.

Here is the solution. PDS is Pretty Darn Scared. I misled  you with a hint that PDS might mean Pretty Darn Stupid. 

The default instinctive response to fear is to reduce risk by withdrawing from the larger community into a smaller group with closer affinity and greater trust.

Now to clarify, those who disagree with us are not necessarily stupid. It would be stupid not to be scared if there is something to be scared about. Premier Danielle Smith is scared that Alberta isn't being treated fairly by the Canada Pension Plan. So she wants Alberta to manage their own pensions. The accountants should be able to settle that issue one way or the other.

Meanwhile, all of us should be scared that oil and gas extraction is contributing to the end of the world as we know it. My response is not to trash Alberta as a major supplier but to work on reducing demand here and everywhere. Alberta has reason to fear a reduction in demand, but it will adjust. And we will deal with it together because Alberta is one of us.

We were hoping for a story, weren't we. We are the story and it isn't going too well for us in this chapter. Let's do better and write a happy next chapter instead of a tragic ending. I would like us to deal with global issues as a global community rather than everybody looking out for themselves.

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Another report on natural gas consumption at our house. Over the ten months since last November we used 676 cubic metres of gas compared to 1228 cubic metres in the ten months before the heat pump was installed. That is 55% of previous use. No data for September yet. Stay tuned.

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Beginning of the end for oil and gas: The Energy Mix

If you didn't already watch it, 
Just Have a Think: Big Oil, Big Lies and Big Al.

I just signed on to a letter to the government of Canada in advance of their coming renewable energy initiative. Here is an excerpt: "I’m writing to express my support for ambitious electricity policy that enables Canada to reach 100 per cent emissions-free electricity by 2035, and to weigh in on the draft clean electricity regulations..."

Check it out at the David Suzuki Foundation.