- An alert reader with a background in the energy industry comments, regarding our sarcasm about the Canadian federal government spending per EV charging station, that it’s not out of line with private industry figures so “If the government got it done for about $100,000 per plug, then they actually got reasonable value for the money.” But as he adds, “All of which makes one wonder about the economics of installing them in the first place.” Indeed. Though presumably you wonder less if you’re spending other people’s money.
- Perhaps we in Canada are obsessed with the Canadian Prime Minister because he’s our affliction. But we note an item in Juno News that “Prime Minister Mark Carney says he’s still committed to the fight against climate change despite his decision to scrap the consumer carbon tax and pause electric-vehicle sales mandates. Before entering politics, Carney championed such initiatives as essential pillars of government climate policy.” In an appearance on the Mishal Husain Show on Bloomberg Weekend, “Carney rejected suggestions that he has softened his stance on environmental policy.” But part of Carney’s shtick is precisely that you can never really tell where he stands on anything.
- Or for that matter, where he is standing. Canada’s Carbon Carney just got back from hobnobbing with his fellow wizards in Sharm el-Sheik, having just returned from doing so in Washington, having just returned from doing so in London, having just returned from doing so in New York, having just returned from doing so in Mexico etc. And now, with a crucial budget looming, his massive wonderful housing plan stalled by not having existed and so forth, he’s hard at flight, zipping off to Malaysia, Singapore and the Republic of Korea for nine gruelling days of eating canapés, uttering clichés and generally saving us from long words with other long words (“Prime Minister Carney to visit the Indo-Pacific region to deepen trade and defence relationships and unlock new economic opportunities for Canadians”). We are concerned that our nation is in the hands of someone who thinks words are deeds and that mountains can be moved by the same elitists mouthing the same Davos Man platitudes at one another on multiple continents in a single season. But at a minimum, won’t somebody at some point lean over and say “Excuse me, sir, isn’t CO2 bad according to that jet-setting green wizard Carney chap?”
- Yet another EV fire, this time in New Zealand following a collision between a car and a bus. This one was fatal; witnesses evidently could not save the bus driver due to the intensity of the flames.
- Scientific American weighs in on the recent study, which we mentioned two weeks ago, saying the Earth has mysteriously become less reflective in the 21st century, thus absorbing heat for reasons unconnected to CO2, by saying of course it means runaway heating thingy because “if more solar radiation is coming in, the Northern Hemisphere will continue to get hotter. This could mean that more ice and snow will melt, further fueling the global heating and darkening.” What a stupid planet.
- Speaking of Whatever American, their “Today in Science” email newsletter for Oct. 21 informs us that “Individuals participating in the ‘No Kings’ protests over the weekend were ‘radically less supportive of political violence’ than those previously surveyed, according to sociologists polling protesters this year.” Which we suppose fits into Gertrude Stein’s “interesting if true” category. But also our “if that’s a science story, we’re a restaurant” category.
- And another Canadian thing: An Op Ed in the National Post by Ontario’s Minister of Energy and Mines Stephen Lecce, whose Progressive Conservative party has held power since 2018 partly on its promise to fix the creaky, opaque and horribly indebted power system, now says the power system is creaky, opaque and horribly indebted and does anyone have an idea what to do? The piece is incredible public-sector prattle, from “Ontario’s utilities are paralyzed in neutrality” to “Report after report, the problem is well socialized.” And if you just admitted you had no idea what to do when you blithely promised to fix it, and haven’t had one since, why should we think you’d know what to do with one if it did come along? But since you ask, yes, we have an idea. Charge the real cost of power, stop subsidizing “renewables”, pay off the debt. You’re welcome. Oh, that wasn’t “Thank you” that you just said?
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Tidbits
29 Oct 2025 | News Roundup
Wherever Carney goes there is always a description of the form “Prime Minister Carney to visit ... to deepen trade and defence relationships and unlock new economic opportunities for Canadians”, regardless of what, where and why he is going. By now it's just a meaningless blurb.
To fix Ontario's power system, the Progressive Conservative government can build new coal burning power plants.