- It’s TEOWAWKI, aka The End Of Winter As We Know It. So they keep saying, and apparently they had a point, as on Nov. 10 2025 “yesterday was #Ottawa’s deepest Nov 10th since records began in 1955.” Right after, we are anecdotally informed, a teacher told her high school class it was proof of global warming that it used to snow in the city in November and now… um… uh… a headline “Polar vortex could make a white, but frigid Christmas in Canada this year: report/ A high-pressure system in the Arctic could push frigid air south starting in mid-December, raising hopes for a white Christmas and concerns of a deep freeze”.
- It is a classic conceit on the left that, as the late John M. Robson put it in an atypical burst of economese, “all utilities can be maximized simultaneously”. But if it sounds too good to be true... and thus we learn from Blacklock’s Reporter that in 2021 Canada’s then-International Development Minister Karina Gould puffed a “brighter future for everyone” for the bargain price of just $59.8 million in free money through the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development whose goals included, but were not limited to, “health care, “decent work,” climate action, “peace and justice” and elimination of poverty. And presumably after lunch, world peace. Until a “Department of Social Development” (speaking of pretentious money pits) internal review said “inconsistent tracking of outcomes” means they can’t even tell whether the various troughers managed to “increase awareness about the sustainable development goals” let alone, you know, actually achieve any of them. Or anything at all… except spending the money by government, and receiving it by activist-consultants.
- Speaking of side-effects, a sardonic outfit called Doomberg reports on the insolvency of a massive British energy firm that took down one of only five remaining oil refineries in the UK which involved, if it was not entirely caused by, apparent massive embezzlement. What makes it noteworthy is their point that “An underappreciated consequence of regulatory hostility toward the oil and gas sector is that it often triggers a decay in the ownership quality of critical energy infrastructure.” Reputable majors are fleeing Britain, leaving it not just colder and poorer but also more brittle, as much that is left in this field the government is trying to crush has a dubious fly-by-night quality. We were told climate alarmist policies were win-win, with better weather and a better economy. They scoffed at the very possibility of any downside. Now it seems there’s nothing else, including in unexpected places.
- So how’s that green energy transition going? Oh dear. “The world’s most powerful battery storage project under construction north of Sydney has been hit by a major failure of one of three giant transformers, creating a significant headache for the BlackRock-owned developer and putting pressure on the transition away from coal power. The $1 billion Waratah super battery is being built by Akaysha Energy on the site of the former Munmorah coal power station near Budgewoi.” Former coal power station, future super-battery thingy, current money pit. And you told us this game was easy.
- There goes Carbon Carney again, off to the UAE and then South Africa “to strengthen partnerships, attract and expand investments, and create new opportunities for Canadians.” And our apologies because someone reposted that announcement under the superb heading “Fly hard” and we can’t now find and credit them. Which we especially regret because Carney’s cabinet is also flying about on the feeblest of self-indulgent pretexts as though CO2 were plant food not fire accelerant.
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19 Nov 2025 | News Roundup
Carney's budget passed by a margin of two votes, with that only due to a few abstentions. One can make a reasonable case that he was let off the hook because the polls didn't look good for an election right now. With a political bullet whizzing that close to his head, one would think he would be motivated to stay home and tend to business. No, there he is, off to COP 30 in a cloud of carbon fumes.
In fairness, a 'major transformer failure' has no bearing on the viability of battery storage. Transformers fail from time to time, and often during or right after installation, where any major faults typically materialize. This includes installation F-ups. Crossing the wires on a transformer is a bad idea!
The point by the author is this stuff (ie. Renewable Energy and Storage) is sold as easy and affordable. Clearly crossing wires and delaying the start of full capacity by more than year is affordable in some quarters, and should not sully the concept for further deployments. The next thing will be our finding excuses for the monstrous lifecycle co2 emissions, health and safety of the intrinsic risk of catching fire, and the fact it only provided an hour of power at typical load. Otherwise worth spending billions on… some actual analysis and engineering done a decade ago could have us enjoying emissions free dispatch able power from a nuclear power station today. There’s nothing supportable about stupid batteries.
Thomas,hope you're not in the path of the toxic fumes when one of these storage batteries decides to blow.It's happened many times,leading to evacuations and pollution you never get from a good old fashion gas plant.Only scratching the surface here.