Green Energy

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

January 28, 2022 at 11:55 am

Innkeeping In terms of sheer words per minute, I think Episode 11 of Annette Verschuren’s Bet On Me podcast — “The Power of Place: The connection between culture and economy with Zita Cobb, Innkeeper of Fogo Island Inn” — has to be the winner. Because man, can Zita Cobb talk.Read More

Photo from cover of Sydney Harbour District Energy Report by Ramboll, 2019

CBRM Council: District Energy

January 19, 2022 at 3:06 pm

Having watched CBRM council discuss a proposed district energy project for Downtown Sydney last night, I would say regular readers of the Spectator know more about this project than councilors do. I’ve been following it, as best I can, since it first appeared on my radar in January 2020 —Read More

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

November 26, 2021 at 10:00 am

Green Hydrogen Remember when I took you on that guided tour of the new Novaporte website? (Honestly, I don’t blame you if you’ve suppressed the memory.) We spent some time pondering the claim that the adjacent Novazone logistics park will be a “green energy hub” with “planned hydrogen facilities” thatRead More

Paul Strome’s Election Priorities

Paul Strome’s Election Priorities

July 28, 2021 at 2:06 pm

Editor’s Note: Spectator contributor Paul Strome sent along this open letter to candidates in the upcoming provincial elections, presented as a list of his chief concerns.   Reconciliation and the 94 recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission are not just federal issues. Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and GirlsRead More

Budget 2021: Rolling Stock

Budget 2021: Rolling Stock

May 19, 2021 at 2:04 pm

Editor’s Note: I’m doing a deep dive into the CBRM’s 2021-22 budget and dragging you with me. Last week, I covered water, roads and facilities. This week, I pick up where I left off, starting with that generator for the police HQ.    As the afternoon session of the AprilRead More

2018 site preparation for proposed Goldboro LNG project. Photo: Alexander Bridge courtesy Halifax Examiner https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/province-house/the-goldboro-gamble/

Pieridae’s Goldboro Debacle

May 5, 2021 at 1:32 pm

Something the vast majority of Canadians don’t seem to realize is that we, as citizens, are on the hook for cleaning up billions (if not trillions) of dollars’ worth of environmental waste across the country. Industries continue dumping their waste into the laps of citizens, who are completely unaware ofRead More

Quebec's "Running Electrically" symbol

Time for Electrifying Ideas

February 3, 2021 at 11:15 am

Most people who live in a ‘free country’ like Canada believe they have the right to a healthy environment. We feel we are entitled to all that is imbedded in that philosophy — clean water, fresh air, healthy food, etc. Those of us who live in a rural setting (18%Read More

Some Thoughts on Planning By-Laws

Some Thoughts on Planning By-Laws

January 13, 2021 at 12:15 pm

In last week’s Inverness Oran, April MacDonald wrote about a significant issue that should concern everyone living in Nova Scotia — municipal by-laws, more specifically, municipal by-laws concerning agricultural land and land use. Many people are unaware of the by-laws that need to be created because things are changing inRead More

Two trams, Adelaide, Australia. Photo by Henk Graalman - From the photographer, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79354067

Pros and Cons (and Future) of Trams

February 26, 2020 at 2:00 pm

Writing in the Guardian in 2015, Sean Marshall dated the rebirth of the tram (which he, being a Toronto native, calls a “streetcar”) to the 1980s, although initially this took the form of “vintage” lines “mimicking New Orleans’ famous St Charles Streetcar line.” These heritage streetcars use antique or replicaRead More

Power to the People!

Power to the People!

February 12, 2020 at 12:51 pm

I’ve lived in two cities (Toronto and Prague) in which trams (or streetcars, if you prefer) formed an integral part of the municipal transit system and have always had a soft spot for them. I’ve also wanted to write about the tram system that used to connect some parts ofRead More