What are we reading: October 24-28, 2022
Each week, BIV staff will share with you some of the interesting stories we have found from around the web.
Glen Korstrom, reporter:
Many thought the sustainability movement would push the world’s energy giants into a downward spiral similar to the one that computers forced the typewriter industry into. Big oil, however, is investing in renewable energy, and demand for oil is pushing up corporate share prices – Barron’s
https://www.barrons.com/articles/buy-bp-exxon-stock-green-energy-51666309049?mod=Searchresults
With the Bank of Canada steadily raising interest rates, many Canadian mortgage holders are unexpectedly facing trigger rates – the rate at which their monthly payments are not enough to cover the interest owed. In most cases that means higher payments, and a greater share of the payments going toward interest and not toward the loans’ principal. – Globe and Mail
Nelson Bennett, reporter
“Gas prices … are consistently higher than the rest of the country, thanks to state taxes, a cleaner fuel blend, an isolated gas refining market.” Sound familiar? This explanation for comparatively higher gasoline prices in California are pretty much the same for B.C. But so far, B.C. Premier John Horgan hasn’t floated the idea of a new windfall tax on oil companies, unlike his peer in California, Governor Gavin Newsom. This piece in Cal Matters delves into why such a windfall tax would probably won’t work and could backfire. – Cal Matters
https://calmatters.org/economy/2022/10/california-gas-tax/
Timothy Renshaw, managing editor:
For ocean shipping and other global transportation sectors that are difficult to electrify, reducing their carbon foot in any material way will require employing a wide range of options, ranging from ammonia and biofuels to hydrogen. Another option is to go forward into the past and add wind and sales to the mix – New Atlas
While we are on the subject of carbon footprints, one of the world's largest carbon dioxide removal projects is scheduled to start that removal later this year. Project Bison in Wyoming, according to this Chemistry World article, will be extracting around five million tonnes of atmospheric carbon dioxide annually by 2030.
If you are up for some deep thinking about life and the alternative, this Nautilus feature on the fine line between being and not being is worth wading through.
https://nautil.us/the-fine-line-between-life-and-not-life-244248/
