Category Archives: Mining
The eco-affluence myth
(July 31, 2003) “Affluence fosters environmentalism,” argues The Real Environmental Crisis, a book by professor emeritus Jack M. Hollander of the University of California at Berkeley. “As people become more affluent, most become increasingly sensitive to the health and beauty of their environment. And gaining affluence helps provide the economic means to protect and enhance the environment.” Continue reading
NAFTA greens us up
(December 11, 2002) It’s NAFTA’s 10th anniversary and what a great decade for the environment it’s been. Sulphur dioxide emissions are down, ground level ozone levels are down, inhalable airborne particle levels are down and energy efficiency is up. Our air is clearer, our water is cleaner and, as a by-product, we’re healthier, too. Continue reading
Business has its hand out to the government, too
(December 1, 2000) “Beware of business when it claims to represent the public interest,” warns the author. Article cites Lawrence Solomon. Doing business in British Columbia is a battle. It means trading amidst a punitive labour code, interminable industrial action, one of the steepest tax regimes in North America and reams of red tape. Continue reading
Help support the mining lottery
(February 22, 2000) Rogue industry seeks more public largesse as investors choose newer games of chance. Much of the worldwide mining industry is in financial difficulty, with many of its members scratching out a living and staring bankruptcy in the face. “A lot of drilling companies are facing Chapter 11,” warns the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada. Nothing much new here. Continue reading
We are lumberjacks and we’re OK
(February 2, 2000) Well, actually, we’re not. Lumberjacks, that is. Many fewer of us make a living at lumberjacking, or, more generally, in the forestry industry, than in the 1970s, when Monty Python penned “I’m a Lumberjack and I’m OK,” that timeless tribute to the Canadian character. Over a longer haul, the industry’s decline is dramatic: In 1947, forestry accounted for 3.9% of total labour income, last year just 0.6%, the same as its share of employment. As a share of exports, forestry products are down from 16.7% in 1971 to 10.9% in 1998. Continue reading
Urban Renaissance Institute 