Wednesday-Night

6 December 2007
Biofuels are described by some as “absolutely catastrophic” because of their potential consequences, by others as “the driving force for development in some of the world’s poorest regions”. SciDev.Net picks a path between doomsayers and utopians, and looks at the reality of biofuels research and development in the developing world.
Biofuels: Let’s look before […]

December 4, 2007
Riots and hunger feared as demand for grain sends food costs soaring
Expert to warn industry of threats to world supply
Biofuels and Chinese boom put pressure on harvests
Jonathan Watts in Beijing Guardian
The risks of food riots and malnutrition will surge in the next two years as the global supply of […]

Sunday, November 11, 2007
Quebec’s decision to back away from developing a corn-based ethanol industry in the province represents a rare victory of common sense over political expediency. Corn producers probably won’t like it, but everyone else - including environmentalists - should be pleased.
It was just over two years ago that Yvon Vallières, the agriculture minister […]

Published 30 September 2007
NEVADA, Iowa, Sept. 24 — The ethanol boom of recent years — which spurred a frenzy of distillery construction, record corn prices, rising food prices and hopes of a new future for rural America — may be fading.
Only last year, farmers here spoke of a biofuel gold rush, and they rejoiced as […]

Harper committed to biofuel; Forests cleared to grow ‘energy crops’
MARGARET MUNRO, CanWest News Service
Restoring and protecting forests would do far more to reduce the carbon load in the atmosphere than dedicating vast tracks of land to “energy crops,” a new report says.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently announced a $1.5-billion, nine-year plan to make Canada a […]

1 August 2007
It is indeed the Dog Days of Summer and we feel appropriately listless (despite Peter Trent’s avowal that we are never list-less), not sure at all what topics are timely, or whether they will be a day or two hence. It is extraordinary that despite these sentiments of disconnectedness, the recent Wednesday Nights […]

23 May 2007
A very interesting evening last week, which was a continuation of the previous week’s discussion of nuclear energy, this time in the company of John Jonas and Peter Ferst, along with the Lightfoot family enterprise. Meanwhile, Diana was launching the Year of the Dolphin in Washington while making sure that Tony Blair […]

May 2, 2007
Although some might say “BE AFRAID, be VERY AFRAID” (Triskaidekaphobia) of this double-thirteen Wednesday, we prefer to think of 13 as a significant numeral and often one of good fortune. Thus we consider ourselves to be doubly blessed this week with the return of John & Holly Jonas from their sojourn in Australia.
As […]

11 April 2007
Hoping that your Easter/Passover holiday was pleasant and the Easter eggs were not all frozen in the snow banks, we remind you that there is no holiday for busy Wednesday Night minds.
Last week, Cleo Paskal helped us to focus throughout the evening on the issues surrounding  climate change and the need to distinguish […]

See also Oil
Toxic chemicals and Environment on wednesday-night.com

 
We also recommend Andrew Coyne’s column If not Kyoto, what? of May 24, 2006. We haven’t advanced a whole lot since then.
Early impressions of the new cabinet
Adam Radwanski
(Glob & Mail) … on first glance there are at least a few positives…
In Jim Prentice, Environment has its first […]