TransMountain Update -- By Then It Would Be Winter -- June 19, 2019

Hope springs eternal: the approval came to late to get this project started/completed this year. This will carry over into 2020. Something tells me the legal and political wrangling is not yet over.

Think I'll go out to Alberta
Weather's good there in the fall
I got some friends that I can go to working for
Still I wish you'd change your mind
If I asked you one more time
But we've been through that a hundred times or more

Four Strong Winds, Ian and Sylvia

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Definition of Insanity

I don't think folks realize that once the bill is passed, "no-growth" begins immediately. Any new project, any new development, anything that "requires" energy will need to be approved by the Climate Action Council.

With "social justice" a major component of the law, I see a lot of lawsuits against corporations with deep pockets. 

Link here.

The legislation calls for reducing emissions by 40% from 1990 levels by 2030 and 85% by 2050. The remaining 15% of emissions would be offset, making the state carbon neutral. The bill would also require that all electricity generation come from carbon-free sources by 2040. A Climate Action Council would be established to ensure the state meets its targets.

From the article:

New York has considerable ground to make up. The state cut emissions only 8% between 1990 and 2015, according to the most recent New York greenhouse gas inventory.

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This Calls For A Drink

From The Wall Street Journal, Scotch breaks with tradition to woo new drinkers. A governing body is relaxing rules over how to produce the spirit, giving in to demands by distillers.

To count as Scotch, the spirit must be distilled in Scotland from water and malted barley and aged in the country for three years in oak casks.

The Scotch Whisky Association, which enforces how Scotch is made and marketed, has for years also required distillers to mature and finish the drink in casks traditionally used by the industry, limiting producers mainly to old sherry, cognac, bourbon or port barrels.

Now, in a rare change to the rules, it will allow a wider variety of casks, including those previously used to age tequila and mezcal, cachaça, shochu and baijiu and other fruit spirits.

Paul Miller, owner of St. Andrews-based Eden Mill Distillery & Brewery, hopes that access to a wider range of casks will decrease prices. Standard bourbon casks cost him over £100 ($125), while wine casks can range from £80 to £200 depending on provenance, making them among his biggest outlays.

I honestly don't think it's the cost of Scotch that is the problem.