What I Learned Last Week

Some optimists imagine that economic growth can continue indefinitely using yet more fossil fuel, since we have science and technology to deal with problems. No worries. We will fix things and get rich.

Knowledge is good. Right? Let's see about that. 

When people are starving, would it be good to feed them using advances in agriculture? If people are ill, would it be good to provide medicines and vaccines? Well, we have been good to the hungry and sick, and we have grown the human population by a factor of eight in two centuries. Growth has been enabled by applied science and fueled by coal, oil, and natural gas. We have been smart enough to thrive, but not wise enough to avoid the consequences of success including yet more famine and disease, the very problems we were trying to solve. To these we have added extinctions, degradation of forests and coral reefs, heat domes, drought, flood, monster storms, wildfires.

Now aware of trouble we are causing, we deny and minimize and deflect attention because change is disruptive, unpopular and expensive. So what we need is to sell as much oil and LNG as possible before demand crashes. Good or not so good?

We are confident of what we know,
ignoring that knowledge is imperfect and limited,
ignoring what seems unimportant or inconvenient,
ignoring naked truth hidden behind disinformation,
ignoring responsibility,
ignoring selfish motives. 
We are confidently ignorant.

To be humbly wise, we should
align our values with principles,
assume we are missing something,
ask questions,
investigate,
plan carefully,
proceed with care,
learn from consequences,
repeat until it's over.
Can we be wise enough to survive being smart?

What I learned last week:

COP30 Copout: CBC News Nov 22, 2025

Canada's Energy Future Markham Hislop,  Thoughtful Energy Journalism, Nov 20, 2025

Ecological Suicide: Alberto Carzón, Oct 24, 2025

African Energy Revolution: Just Have a Think, Nov 23, 2025

Canada Cannot Become An Energy Superpower: Markham Hislop, Nov 23, 2025

Canada's Energy Third Way: Markham Hislop, Nov 24, 2025

Homo Sapiens: Inherently Unsustainable: William E Rees, Nov 24, 2025

Let's Live

I've been using the same razor, the Gillette Sensor Excel, for maybe thirty years. I realize there are probably better options, but I don't bother thinking about which razor is best until I run out of blades. 

I used my last cartridge of Sensor Excels this week. Dorothy looked for replacements at the grocery store hoping to prevent another episode of hirsute husband as in the photo above, but she couldn't find Sensor Excel. She picked up some disposables instead. I guess I will be adding extra plastic litter to the landfill. Anyway I can still shave, and that saved me a week of research looking for the best alternative. 

Speaking of research, I don't think much about the science behind shaving; but according to Wikipedia that is actually a thing. For example, there is the hysteresis effect discovered by Norman C. Welsh in England in 1964, the year I finished university. All the good discoveries were made before our generation had a chance to investigate, so there's nothing left to know 😅.

There are so many different razors; choosing is such a bother. If I were Gillette, I would make only one model called the Cheap-N-Quick SmOOOOOOthy, for the most comfortable, inexpensive, rapid shave so you can get on with your day free of beard and band-aids. The extra OOOOOOs signify the six nifty blades that together remove everything but skin in one swipe. When the blades get dull, there is a handy sharpener that recharges using changes in barometric pressure. The plastic handle will last until the end of the anthropocene. The SmOOOOOOthy will inspire a catchy jingle in waltz time that the great great grandchildren will still be singing when we're all gone. Warning: keep your SmOOOOOOthy clear of your nose. Six blades will turn you into Voldemort cheap-n-quick.

By now you have realized that this isn't about whiskers. There has to be a point to this story or I wouldn't be bothering to write. Here goes. 

We can let somebody else make our choices: wives (or husbands), ancestors, preachers and prophets, scientists and engineers, corporations and investors, government, the law, whoever is opining on TV news or Meta or Blogspot 😏. We can follow their simple rules and keep our noses safe. But whatever we are up to, when we make a mess, there will be no mercy.

That's life.

It's complicated.
Ask questions.
Try to do the right thing.
Avoid making a mess
or else deal with the mess.
Let's live.

*****************

Has Big Oil Hijacked COP30? Just Have a Think, Nov 16, 2025

Canadian Resource Development vs Climate: CBC News, Nov 14, 2025

Microplastics: UNEP

Fossil Fuel Phaseout Plan Dropped: COP30, CBC News, Nov 21, 2025
Electrotech, Not Fossil Fuels, Will Power the Future: David Suzuki and Ian Hannington, Nov 21, 2025

On Hiatus

I haven't been writing lately. Not sure whether this is vacation or retirement. Just to keep my voice in the conversation, here is a sample of what I was writing in November each year for the past five years. Read if you are curious, or not if not. No worries.

The Worm  Returns: Nov 2020

Belonging to The Earth: Nov 2021

Got It In One: Nov 2022

Worth The Effort: Nov 2023

What Do You Think: Nov 2024

Simply Right

Lots of opinions and evidence going into the COP30 Climate Summit. I don't need to add to the noise; but I will say one thing. It would be nice if we could just do the right thing. 

I recall years ago, asking advice of someone I trusted who said "when in doubt, do what is kind". Great. Every ethical dilemma reduced to one simple rule.

The thing is, simple doesn't work. When you do what is kind to someone whose pension fund is invested in oil, sooner or later someone's home burns in a wildfire, or their children are washed away in a flood, or their crop fails. Kindness here and now has hidden costs elsewhere and later.

Doing the right thing requires good evidence to go with the ethics, and it's complicated. Doing the simple thing is just irresponsible.

*****************

What Did Bill Gates Really Say About Climate Change?: CBC News, Nov 6, 2025

Climate Inaction Claiming Lives: WHO quotes Lancet Report, Oct 29, 2025

Climate Minister on Canada's Climate Goals: CBC News, October 31, 2025

COP30 Climate Summit Needs a Power Shift: David Suzuki Foundation, Nov 6, 2025
Bracing For Climate Catastrophe: Just Have a Think, July 2025