Politics in the Pipeline

One thing I like about Twitter is the way that it's democratized communication, person-to-person and citizen-to-government. Once it achieved critical mass with people signing up left and right, politicians started creating their own accounts so they could have a new way to spew talking points at the people. Yesterday BC's embattled Premier Christy Clark--or some government functionary responsible for impersonating her on Twitter--used it to signalboost an op-ed in the Globe and Mail about the ongoing Northern Gateway Pipeline back-and-forth, and the five points that would be necessary to get British Columbia behind the project.

The only natural thing to do was to call her out. Of course I didn't get any reply. That, at least, hasn't changed since the pre-Twitter days. It's still just as necessary. The one thing politicians must not be allowed to do is believe that the average person agrees with them unless demonstrated otherwise. We need to register our opposition, again and again, whenever the opportunity rises--because this is all just the preshow to the BC Liberals' spectacular annihilation next year.

Back to Premier Clark, though--what's she saying? Whatever it is, it includes a lot of buzzwords. Her fifth point, about British Columbia getting "its fare share of the fiscal an economic benefits" resulting from the pipeline, has gotten the most traction in media so far, but what I was most interested in was her second and third points. Namely, the institution of "world-leading marine oil-spill prevention and response systems" and "enhancement of our on-land spill response to world-leading standards."

That's great, when it comes to irrelevant puff. Still, in keeping with all the finest traditions of political discourse, it doesn't actually mean anything.

Pictured: a world-leading decision-making tool for politicians everywhere.

Can you define what "world-leading" means here? That was the question I put to Christy Clark over Twitter, and I doubt if she'll answer me or anyone on that subject without a fight. It's nebulous and stripped of context, but it has "world" in it so you know it's good, just like how a "world-class city" is something to aspire to even though everyone defines it differently. This is a big problem.

Why? Because it gives the appearance that Clark and the BC government are holding out for the strongest assurances that there are, but in reality, it provides an out to take the economically expedient course and call that "world-leading" after the fact. The Liberals hardly have any motivation to do otherwise. If the Northern Gateway Pipeline is built, they will already have been turfed out of office by the time construction starts, and once the Northern Gateway Pipeline starts leaking it won't be the Liberals' problem--politically speaking, that is. But then, how many politicians in a position of power do you know who give a shit about anything else?

Lest you think I'm drawing long conclusions, keep in mind that Clark is the same premier who, just last month, announced that natural gas would be classified as a "clean" energy source because otherwise BC wouldn't be able to meet its clean energy targets once the liquified natural gas industry really starts going. Not that I'm saying expanding LNG trade to Asia would necessarily be a bad thing; I'd rather have China powered by natural gas than coal, if that was the choice, and cheaper natural gas would make that choie a hell of a lot easier for China.

The point here is that Clark has already demonstrated that she's more than willing to switch around definitions if she considers it advantageous to do so. Who's to say that, left vague and undefined, these "world-leading" prevention and response systems would be anything of the kind? What do you think is more likely--a government, especially this British Columbia government, doing the legwork and in-depth evaluations to ensure that the methods used are of the highest quality as per a carefully crafted, publicly transparent list of requirements to ensure the highest standard of pipeline safety... or for money or favors to change hands, so that whatever methods that end up being used end up being called "world-leading" because, well, who says what "world-leading" is anyway?

Three guesses as to what I think is more likely to happen. First two don't count.

Earth Hour Needs a New Approach

No matter how well thought out something may be when it's first introduced to the world at large, and no matter how popular something might be at the moment of its rollout, the simple fact is that if something sticks around for long enough a majority of people are eventually going to sour on it. It happened to disco, it happened to the Liberal Party of Canada, and I feel like it's in the process of happening now with Earth Hour.

That's not to say it's falling apart already. The City of New Westminster announced yesterday that power consumption dropped by 2.19%, above the provincial average of 1.67% - and though Toronto experienced a 6.8% drop, it was significantly less than the reductions in 2009 and 2010. People worldwide continue to mark the hour, don't get me wrong - still, it feels like the opposition - represented mostly by the Human Achievement Hour "turn everything ON" crowd - may be starting to get more traction.

Sure, at its core Earth Hour is just a gesture, and depending on where you live it might not even make a difference whether you turn your stuff on; most of BC's electricity is generated by renewable sources already. I'll admit that there are problems with it - in addition to "turn off your lights for an hour" literally being the least we can do, it also provides an angle of attack for people who are predisposed to oppose these sort of initiatives anyway. I'd rather have an environmental initiative that didn't lend itself to claims that its backers want to return the world to a medieval lifestyle.

So in that respect, isn't it time to reinvent Earth Hour? People who haven't been reached by it yet probably won't be - I think it's time to take a different tack, to use it to pursue environmental awareness and conservation from another direction.

One that recognizes that the Lower Mainland actually does experience subzero conditions and snowfall.

I've asked around since arriving in British Columbia, and the consensus is clear - at least in the Lower Mainland, when it comes to residential buildings the insulation is shit. I can tell when it's a windy day outside by the way my blinds move in the breeze, even with the window shut. Sure, it's not the first time I've dealt with a poorly-insulated apartment; during my student days in Peterborough, I bedded down in one that was effectively uninhabitable in the winter without space heaters. It may have only got down to 4 or 5 degrees last week while I was keeping my heat off, and even though water doesn't freeze it's still damn cold.

“I’m very proud of our results this year... I look forward to us doing even better in the years to come," New Westminster mayor Wayne Wright said in regard to the city's Earth Hour performance. What I'd rather see is New Westminster becoming an example for lowered energy consumption throughout the year, without the need to turn off lights for an hour. If there's really such interest in environmental initiatives, why not establish a program where the city will provide financial support for residential insulation projects? If it's energy we're concerned about saving, let's fix up our apartments and our houses so that the heat we're pumping out of the radiators doesn't just slip right out the window.

Something like that might well give us more than a 2.19% drop, all on its own.

Quaff Review #16: Mana Energy Potion

Not all drinks are made equally. For the past fifteen installments of this series, I've taken a look at craft brews, microbrews, and interesting or generally unusual brews like, say, Sparks Plus. Still, they've all been brews, beers of some kind or another - but there's more to drinking than alcohol. Shock, horror, I know, but I thought it was time for a bit of variety - energetic variety.

The Canadian market for energy drinks has grown explosively over the last ten years. Back when I was in high school, I don't recall them being readily available at all - the best around was Jolt Cola, and even that got pulled off the shelves eventually for its "excessive" caffeine content, later going bankrupt. It wasn't until the early 21st century that I was first introduced to energy drinks in the form of Jones Whoop Ass Energy Cola, and even then I only ever found it in one particular store in Peterborough.

But that was years ago, and it's an energy drink world now, from Red Bull and Starbucks Doubleshot to the Happy Bunny-branded Spaz Juice, a can of which has been standing at the back of my refrigerator since 2010 - and then there's the specifically targeted kinds, for people who want their energy drinks to dovetail with their lifestyle.

Kinds like Mana Energy Potion - a kind of 50 milliliter energy shot "made by gamers, for gamers." It's actually two varieties, the blue Mana Potion and the red Health Potion, originally made available in 2008, online and in select brick-and-mortar retailers - more so in the United States than Canada, it seems. I found mine at Golden Age Collectables on Granville Street in Vancouver, and it's the only place I currently know of to find them in all of British Columbia. Admittedly, though, it's not like I've actually been looking.

The Mana Potion is on the left, and the Health Potion is on the right.

The marketing to gamers starts from the beginning, with the design of the bottles rather similar to Super Health and Super Mana Potions from World of Warcraft, though these potions seem to be wholly free of felweed and netherbloom. That's not to say that they don't contain a panoply of sheer stuff - it was actually by reading the Supplement Facts on the back of the bottles that intrigued me to these energy shots; if you've got a need for vitamins, these will set you up. For instance, the Health Potion contains one hundred percent of your daily value of Vitamin C... and 1600% of the daily value of Vitamin B6. Still, the real winner in this sweepstakes is the Mana Potion, which contains a staggering six thousand, six hundred, and sixty-seven percent of the daily value of Vitamin B12... which works out to four hundred micrograms.

Unlike other energy drinks I've encountered, there's no medical warning on these potions to restrict intake, presumably because there's not much there to take in - only fifty milliliters, comfortably shotglass-sized. The manufacturer's website recommends that intake be separated out by twenty-four hours, but just to be certain, I gave the Mana Potion a week to settle out through my system before starting in on the Health.

The Mana Potion is depicted in advertising as being a deep blue, and it is likely a function of the yellow of the shotglass that it appeared rather green once I poured it out. The smell is something rather outside my experience when it comes to drinks - the best I can reach for is that it was vaguely chemical. As for the taste, it begins with a sharp citrus flavor, but this is quickly overwhelmed by an incredible bitterness, beyond the league of everything I've reviewed here except for Earthquake High Energy Lager, and look how that ended up. To its credit the bitterness did subside quickly - though that was just the start. Fifteen minutes after I drained the potion my head was spinning, and I was left with a headache that lasted for a couple of hours and didn't really go away until I was able to get some nice outside air. Conclusion: absolutely vile.

So it was with some trepidation that I approached the Health Potion the following weekend - absolutely I tried these on a weekend, I wasn't about to go to the office not knowing what these would do. I expected bitterness, discomfort, and so on - what the Health Potion gave me was entirely different. Rather than the Mana Potion's vaguely chemical tang, the deep red Health Potion smelled almost like a used gym bag, and "saturated," as if there was a lot of stuff in it. The taste - is considerably milder than the Mana Potion, citrus-flavored but far weaker, and it's also rather sweet. It took a moment to figure out why it was so familiar - it tastes like cough syrup. Still, there was no noticeable aftertaste, and it didn't leave me feeling like hell afterward. The website states they don't need to be chilled, but put them in your refrigerator anyway. Cooling them down takes some of the edge off.

So that's it - though if this is the best all those warriors and mages have got to replenish their powers, don't be surprised when you graph the precipitous drop in their numbers. Americans will be able to find these at Fry's Electronics, f.y.e., Hastings, Hot Topic, and ThinkGeek, which for some reason cannot ship them outside of the United States. At Golden Age, they retail for $3.99 each, and this appears to be the base price... and honestly, beer is a hell of a lot cheaper.

ANDREW'S RATING: 1.5/5

Previous Quaff Reviews

• #15: HE'BREW Messiah Bold
  
• #14: Mackinac Pale Ale
  
• #13: Ola Dubh Special Reserve 40
  
• #12: Hitachino Nest Japanese Classic Ale
  
• #11: La Loubécoise
  
• #10: Summer Honey Seasonal Ale
  
• #9: Earthquake High Gravity Lager
  
• #8: Route des épices
  
• #7: Sparks Plus
  
• #6: Hurricane High Gravity Lager
  
• #5: L'Indépendante
  
• #4: Antigravity Light Ale
  
• #3: Nektar
  
• #2: Innis & Gunn Original
  
• #1: Abbey Belgian Spiced Ale

Japan Needs Electricity, Badly

It's been more than two weeks since the one-two punch of earthquake and tsunami sent the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant down for the count, and still the news is not good. For a few days there, after the power was reconnected to the pumps, I thought things were taking a turn for the better - but in some respects this is looking more and more like some kind of trainwreck in slow motion. I believe the most recent updates I encountered were that engineers are running out of, or have already run out of, places to store the now-radioactive seawater used as emergency reactor coolant, and that plutonium is leaching into the soil around the plant.

This is one of the biggest problems with nuclear energy - its psychological aspect. Major incidents are rare - this is only the second such in my lifetime, and the only one I can actually remember, despite the hundreds of nuclear reactors that have been in operation around the world during the course of the last twenty-eight years. Still, for every day that problems persist at Fukushima Daiichi, those persistent anti-nuclear memes get that much stronger.

But Japan initially developed a substantial nuclear power base for a very good reason: it doesn't have many other options. There are few rivers in those mountainous islands that can easily be dammed for hydroelectric power; not nearly enough to supply the electricity demands of 127 million people. Too, Japanese oil and coal reserves are limited if they exist at all, and to base the country's generation on those sources would leave it utterly dependent on imports. Wind and solar still have yet to become viable options for replacing base-load generating capability; back in the mid-20th century, they didn't represent even the shadow of an option.

So what are the Japan's options now, if it finds it really wants to step away from nuclear? Maybe they might build more natural gas plants... or maybe they'll go beyond, live up to the idea that they're decades ahead of the rest of the world. Maybe the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi will provide the needed impulse for Japan to build an orbital infrastructure for generating space-based solar power.

Artist's impression of a solar power satellite in orbit over Central America, courtesy NASA.

This isn't as science fictional as you think. While people have been speculating about the possibilities of solar energy collected in orbit and beamed to Earth-based receivers for seventy years or more, the state of the art has advanced to the point where it's possible to start actually thinking about this. In fact, JAXA - the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, its answer to NASA - currently has plans to orbit a prototype solar power satellite in 2020 and a full-power version in 2030. Granted, plans are just that; a couple of years ago, after all, NASA planned to have boots back on the moon eight years from now.

Nevertheless, while a human return to the moon does have significant psychological resonance and brings home the possibility of new and potentially lucrative research avenues - just how does the human body respond to sustained periods of low-g, anyway? - orbital solar power is one of those space applications that has direct and obvious utility. A future Japan supplied by power satellites wouldn't have to worry about a Fukushima-type disaster: earthquakes may be monstrous, but they can't reach orbit.

The biggest hurdle is, of course, the cost. But look at it this way - how much will Fukushima Daiichi cost, in the long run? How do you assign a cost to all that radioactive seawater, all the plutonium leaching into the soil, all the heightened health risks to people in the area? If the Japanese power grid isn't able to cope with this summer's demands because of the lack of Fukushima's electricity, how much is that worth?

Sure it's expensive. But so was throwing a lifeline to the parasites of Wall Street. I know what I'd rather have my money spent on.

The Minor Matter of Antimatter

Whether it's being used to power the Enterprise or destroy the Vatican, antimatter remains perhaps the most potent energy-producing substance for which we have a theoretical basis of understanding. In some respects, it seems almost tailor-made for the energy needs of a spacefaring society - almost the petroleum of the spaceways, if petroleum needed constant monitoring and intervention to keep it from catching on fire. You'd have to be absolutely insane to use it anywhere other than space.

So far, we've only been able to study antimatter in fits and starts - but this won't always be the case. Yesterday, CERN announced the successful trapping of antimatter atoms through the use of magnetic fields, presumably the first versions of the containment fields that always have to collapse before the warp core will breach. Sure, they hung around for less than a twentieth of a second, but it's a start. This is another step toward the frontiers of science, and I'm looking forward to many more.

One thing I haven't yet seen are far-out conspiracy theorists or 2012ers integrating this into their fantasies - but it's only a matter of time. I've already encountered people concerned at whether taming antimatter would add palm-sized city-busters to a terrorist's arsenal.

Technically - yes. But the reality is more complicated.

Antimatter needs to be contained within magnetic fields because if it ever encounters regular matter, the two will mutually annihilate in a burst of gamma rays and other fun things. This also liberates a massive amount of energy. How massive? One kilogram of antimatter annihilating one kilogram of matter would create a forty-three megaton explosion, not much weaker than the single largest nuclear weapon ever detonated - and the advantage of implosion-trigger nuclear weapons is that they will not accidentally detonate. Any antimatter warhead, or antimatter reactor for that matter, would require constant attention to ensure that the containment fields would not collapse. So, even if someone was able to cobble together a two-kilo city-buster, if they didn't build it right it might well go off in their face.

Realistically, though, there's one thing that stands in the way of anarchists hurling around antimatter bombs: the expense. Just as it's the most potent substance known to humanity, it is also the most expensive - in the ten years between 1991 and 2001, the antimatter synthezised by CERN, one whole nanogram, cost "hundreds of millions" of Swiss francs - and you'd just need 999,999,999,999 more in order to build your city-buster. Remember that CERN is studying individual atoms of the stuff. It may well be far, far more economical to send spaceships to harvest the antimatter that occurs naturally in the Van Allen belt.

What this all does mean, though, is that as antimatter becomes marginally easier to collect and retain, it will have to become the single most controlled and restricted substance in civilization. Cost is the biggest barrier, but you can't count on a big cover charge keeping everyone out. For the foreseeable future, worrying about antimatter attacks is pointless; anyone who would be able to assemble enough antimatter to be a threat would also be able to buy a nuclear arsenal, pretty much.

Until then, may your warp cores never breach.