Each week, BIV staff will share with you some of the interesting stories we have found from around the web.
Timothy Renshaw, managing editor:
A lot of companies are shifting into electric car production, but will any of them make money from that production? – Washington Times
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/aug/21/the-ascent-of-electric-cars/
Energy hogs are us: biggest per-capita energy consumers south of the border – U.S. Energy Information Administration
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail
Big bucks in battling weather – BusinessGreen
https://ukerc.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=46913f04544f73ffdbeb92f88&id=b3b7f64f7a&e=2fda4dbca6
Emma Crawford Hampel, online editor:
How happy are your neighbours? UBC study finds Vancouverites are some of the unhappiest Canadians. - The Ubyssey
https://www.ubyssey.ca/news/vancouver-canada-unhappiest-cities/
Canada should ignore Trump’s temper tantrums and start focusing on other trading partners, according to Neil Macdonald, who argues Trump’s fibs make NAFTA negotiations impossible. - CBC
https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/trump-nafta-negotiations-1.4810059
Mark Falkenberg, deputy managing editor:
A bright spot last week amid general trade gloom, as the U.S. International Trade Commission shoots down Trump’s tariffs on Canadian newsprint – New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/29/business/trump-tariffs-newsprint.html
Rabble.ca’s Duncan Cameron on the risks of being too eager to ink a new NAFTA deal:
“There is little popular support in Canada for making concessions to Donald Trump on trade. Indeed, the Liberals risk lasting losses in public esteem should Team Trudeau give in to the bully in the White House.” – rabble.ca
http://rabble.ca/columnists/2018/09/trump-deals-major-blow-trudeau-governments-trade-plans
Glen Korstrom, reporter:
Finally getting around to reading the 2012 travelogue Route 66 Still Kicks, by former Tourism Vancouver CEO Rick Antonson. Some great writing with an interesting mix of history and anecdotes about people met while traveling the original Route 66 - “The Main Street of America.”
https://www.amazon.com/Route-66-Still-Kicks-Americas/dp/1620873001
Nelson Bennett, reporter:
Is business investment and confidence really down in Canada? According to Steven Globerman at Western Washington University, foreign direct investment in Canada has, indeed, fallen, especially compared with the U.S., and divestment has been particularly pronounced in the mining, oil and gas and manufacturing sectors between 2015 and 2017. – National Post
No demand for Alberta diluted bitumen? Think again. A lot of misperceptions are cleared up in this primer on Canadian oil production. While refineries capable of refining heavy crudes from Canada are more complex and costly, they have higher margins. Mega-refineries in China, the U.S. Gulf Coast and Middle East have been built or expanded, and the demand for heavy oil is growing, not declining. – Oil Sands Magazine
http://www.oilsandsmagazine.com/technical/product-streams
While many people might assume that renewable fuel standards requiring ethanol to be added to gasoline is all about reducing greenhouse gases, in the U.S. the standard put in place in 2007 largely because of the high cost of foreign oil imports, says the The R Street Institute. In the U.S., it is a market distorting policy that needs to go, the institute says. – The Washington Times
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/sep/4/ethanol-policy-a-government-failure-that-should-st
Hayley Woodin, reporter
FleishmanHillard HighRoad and Mustel Group, along with the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, have published survey results that show residents, businesses and politicians aren’t necessarily on the same page when it comes to certain issues. In some cases, they are. The result is a handbook (with lots of graphics) that should where we lie on the biggest issues in this municipal election. - Greater Vancouver Board of Trade
https://www.boardoftrade.com/files/advocacy/2018-local-election/vote-local-report.pdf
I have a wearable, and when I remember to charge it, obsess over how many steps I’ve taken each day. It reminds me to move. But that 10,000-steps-a-day goal? This article points out it’s largely arbitrary. It also offers new questions to ask, such as, “How many steps are too few?” and “Does speed matter?” - The Guardian
