HISTORICAL FACTS: Vaclav smil | History Defined

UN Report Paints Catastrophic Climate Change Picture, Says Critical Threshold Will be Passed

The document is urging the world to zero out carbon emissions to prevent cataclysmic warming of the planet.

International Business Times · Sep 3

Letters to the Editor: May 2024

On birth control, train travel, and health care in Quebec

The Walrus · Apr 12, 2024

Letters to the Editor: March/April 2024

On Vaclav Smil, retirement, and Indigo

The Walrus · Mar 4, 2024

Energy transition confronts reality

The "energy transition" from hydrocarbons to renewables and electrification is at the forefront of policy debates nowadays. But the last 18 months have shown this undertaking to be more challenging and complex than one would think just from studying the graphs that appear in many scenarios. Even in the United…

Bangkok Post · Feb 2, 2023

Alan Kohler: COP27 – we’ll do it this year, for sure, you just wait

Labor’s first term will be characterised by wrestling with business over wages and climate – a process that will be repeated around the world.

The New Daily · Nov 6, 2022

Why Is Canada Tearing Down Its Architectural History?

Buildings are made to last. Should they be built to fall?

The Walrus · Sep 28, 2022

The energy historian who says rapid decarbonization is a fantasy

Vaclav Smil rarely agrees to interviews. Too many in the media have portrayed him as a tool of Big Oil, he says — because he insists on pointing out how deeply dependent humanity is on fossil fuels and how difficult it will be to give them up.

Los Angeles Times · Sep 8, 2022

Europe's Energy Wounds Are Self-Inflicted

Unrealistic policy and dependency on fickle neighbors like Russia are no substitute for working power plants.

Reason · Jul 29, 2022

What Are Billionaires Reading? Musk, Bezos, Gates, Buffett & Others Recommend These Books

Berkshire Hathway’s (NYSE: BRK.B) Charlie Munger once said, “In my whole life, I have known no wise people who didn’t read all the time.”

Benzinga · Jul 11, 2022

These Environmentalists Want To Ban Single-Use Plastics Because Recycling Them 'Will Never Work'

And yet infinitely recyclable plastics are on the horizon.

Reason · May 31, 2022