The comet that killed the dinosaurs

New theory explains possible origin of the Chicxulub impactor

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: A COMET PLUNGING THROUGH EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE. view more 

CREDIT: GERD ALTMANN/PIXABAY

It was tens of miles wide and forever changed history when it crashed into Earth about 66 million years ago.

The Chicxulub impactor, as it's known, left behind a crater off the coast of Mexico that spans 93 miles and goes 12 miles deep. Its devastating impact brought the reign of the dinosaurs to an abrupt and calamitous end by triggering their sudden mass extinction, along with the end of almost three-quarters of the plant and animal species then living on Earth.

The enduring puzzle has always been where the asteroid or comet that set off the destruction originated, and how it came to strike the Earth. And now a pair of Harvard researchers believe they have the answer.

In a study published in Scientific Reports, Avi Loeb, Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard, and Amir Siraj '21, an astrophysics concentrator, put forth a new theory that could explain the origin and journey of this catastrophic object and others like it.

Using statistical analysis and gravitational simulations, Loeb and Siraj show that a significant fraction of a type of comet originating from the Oort cloud, a sphere of debris at the edge of the solar system, was bumped off-course by Jupiter's gravitational field during its orbit and sent close to the sun, whose tidal force broke apart pieces of the rock. That increases the rate of comets like Chicxulub (pronounced Chicks-uh-lub) because these fragments cross the Earth's orbit and hit the planet once every 250 to 730 million years or so.

"Basically, Jupiter acts as a kind of pinball machine," said Siraj, who is also co-president of Harvard Students for the Exploration and Development of Space and is pursuing a master's degree at the New England Conservatory of Music. "Jupiter kicks these incoming long-period comets into orbits that bring them very close to the sun."

It's because of this that long-period comets, which take more than 200 years to orbit the sun, are called sun grazers, he said.

"When you have these sun grazers, it's not so much the melting that goes on, which is a pretty small fraction relative to the total mass, but the comet is so close to the sun that the part that's closer to the sun feels a stronger gravitational pull than the part that is farther from the sun, causing a tidal force" he said. "You get what's called a tidal disruption event and so these large comets that come really close to the sun break up into smaller comets. And basically, on their way out, there's a statistical chance that these smaller comets hit the Earth."

The calculations from Loeb and Siraj's theory increase the chances of long-period comets impacting Earth by a factor of about 10, and show that about 20 percent of long-period comets become sun grazers. That finding falls in line with research from other astronomers.

The pair claim that their new rate of impact is consistent with the age of Chicxulub, providing a satisfactory explanation for its origin and other impactors like it.

"Our paper provides a basis for explaining the occurrence of this event," Loeb said. "We are suggesting that, in fact, if you break up an object as it comes close to the sun, it could give rise to the appropriate event rate and also the kind of impact that killed the dinosaurs."

Loeb and Siraj's hypothesis might also explain the makeup of many of these impactors.

"Our hypothesis predicts that other Chicxulub-size craters on Earth are more likely to correspond to an impactor with a primitive (carbonaceous chondrite) composition than expected from the conventional main-belt asteroids," the researchers wrote in the paper.

This is important because a popular theory on the origin of Chicxulub claims the impactor is a fragment of a much larger asteroid that came from the main belt, which is an asteroid population between the orbit of Jupiter and Mars. Only about a tenth of all main-belt asteroids have a composition of carbonaceous chondrite, while it's assumed most long-period comets have it. Evidence found at the Chicxulub crater and other similar craters that suggests they had carbonaceous chondrite.

This includes an object that hit about 2 billion years ago and left the Vredefort crater in South Africa, which is the largest confirmed crater in Earth's history, and the impactor that left the Zhamanshin crater in Kazakhstan, which is the largest confirmed crater within the last million years.

The researchers say that composition evidence supports their model and that the years the objects hit support both their calculations on impact rates of Chicxulub-sized tidally disrupted comets and for smaller ones like the impactor that made the Zhamanshin crater. If produced the same way, they say those would strike Earth once every 250,000 to 730,000 years.

Loeb and Siraj say their hypothesis can be tested by further studying these craters, others like them, and even ones on the surface of the moon to determine the composition of the impactors. Space missions sampling comets can also help.

Aside from composition of comets, the new Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile may be able to see the tidal disruption of long-period comets after it becomes operational next year.

"We should see smaller fragments coming to Earth more frequently from the Oort cloud," Loeb said. "I hope that we can test the theory by having more data on long-period comets, get better statistics, and perhaps see evidence for some fragments."

Loeb said understanding this is not just crucial to solving a mystery of Earth's history but could prove pivotal if such an event were to threaten the planet again.

"It must have been an amazing sight, but we don't want to see that side," he said.

###

CO2 dip may have helped dinosaurs walk from South America to Greenland

Climate shift may have aided herbivores on a 6,500-mile trek

EARTH INSTITUTE AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

Research News

IMAGE: A CLIFF IN JAMESON LAND BASIN IN CENTRAL EAST GREENLAND, THE NORTHERNMOST SITE WHERE SAUROPODOMORPH FOSSILS ARE FOUND. THE LABELS POINT OUT SEVERAL SERIES OF LAYERS THAT HELPED THE RESEARCHERS... view more 

CREDIT: LARS CLEMMENSEN

A new paper refines estimates of when herbivorous dinosaurs must have traversed North America on a northerly trek to reach Greenland, and points out an intriguing climatic phenomenon that may have helped them along the journey.

The study, published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is authored by Dennis Kent, adjunct research scientist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and Lars Clemmensen from the University of Copenhagen.

Previous estimates suggested that sauropodomorphs -- a group of long-necked, herbivorous dinosaurs that eventually included Brontosaurus and Brachiosaurus -- arrived in Greenland sometime between 225 and 205 million years ago. But by painstakingly matching up ancient magnetism patterns in rock layers at fossil sites across South America, Arizona, New Jersey, Europe and Greenland, the new study offers a more precise estimate: It suggests that sauropodomorphs showed up in what is now Greenland around 214 million years ago. At the time, the continents were all joined together, forming the supercontinent Pangea.

With this new and more precise estimate, the authors faced another question. Fossil records show that sauropodomorph dinosaurs first appeared in Argentina and Brazil about 230 million years ago. So why did it take them so long to expand into the Northern Hemisphere?

"In principle, the dinosaurs could have walked from almost one pole to the other," explained Kent. "There was no ocean in between. There were no big mountains. And yet it took 15 million years. It's as if snails could have done it faster." He calculates that if a dinosaur herd walked only one mile per day, it would take less than 20 years to make the journey between South America and Greenland.

Intriguingly, Earth was in the midst of a tremendous dip in atmospheric CO2 right around the time the sauropodomorphs would have been migrating 214 million years ago. Until about 215 million years ago, the Triassic period had experienced extremely high CO2 levels, at around 4,000 parts per million -- about 10 times higher than today. But between 215 and 212 million years ago, the CO2 concentration halved, dropping to about 2,000ppm.

Although the timing of these two events -- the plummeting CO2 and the sauropodomorph migration -- could be pure coincidence, Kent and Clemmensen think they may be related. In the paper, they suggest that the milder levels of CO2 may have helped to remove climatic barriers that may have trapped the sauropodomorphs in South America.

CAPTION

Map shows how the major continents were arranged 220 million years ago in the Pangea supercontinent. "Isch" and "P" mark locations with sauropodomorph fossils up to 233 million years old. The herbivorous dinosaurs didn't reach Jameson Land in Greenland ("JL") until about 214 million years ago.

CREDIT

Dennis Kent and Lars Clemmensen

On Earth, areas around the equator are hot and humid, while adjacent areas in low latitudes tend to be very dry. Kent and Clemmensen say that on a planet supercharged with CO2, the differences between those climatic belts may have been extreme -- perhaps too extreme for the sauropodomorph dinosaurs to cross.

"We know that with higher CO2, the dry gets drier and the wet gets wetter," said Kent. 230 million years ago, the high CO2 conditions could have made the arid belts too dry to support the movements of large herbivores that need to eat a lot of vegetation to survive. The tropics, too, may have been locked into rainy, monsoon-like conditions that may not have been ideal for sauropodomorphs. There is little evidence they ventured forth from the temperate, mid-latitude habitats they were adapted to in Argentina and Brazil.

But when the CO2 levels dipped 215-212 million years ago, perhaps the tropical regions became more mild, and the arid regions became less dry. There may have been some passageways, such as along rivers and strings of lakes, that would have helped sustain the herbivores along the 6,500-mile journey to Greenland, where their fossils are now abundant. Back then, Greenland would have had a temperate climate similar to New York state's climate today, but with much milder winters, because there were no polar ice sheets at that time.

"Once they arrived in Greenland, it looked like they settled in,'" said Kent. "They hung around as a long fossil record after that."

The idea that a dip in CO2 could have helped these dinosaurs to overcome a climatic barrier is speculative but plausible, and it seems to be supported by the fossil record, said Kent. Sauropodomorph body fossils have not been found in the tropical and arid regions of this time period -- although their footprints do occasionally turn up -- suggesting they did not linger in those areas.

Next, Kent hopes to continue working to better understand the big CO2 dip, including what caused it and how quickly CO2 levels dropped.

CAPTION

A claw of a bipedal sauropodomorph (Plateosaurus) from the Jameson Land site in East Greenland. Parts of the animal were found in 1995 by Farish Jenkins (Harvard), Neil Shubin (U Penn), Lars Clemmensen (Copenhagen), and others. It is the oldest known specimen in the area.

CREDIT

Dennis Kent

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory is Columbia University's home for Earth science research. Its scientists develop fundamental knowledge about the origin, evolution and future of the natural world, from the planet's deepest interior to the outer reaches of its atmosphere, on every continent and in every ocean, providing a rational basis for the difficult choices facing humanity. http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu | @LamontEarth

The Earth Institute, Columbia University mobilizes the sciences, education and public policy to achieve a sustainable earth. http://www.earth.columbia.edu.

When the Dalai Lama dies, his reincarnation will be a religious crisis. Here's how it will happen

A decade ago, the Dalai Lama set himself a significant deadline.

© Photo Illustration/getty images

The best-known living Buddhist figure in the world said that when he turned 90 years old, he would decide whether he should be reincarnated -- potentially ending a role that has been key to Tibetan Buddhism for more than 600 years, but in recent decades has become a political lightning rod in China.

While the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is reportedly still in good health, he is now 85 and questions over his succession are growing, along with fears that his death could spark a religious crisis in Asia.

After an unsuccessful revolt against the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959, the Dalai Lama fled to India where he established a government-in-exile in Dharamsala, leading thousands of Tibetans who have followed him there. While the Dalai Lama had originally hoped his exile would only be temporary, Beijing's control of Tibet has only tightened, making a return unlikely anytime soon.

© Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty Images A Tibetan activist lights a candle in front of a poster of spirtual leader The Dalai Lama as members of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress (RTYC) take part in a candlelight vigil during a protest rally in Hyderabad on March 10, 2016.

Today, Beijing views him as a separatist with the aim of breaking Tibet away from China, and is therefore keen for the next reincarnation of his role to fall in line with its own political aims.

Since 1974, the Dalai Lama has said he does not seek independence from China for Tibet, but a "meaningful autonomy" that would allow Tibet to preserve its culture and heritage.

Over the years, the Dalai Lama has floated a number of options for his reincarnation, including picking a new successor himself in India, rather than in Tibet -- and has even toyed with the idea of a woman taking on the role.

Experts, however, have said that, regardless of what he chooses, the Chinese government will almost certainly move to pick a new Dalai Lama in Tibet -- one who is expected to support the ruling Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) control of the region.

That could lead to two separate Dalai Lamas being chosen -- one in China and one in India.

Tenzin Tseten, a research fellow at the Dharamsala-based Tibet Policy Institute, said the Dalai Lama was of great significance to the Tibetan people and a symbol of their "nationalism and identity." "The Tibetan people will never accept a CCP-appointed Dalai Lama," Tenzin said.


History of the Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama has been reincarnated 13 times since 1391, when the first of his incarnates was born, and normally a centuries-old method is used to find the new leader.

The search begins when the previous Dalai Lama passes away. Sometimes it is based on signs that the former incarnation gave before he died, at other times top lamas -- a monk or priest of varying seniority who teaches Buddhism -- will go to a sacred lake in Tibet, Lhamo Lhatso, and meditate until they have a vision of where to search for his successor.

Then they send out search parties across Tibet, looking for children who are "special" and born within a year of the Dalai Lama's death, according to Ruth Gamble, an expert in Tibetan religion at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia.

"There's a heavy responsibility on these people to get it right," she said.

Once they find a number of candidates, the children are tested to determine whether they are the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Some of the methods include showing the children items which belong to the previous incarnation.

According to the 14th Dalai Lama's official biography, he was discovered when he was two years old. The son of a farmer, the Dalai Lama was born in a small hamlet in northeastern Tibet, where just 20 families struggled to make a living from the land.

As a child, he recognized a senior lama who had disguised himself to observe the local children, and successfully identified a number of items belonging to the 13th Dalai Lama.

In his autobiography, "My Land and My People," the Dalai Lama wrote that he was handed sets of identical or similar items -- including rosaries, walking sticks and drums -- one of which had belonged to the previous incarnation and one which was ordinary. In every case, he chose the correct one.

But the Dalai Lama's reincarnation hasn't always been found in Tibet. The fourth Dalai Lama was found in Mongolia, while the sixth Dalai Lama was discovered in what is currently Arunachal Pradesh, India.

"The most important thing is the centuries old Tibetan reincarnation system is built on people's faith in rebirth," said Tenzin, from the Tibet Policy Institute.


What the Tibetan government-in-exile might do

At the moment, there are no official instructions laying out how the Dalai Lama's reincarnation will take place, if he dies before returning to Tibet.

But in that significant 2011 statement, the 14th Dalai Lama said that "the person who reincarnates has sole legitimate authority over where and how he or she takes rebirth and how that reincarnation is to be recognized."

The Dalai Lama added that if he chose to reincarnate, the responsibility for finding the 15th Dalai Lama will rest on the Gaden Phodrang Trust, a India-based group he founded after going into exile to preserve and promote Tibetan culture and support the Tibetan people.

The Dalai Lama said that his reincarnation should be carried out "in accordance with past tradition." "I shall leave clear written instructions about this," he said in 2011. CNN reached out to the Gaden Phodrang Trust to see if new instructions had been issued but did not receive a reply.

One thing that has become increasingly clear is that the reincarnation is unlikely to take place in Tibet, an area the Gaden Phodrang Trust cannot even access -- especially after the contested reincarnation of the Panchen Lama in the 1990s.

Following the 1989 death of the 10th Panchen Lama, the second most important figure in Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama named Tibetan child Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as his colleague's reincarnation.

Gamble, from La Trobe University, said that during the selection process, the Tibetan government-in-exile was secretly in contact with people in Tibet which allowed it to find the reincarnation in a traditional manner.

But three days after he was chosen, according to the US government, Gedhun and his family were disappeared by the CCP, which then appointed an alternative Panchen Lama. Gedhun hasn't been seen in public since.

What the Tibetans-in-exile learned from that experience, said Gamble, is "if you recognize someone inside the PRC and they're really high level, they won't be able to get them out."


What the Chinese government will do

The Chinese government has very publicly telegraphed its intentions for the Dalai Lama's reincarnation -- it will take place in Tibet and it will be in accordance with Beijing's wishes.

In 2007, the Chinese government's State Religious Affairs Bureau published a document which laid out "management measures" for the reincarnation of living Tibetan Buddhas.

The document said that the reincarnations of Tibetan religious figures must be approved by Chinese government authorities, and those with "particularly great impact" must be approved by the State Council, China's top civil administration body currently led by Premier Li Keqiang.

"(Beijing) asserts control over the searches, testing, recognition, education, and training of religious figures," said Tseten, from the Tibet Policy Institute.

There are few specifics about the process of reincarnation in the Chinese government's document, except to recognize the so-called "golden urn" process, which was introduced into Tibet by the Qing Dynasty in the 1790s and sees the names of potential child candidates put into a small golden urn and selected at random.

According to Chinese state-run media, it was put in place to help "eliminate corrupt practices" in the choice of reincarnations.

However, in his 2011 statement, the Dalai Lama said the golden urn was only used to "humor" the Qing emperors, and the reincarnations were already chosen before the names were drawn. The urn was not used in the 14th Dalai Lama's reincarnation.

"Bear in mind that, apart from the reincarnation recognized through such legitimate methods, no recognition or acceptance should be given to a candidate chosen for political ends by anyone, including those in the People's Republic of China," said the Dalai Lama in his statement in 2011.


An authoritative circle

In an update of its Tibetan Policy and Support Act in December 2020, the US threatened to sanction any Chinese government officials who chose a reincarnation of the Dalai Lama over the wishes of the Tibetan people.

But experts said that the CCP has been using a far more insidious method to prepare for the selection of the next Dalai Lama. In recent years, Beijing has been selecting and grooming a group of senior lamas who are friendly to Beijing, according to experts.

When the time comes to select the Dalai Lama's successor, they might make it appear that the Dalai Lama was chosen by Tibetan Buddhist religious leaders, rather than CCP officials.

La Trobe University's Gamble said the reincarnation process has been based on the steady building of religious authority over generations, as one lama recognized another's reincarnation, and then that lama in turn recognized his patron when they returned as a child.

"Their authority lends authority to the next Dalai Lama and then that Dalai Lama gives them back authority by finding them when they're kids and that's what the Chinese government are trying to get themselves involved in, to destabilize that authoritative circle," she said.

Tenzin, from the Tibet Policy Institute, said that Beijing had been slowly raising the profile of their chosen Panchen Lama, who has recently appeared at senior CCP meetings and went on an international visit to Thailand in 2019, to try and build his authority when he selects the 15th Dalai Lama. The Panchan Lama is part of the group of senior lamas who will do the selecting -- another example of this group being groomed and selected by Beijing.

What geopolitical impact the Dalai Lama's death might have on the Tibetans-in-exile is unclear. India has increasingly viewed the community in Dharamsala as a political vulnerability, and some worry that without the Dalai Lama there may be pressure put on the group to leave.

But neither Gamble nor Tenzin, from the Tibet Policy Institute, believed that having two Dalai Lamas would have a huge impact on the legacy of Tenzin Gyatso. "People still keep the photos of the 10th Panchen Lama around as a way of getting around (his reincarnation). They send his teachings and read his books," Gamble said. "I don't think the Dalai Lama's death will end the devotion to him in the way that the CCP thinks it will."

Both experts said they believed that while protests against the CCP's chosen Dalai Lama would be difficult to carry out in Tibet with Beijing keeping a tight grip over the Himalayan region, he would have very little influence over Tibetans compared to his predecessor.

Tenzin said the CCP's treatment of the new Panchen Lama, the second most important figure in Tibetan Buddhism, gives an indication of the pressure the party could apply to any future Dalai Lama -- whether Beijing selects him or not.

According to international advocacy group Human Rights Watch, the current Panchen Lama effectively lives under house arrest in Beijing.

"He is not even able to live in his own monastery," Tenzin said.


CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated the location of the Gaden Phodrang Trust. The group is based in India.

IGNORES MICHIGAN GOVENOR ORDERS TO HALT
Enbridge anticipates cash flow bounty as Line 3

 cost estimate jumps to $9.3 billion

CALGARY — Construction of the U.S. portion of its Line 3 oil pipeline will cost $1.1 billion more than expected due to regulatory and court delays in Minnesota but the CEO of owner Enbridge Inc. says the project is on track to start delivering "lots of free cash flow" by late this year.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

"Despite this higher investment, our updated full-cycle return remains attractive and we're seeing a stronger volume profile," said Al Monaco on an earnings conference call on Friday.

"Once Line 3 is in service, it's going to contribute a lot of free cash flow — and this year we anticipate it will be about $200 million in Q4 — with volumes and EBITDA ramping up in 2022."

He said two recent court decisions in the U.S. that denied last-ditch opponent attempts to stop Line 3 make him confident the project will be completed by the fourth quarter and placed in service after about six years of regulatory review.

"The right-of-way is mostly cleared, station work is underway and trenching and welding started," said Monaco.

Line 3's total project cost is now expected to be $9.3 billion, up from $8.2 billion estimated in 2017.

It said about $400 million of the increase is due to having to build in the winter, $400 million from additional environmental measures, $200 million in extra financial and regulatory costs and about $100 million from measures to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

About $7 billion has been spent so far, including funds to complete the Canadian side of the pipeline which is already in service.

The Line 3 project is expected to add about 370,000 barrels per day of export capacity from Western Canada into the U.S.

If the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is also completed as scheduled, the total export addition of nearly one million bpd is expected to account for Western Canada's oil export needs at least through the first half of the decade, despite U.S. President Joe Biden's recent cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline.

"Even without Keystone XL, we believe that with Enbridge's Line 3 due to come on in Q4/21 and the TMX pipeline to be done by the end of 2022, take-away capacity will not be an issue going forward," said analysts with ATB Financial in a report on Friday.

The report said better prospects for pipeline capacity are already driving stronger prices for Canadian oil compared with benchmark U.S. crude.

Enbridge will continue to ignore an order from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to shut down its Line 5 pipeline through the Great Lakes by May, Monaco said on the call.

He said the company believes it will succeed in a U.S. Federal Court challenge on jurisdictional and other grounds, noting the pipeline's products are vital to the state as well as other nearby states and provinces.

Enbridge shares traded lower Friday on what analysts dubbed "mixed" fourth-quarter earnings despite its confirmation of a three per cent increase in the quarterly dividend to 83.5 cents per share.

Earnings attributable to shareholders came in at $1.78 billion, compared with profits of $746 million in the same period of 2019.

On an adjusted basis, fourth-quarter earnings were $1.13 billion, compared with adjusted earnings of $1.23 billion in the year-earlier period.

The company reported a recovery in volumes moved on its Mainline pipeline system, which accounts for the majority of Canada's oil exports, but Monaco said the outlook for a return to typical demand for its services after last year's pandemic-related hit is murky as vaccines roll out and new strains appear.

The Mainline's volumes plunged to 2.44 million barrels per day in the second quarter of 2020 as refinery demand fell last spring, but recovered to 2.65 million bpd in the fourth quarter. That's still short of the 2.84 million bpd moved in the first quarter of 2020.

Enbridge reported demand for Canadian heavy crude oil from the U.S. Gulf Coast refining hub is rising faster than demand for light oil.

The company reported installing its first solar power plant to supply a station on its Texas Eastern gas transmission pipeline and said two others are under construction.

The projects are part of its goal to cut its energy intensity by 35 per cent by 2030 and get to net-zero emissions by 2050.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2021.

Companies in this story: (TSX:ENB)

Dan Healing, The Canadian Press

Court told Alberta commissioner should continue foreign funding of oil critics probe

CALGARY — A court has been told that a man leading an inquiry into alleged foreign-funded anti-Alberta energy campaigns should be allowed to continue his work because accusations of bias are unfounded and his investigation is in the public interest.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Karen Horner heard submissions from lawyers representing inquiry commissioner Steve Allan and a consortium of pro-industry interveners.

Allan, a Calgary forensic accountant, was tapped in July 2019 to lead an inquiry into what Premier Jason Kenney and his United Conservative government have long argued is a concerted effort bankrolled by deep-pocketed U.S. foundations to hamstring Alberta's oil and gas industry.

Environmental charity Ecojustice is asking Horner to shut down the inquiry, in part because it contends there is a reasonable apprehension of bias.

Ecojustice lawyer Barry Robinson argued Thursday that Allan's support for the election campaign of Alberta cabinet minister Doug Schweitzer shows he's not independent. Robinson pointed to, among other things, a reception the commissioner held in his home for Schweitzer in March 2019.

Schweitzer would four months later, as justice minister in the newly elected UCP government, decry a "foreign-funded misinformation campaign" during a news conference during which he announced the inquiry, court heard.

On Friday, David Wachowich, a lawyer for Allan, was critical of Robinson's "drive-by of Mr. Allan."

He said Ecojustice is "cherry-picking" from Allan's long and "laudable" engagement in various political and community causes.

He added that Allan's support for Schweitzer was not inherently partisan, but was due to his belief that the candidate was the best hope to advance a flood-mitigation project for Calgary.

"He's doing what he's always done: to improve Calgary's society and improve living conditions for Calgarians and Calgary businesses," Wachowich said.

He said Allan's decades of accounting experience make him well-suited to lead a review that's investigative and inquisitorial — not one with a predetermined outcome, as Ecojustice contends.

Video: Environmental law group Ecojustice challenges Alberta oil inquiry in court (Global News)

"If anything suggests on its face that the terms of reference and this assignment are investigative or inquisitorial in nature, it is Mr. Allan's name himself," said Wachowich.

He repeatedly likened Allan to a ship captain whose course was charted by government to survey a coastline deemed in the public interest.

"Mr. Allan urges that this court allow his ship to continue to sail," said Wachowich.

"He should be subject to the Queen's justice only when he returns to home port with an account of his travels to the people."

Robinson said in his rebuttal that everything in the metaphorical ship's wake is tainted.

"Those waves have already hit the shore and cannot be remedied," he said.

Also Friday, court heard from a lawyer representing 300 pro-industry Indigenous groups and oil and gas companies, as well as oilpatch entrepreneur and former "Dragon's Den" star Brett Wilson.

"They are deeply affected by the health of Alberta's oil and gas industry," said Maureen Killoran as she argued that the purpose of the inquiry is proper.

Robinson on Thursday called the inquiry a "political gunfight" meant to intimidate those who disagree with the UCP government's stand on energy development.

Killoran said the matters before the inquiry are clearly of public concern.

"The purpose of the inquiry, as stated by cabinet, is to understand the facts and advise government. Why is it so intimidating to the applicants?" she asked.

"If these allegations are incorrect, we need to know this, too."

Horner said she expects to make a decision before Allan's May 31 deadline to submit his report to the Alberta government. She is also reserving a decision on whether to grant Ecojustice's request to bar the report's release until she rules.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2021

Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Barbara Howard's trailblazing running career was cut short by war. Then her story was all but forgotten

© Submitted by the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame Barbara Howard: left, in her Britannia High School track and field photo, late 1930s; centre, showing her devotion to the Vancouver Canucks, Howard was especially fond of the Sedin twins; right, in an undated photo.

Barbara Howard received her share of awards and accolades in her lifetime, but recognition of the trailblazing sprinter arrived late, decades after her running days were finished.

Born in 1920 into a family with deep Vancouver roots, Howard grew up at 10th Avenue and Nanaimo Street in the city's eastside Grandview neighbourhood.

Speed came naturally. As a student at Laura Secord Elementary, she could sprint the block and a half to school when she heard the bell ring, and still be at her desk on time.

The track and field team at Britannia Secondary School helped shape her talents. At 17, Howard was chosen for the 1938 British Empire Games in Sydney, Australia, after running the 100-yard dash in 11.2 seconds, one-tenth of a second faster than the Games record.

The accomplishment made her the first Black female to compete for Canada. It also made her a sensation in Australia, where she was featured on the front pages of newspapers.

On the track she helped Canada win silver and bronze relay medals. But individually she struggled, finishing sixth in the 100-yard dash in the 1938 competition.

"She was very disappointed in herself that she didn't do better and so she was looking forward to being in the Olympics a couple of years later," said niece Charline Robson.

Of course, the next two Olympic Games were lost to the Second World War, effectively ending Howard's promising track career before it really got started, said B.C. Sports Hall of Fame curator Jason Beck.

"For six years there were no competitions," he said. "The window of opportunity for an amateur athlete at that time — especially a female — was very narrow. And the war just took that away from her, unfortunately."

A walking encyclopedia of local sports knowledge, even Beck admits he was late learning about Howard.

"I actually asked her about it because I thought it was odd her story had been almost completely forgotten," he said.

"When she came back to Vancouver [in 1938] she felt she had let the city and the country down. So she actually downplayed her athletic career — she didn't talk about it."

Pioneering educator

With running in the rear-view, Howard began work on another legacy, turning her formidable energies to education — both her own and others'.

After graduating from UBC, she became the first visible minority teacher hired by the Vancouver School District, spending her 40-year career at schools on the city's east side.

And while she almost never spoke about her athletic past, there were hints.

At her memorial in 2017, two former students told the story about a boys versus girls baseball game Miss Howard organized with her class one day.
'They thought she was just a teacher'

With the game on the line, the teacher took a turn at the plate, hit the first pitch out of the park and ran the bases in high heels.

"Here she is in her beautiful suit — she loved nice clothes — and the ball came and she whacked the thing and ran," laughed Robson.

"And all the girls on the bases ran and they won and everyone was screaming. And the students had no clue she was an athlete, they thought she was just a teacher."

New research started bringing Howard's story back into the spotlight when she was in her late 80s, triggering a landslide of recognition.

In 2010 she received the Remarkable Woman Award from the Vancouver Park Board. That was followed in short order by induction into the Burnaby Sports Hall of Fame, the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2015, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.

Unlike earlier in her life, Robson said her aunt loved the new-found attention on her track career.

"She was getting calls from everywhere, to do TV and radio. And she was thrilled."

Howard remained active into her 90s, working with other seniors — who were often younger — and immigrants through her Burnaby church, and cheering for her beloved Vancouver Canucks.

She was 96 when she died in 2017.

In 2018, the City of Vancouver renamed a small park at the south end of the Cambie Street Bridge the Barbara Howard Plaza.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.

No Speed Limit

Three Essays on Accelerationism

2015

 • 

Author: 

Steven Shaviro

Accelerationism is the bastard offspring of a furtive liaison between Marxism and science fiction. Its basic premise is that the only way out is the way through: to get beyond capitalism, we need to push its technologies to the point where they explode. This may be dubious as a political strategy, but it works as a powerful artistic program.

Other authors have debated the pros and cons of accelerationist politics; No Speed Limit makes the case for an accelerationist aesthetics. Our present moment is illuminated, both for good and for ill, in the cracked mirror of science-fictional futurity.

Forerunners is a thought-in-process series of breakthrough digital works. Written between fresh ideas and finished books, Forerunners draws on scholarly work initiated in notable blogs, social media, conference plenaries, journal articles, and the synergy of academic exchange. This is gray literature publishing: where intense thinking, change, and speculation take place in scholarship.

$10.00 paper ISBN 978-0-8166-9767-0
$4.95 ISBN 978-1-4529-4508-8
86 pages, 5 x 7, 2015

https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/no-speed-limit

Is Consuming Like Crazy the Best Way to End Capitalism?

A conversation with philosopher Steven Shaviro about "accelerationism," which is essentially the belief that the best way to shorten capitalism's lifespan is to push it to the extreme.

By Charlie Ambler VICE
19.3.15



Hang out on Tumblr or in a dorm lounge long enough and eventually the talk will turn to ending capitalism. These discussions are all theoretical, of course—there have been endless attempts at shifting from our market-based economy to something more egalitarian and enlightened, but nothing has stuck, and some of the larger scale efforts have turned into horrific disasters. Anti-capitalists of various stripes haven't stopped coming up with theories about how this system could finally fall, however. One of these theories is called accelerationism—the idea is that hyper-stimulation of the market on a mass scale will end with the collapse of capitalism. Consume like crazy, only drink from styrofoam, and throw handfuls of dead batteries into our oceans so the impending apocalypse can hurry up and get over with.

The spread of this idea is rooted in Marx's belief that capitalism can't sustain itself forever and will eventually fizzle out. The means by which people will bring about its end are unclear, but that's where the ideas about accelerationism come from. Accelerationism is essentially the belief that the best way to shorten capitalism's lifespan is to push it to the extreme. If normal capitalism is Mick Jagger, accelerationism is Jim Morrison.

A while back, Steven Shaviro, who teaches at Detroit's Wayne State and studies the impact of technological capitalism on culture and everyday life, wrote an essay about accelerationism, explaining what it is in language that wasn't clouded by the usual academic jargon. Accelerationism has been explored by philosophers like Nick Land and Reza Negarestani, but Shaviro has become known as an authority on the topic—probably because he can articulate these complex philosophical ideas in a simple way that we plebs can understand. Shaviro just finished up a book out on accelerationism called No Speed Limit, so I called him up to learn more about the theory and see whether my Amazon Prime addiction is actually helping society.

VICE: Accelerationism confuses me, but what I do understand is really interesting. Can you tell me a little more about it?

Steven Shaviro: Broadly defined, "accelerationism" is the idea that the only way out is the way through. If we want to get beyond the current social and economic order and reach a post-capitalist future, then we need to push through all the messy complications of capitalism, rather than revert to something supposedly older and purer.

Accelerationism rejects certain ideas currently popular on the left, like "small is beautiful," and the Luddite enmity towards new technologies. Instead, it urges us to embrace and repurpose all the most advanced technologies.

If computational technologies are eliminating millions of jobs, then the best response is not to demand the jobs back, but to spread the wealth—to give back what the 1 Percent has stolen from everybody else—so that people can afford to lead comfortable lives without always worrying about the cost of housing or the size of their credit card bills.

Fascinating. I always thought accelerationism basically said that the most impactful anti-capitalist was the captain of industry. Like, pushing the system faster and increasing inequality even more will help destroy it. But maybe that's not the case? How can the redistribution of wealth be considered an accelerationist move?

There are different varieties of accelerationism. At one extreme, accelerationism might embrace the idea that the worse things get, the better the prospect for a revolution to overthrow everything. This seems obviously foolish to me, and I don't think that it is actually advocated by many accelerationists.

Much more subtly, Marx claimed that the contradictions that beset capitalism would eventually lead to a struggle between workers and capitalists. He hoped that this struggle would end in the establishment of communism, but he warned that it could also result in "the mutual destruction of the contending parties."

Are you saying that the end is near?

Marx was saying that, due to its inherent strains and stresses, capitalism will lead to catastrophe if it isn't somehow overcome. This is an accelerationist view, to the extent that it sees the possibilities for overcoming capitalism arising out of the very development of capitalism as a world system. But this doesn't happen in any mechanistic or predetermined way.

As for how redistribution of wealth might be related to accelerationism—when somebody like Thomas Piketty argues for global taxes in order to force a redistribution of wealth, he is trying to save the capitalist system from its own self-destructive excesses. But as Slavoj Zizek has observed, the rich will never pay such a tax voluntarily; so just getting such a tax enacted would involve other changes as well, indeed radical ones that would change capitalism substantially.

This is fascinating, for someone who was spoon-fed a lot of simplified Marxism in college. What further reading would you recommend on the topic?

Read #Accelerate—The Accelerationist Reader, edited by Robin Mackay and Armen Avanessian, for important essays about accelerationism, and Malign Velocities, by Benjamin Noys, for a critique of accelerationism. My short book on the topic, No Speed Limit: Three Essays on Accelerationism, has just come out from the University of Minnesota Press.

Cool. Can you explain what your other book, The Universe of Things, is about?

The book is about speculative realism—a recent philosophical movement that tries to consider what it would really mean to consider the universe as it exists in and for itself, apart from us. Psychologists have shown that our perception of the world is never objective; it is molded by our own needs and interests, both on the individual level, and in general, evolutionary terms. We notice what matters immediately to us, and often fail to notice what doesn't.

Speculative realism asks how it might be possible to approach things in the world, apart from the meanings and classifications that we impose upon them. If we were truly able to do this, what would we find?

Sounds like a good humanity-wide exercise in humility. How'd you get into it?

"Speculative realism" only became a term in 2007, when a philosophy conference was held with that title. The thinkers grouped under this title are very different from one another, and often have sharp disagreements. But they all question the notion that "man is the measure of all things."

They urge us to pay more attention to nonhuman entities, even nonliving entities, and to consider how all these entities are not just tools we use, or impediments to our actions, but "actants"—as the French sociologist Bruno Latour calls them—in their own right. They have their own tendencies, desires, and needs.

That's especially important at this point in history.

Right! At a time of impending ecological catastrophe, it is important for us to recognize as fully as possible the presence of the entities that share the world with us.

PLACE NAMES: Anarchist Mountain

Conventional wisdom about how the mountain between Rock Creek and Osoyoos was named is wrong

The Anarchist Summit between Rock Creek and Osoyoos was named not for Richard G. Sidley, as commonly believed, but for John Haywood. (Greg Nesteroff photo)


May. 3, 2019 

Two hundred seventy-ninth in a series on West Kootenay/Boundary place names

Anarchist Mountain, between Rock Creek and Osoyoos, boasts one of the most unique place names in BC. But the usual explanation for its origin is wrong.

Helen and G.P.V. Akrigg wrote in their classic book British Columbia Place Names (Third Edition, 1997) that the mountain was named “After Richard G. Sidley, a wild Irishman who arrived in the Osoyoos district around 1889. His extreme political views ultimately resulted in cancellation of his appointments as justice of the peace and customs officer at Sidley.”

Sidley did live on the mountain and chose its name, but he was not its namesake. While he was in fact Irish, he probably would have been bemused to hear himself described as wild and his political views labelled extreme.

The Akriggs’ source was a 1945 manuscript by Rupert W. Haggen, entitled Origin of Place Names in Boundary District. Haggen said Sidley “held, for his time, somewhat advanced political views; he was often called an anarchist, and this plateau became known locally as ‘the anarchist’s mountain.’ Local officialdom eventually relieved him of his posts.”

How Haggen came to believe these things is unknown.

Sidley reportedly began homesteading in the area in the 1880s, but the earliest actual sign of him is his appointment as a justice of the peace in July 1891, described by the Vancouver Daily World as a “very popular” move. He resigned in 1910.

He became postmaster of his namesake post office on Sept. 1, 1895 and held that job until its closure on Sept. 30, 1913 in favour of rural mail delivery.

The exact dates of his service as customs agent are not clear.

Nothing suggests he was fired from any of his posts, although he was critical of the work of Judge W.W. Spinks and laid a formal complaint against him.

In 1908, Sidley was a delegate to a federal Liberal convention at Vernon, where he protested the re-nomination of Greenwood’s Duncan Ross as candidate for Yale-Cariboo. Sidley was ejected from the meeting. He said Ross had no chance of winning the election and was proven right.

The mountain, meanwhile, was first mentioned in the Victoria Daily Times of June 25, 1892: “There are 16 new settlers on Anarchist mountain — between Osoyoos and Myers creek.”

The earliest explanation of its name appeared in the same newspaper on May 14, 1894: “Anarchist mountain acquired its unpleasing name from the fact that a rather tough character who once lived there, but now makes his home on the Colville reservation, carried a stick of dynamite around in his top boot. When asked why he did so he said he was an anarchist.”

The Vancouver Daily World of May 3, 1899 identified the man: “Anarchist Mountain was named by R.G. Sidley, a well-known rancher there, after an eccentric prospector named John Haywood, who used to carry dynamite for blasting in his boots.”

Haywood was more than eccentric. Trouble arose in June 1895, when his bull repeatedly found its way onto the field of neighbour Lucian Tedrow, who filed suit. Before the matter came to trial, Haywood was arrested for stealing cattle from Frank Edwards and taken before Sidley and C.A.R. Lambly, acting as justices of the peace.

“It is generally understood that the case is a strong one against him,” wrote the Midway Advance.

However, the matter was adjourned for a few days so further witnesses could be heard. Unable to raise $600 in bail, Haywood was remanded to the lockup in Osoyoos, where “he was given every latitude by Mr. Lambly.”

Haywood took advantage of his jailer’s generosity and skipped town early the next morning, heading across the border.

A farmhand soon discovered an animal hide hanging from Sidley’s gate, with an abusive note attached. The next day, one of Tedrow’s bulls was found dead with seven bullet holes in it. A note in Haywood’s writing was found, indicating that “certain men better keep out of sight.” It was signed “Jack Revenge.”

Sidley arrested Haywood’s son, P. Dennis, who was found nearby, but he doesn’t appear to have been charged.

“Feeling on the mountain is very strong,” the Advance reported. “The official negligence in permitting so notorious a character to escape is severely criticized.”

When Tedrow’s lawsuit against Haywood came before Judge Spinks in Osoyoos, Haywood did not appear and a default judgement of $305.50 plus costs was entered.

It’s not known what became of Haywood. Sidley died on his ranch in 1924, age 69, and was buried at Bridesville.

The notion that Anarchist Mountain might have been named for a cattle thief (or thieves) was put forth by Lyn Hancock as part of a series for Tourism British Columbia written in 1977. After recounting the usual bit about “Dick Sidley, a wild Irish radical of extreme political views,” she added: “Another story suggests it was not Sidley who was the anarchist but a gang of horse rustling outlaws that roamed the mountain. Sidley called the outlaws the anarchists.”

However, Hancock’s source is unclear.

https://www.castlegarnews.com/community/place-names-anarchist-mountain/

OR IT COULD HAVE BEEN NAMED AFTER THE ANARCHIST PRINCE, PETER KROPOTKIN  WHO FOUND THIS AREA TO BE GEOGRAPHICALLY LIKE SOUTHERN RUSSIA WHERE THE DUKHBOURS WHO LIVE HERE NOW ORIGINATED AND RECOMMENDED THEY MOVE THERE.

Anarchist Mountain couple gives back to Search and Rescue

Oliver Osoyoos Search and Rescue has received two major donations in two weeks

From left to right, Peter Ceravolo; Oliver Osoyoos Search and Rescue members Brenda and Mike Arychuk with search dog Kaya; and Debra Ceravolo. (OOSAR)

ANARCHIST MUTUAL AID BY ANY OTHER NAME

• BRENNAN PHILLIPS 
• Feb. 9, 2021 

The Oliver/Osoyoos Search and Rescue (OOSAR) has received their second major donation in two weeks.

Peter and Debra Ceravolo of Anarchist Mountain wanted to match the $2000 that was recently donated by Osoyoos residents, Ernie and Kathie Westphal.

“While we are happy to support the efforts of the dedicated volunteers of the Oliver Osoyoos Search and Rescue team, we hope we will never need them,” Peter said.

OOSAR spokesperson Brenda Arychuk said that the team was surprised but elated by another donation matching the first one.

READ MORE: Osoyoos couple gives back with donation to local Search and Rescue team

“It is so nice to focus on what is good in the world with the generosity and big hearts of people like the Ceravolo’s and Westphal’s,” Arychuk said.

The additional donation will help OOSAR get closer to updating their equipment to a newer vehicle that will be better suited to transport a search dog, gear, and members.

OOSAR members are professionally trained volunteers who are on-call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

More information about OOSAR can be found at their website at oosar.ca

Anarchist Mountain Lookout, Osoyoos, BC —

.

Oct. 17, 2020 — Anarchist Mountain Lookout is an incredibly scenic viewpoint located just outside of the town of Osoyoos in the spectacular Okanagan Valley,