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Prince Rupert Regional Information
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NATURESea, land, river PEOPLESCommunity
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John S MacDonald
was born in PR and grew up here until 18 years old --- He is the 2nd
Chancellor of UNBC to do so – Iona Campagnolo being the other (here Iona’s last official visit—and here where her Freedom of City
recounted etc |
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Dr
John MacDonald giving his talk --- He was accompanied by his wife Fredette |
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First return
visit in years During the introductions
etc it was commented how impressed Dr MacDonald was with the drive here from
Terrace as it was the first time he had been along the ‘New Highway’ –
presumably having flown in on last few visits --- Doctor MacDonald mentioned
in passing that the surrounding landscapes (Rainforest etc) were a great
incentive to get young intellectuals to move to area – as ‘Brain Power’ was
key to future in era of declining fossil fuel energy |
While the
image above does not show—some local politicians showed up to hear and honour
Dr MacDonald |
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Both
Mayors from area (Mussallem and MacDonald were present as was Councillor Gina
Garon |
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When in Prince
Rupert, I was told, he lived in the 6th Avenue area – in house
that no longer exists--- and one of the stories told about him was how as a
youngster he was skipping school when his dad came along – John who was
sitting corner 5th & McBride – waved at his Dad as he passed The other anecdote
from that era was how he maintained and repaired Radios for fishing fleet –
often ‘hitchhiking’ a ride etc |
Distinguished
academic career |
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Received
his Doctorate from MIT (1964) in Electrical Engineering – taught at UBC etc ---
but it his business innovation for which he is best known --- ‘co-founder of MacDonald Dettwiler,
Canada's principal space company, serving as President and CEO for 13 years
and Chairman for a subsequent 16 years until his retirement from the company
in 1998’(source quote)
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Dr MacDonald
remains innovative ---- |
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He is presently CEO of photovoltaic
company etc – during the presentation he mentioned that there is presently
sufficient sunshine at Mohave Desert to fuel all humanities (present)
electrical needs --- Dr MacDonald
mentioned to me during question period how accurate satellite imagery is (that
was MacDonald Dettwiler forte’) --- has resolution of 1 meter – plus able to
‘see’ depth to (1 cm??) – whatever, satellite imagery comparisons can measure
how much the surface has lowered (over time) while oil being pumped from
deposit below --- This significant for CCS (Carbon Capture
and Storage) --- where we could confirm/ monitor how much C02
pumped back into earth |
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Wiki source article
Peak Oil |
Energy in
the 21st Century |
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I will return to
the lecture and local implications this weekend --- note here that MacDonald
is an Electrical Engineer and most of his talk was from that perspective ---
thus graphs of actual numbers supplemented by models etc His main point was
that our present prosperity (Developed World) is unprecedented and purely
based upon cheap fossil energy --- that era is approaching its end --- thus
what (technological) alternatives still open to us? |
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A visit to
the home town |
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It
was a spectacular sunset the evening of the lecture --- it was mentioned in passing
that his wife had never had a Tim Hortons doughnut before – as did here in PR
--- He also mentioned in passing how ‘Down South’ the politicos never come up
with Sunshine as an alternative fuel – based upon local conditions there he
quipped |
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Closing of
Supermarket also on 2nd |
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A
sad day – especially for the employees – but perhaps there will be a silver
lining as we move from ‘supermarkets’ to sustainability locally City
Council Meeting Monday More
over the weekend |
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More on SQCRD audit this weekend
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Created by LG on 4/6/2010
Last updated on Friday, June 04, 2010