Tag: offshore oil

This article examines how the Port au Port wind-to-hydrogen project exemplifies manufactured consent in Newfoundland and Labrador. Drawing on the Local Paradox framework, municipal dependency research, and the legacy of the cod collapse, Churchill Falls, Muskrat Falls, and offshore oil, it shows how structural weakness, historical trauma, and consultation rituals combine to greenwash global agendas as local opportunity. Port au Port is framed not as a community-led vision, but as an echo of elsewhere’s priorities — Berlin’s hydrogen demand, Ottawa’s climate branding, and corporate strategies — imposed on fragile institutions and vulnerable populations. Read More...

In Newfoundland, protest often begins as resistance but too often ends in opportunism. From Muskrat Falls to offshore oil to fracking, the loudest voices have turned outrage into political bids, industry appointments, or personal leverage. Figures like Andrew Parsons and Kevin Aylward illustrate how quickly protest visibility can shift into corporate roles, while local archetypes — the ambitious candidate, the elder, the enforcers, the gatekeeper, and the consultant-in-disguise — show how movements fracture into manageable pieces. The result is predictable: credibility is spent, trust erodes, and outside agendas advance. Protest becomes currency, traded for status, reputation, or influence — until even the evidence of resistance begins to vanish. Read More...