Canada: Power pact lauded

A top economist says New Brunswick must act soon to swap its fossil fuel generated electricity for greener hydro-electric power.

Jeff Rubin, chief economist and chief strategist at CIBC World Markets for two decades before stepping down last March, says the proposed deal to sell NB Power to Hydro-Qu

“New Brunswick is singularly disadvantaged relative to other places in North America until it can wean itself off oil,” says Rubin, author of the book Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller, which says oil scarcity in the coming decade will spur the end of globalization.

In a sweeping interview from his home in Toronto last week, Rubin says oil prices will begin a long ascent in 2010.

“This time we can expect oil prices to rise and continue rising,” he says. “Indeed I think the continued increase in oil prices will change how the world economy works.”

Telegraph Journal