As the controversy over the proposed Keystone XL pipeline has become front page news in the U.S. Canadian interest in the Tar Sands issue has also increased, and now the prominent and influential McGill Tribune has a reexamination of the Tar Sands.
The Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline Project
By Kat Sieniuc
Published: Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Girling and Harper's emphasis on job and energy security raises an important debate over what better serves Canada's future interests: short term economic growth and energy security for North America, or averting potential long-term environmental devastation for the country, continent, and the planet.
Two of the sources quoted are David Schindler, professor of ecology at the University of Alberta, and Mike Hudema, Tar Sands campaigner for Greenpeace Canada.
Schindler argues that these "ethical oil" arguments are groundless. "Mideast sources might have a bad record for treatment of women, but ours is not so stellar for treatment of native people or honoring our treaties with them. And eastern Canada relies on the same unstable, ‘unethical' Mideast sources because we ship most of the oil sands production to the USA. This is not ethical," he said, "it is nuts." Many Canadians agree, and have expressed their opposition through forms of environmental civil disobedience. The September 26 anti-tar sands rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa is the largest example, so far. Hudema calls the rally "a history-making event."
"We had people from almost every single province and territory in the country come to Ottawa willing to risk arrest to push our Prime Minister away from a dangerous tar sands industry and to start building a green future that prioritizes the health of our environment and community," Hudema said.
Likewise, Hudema believes that with the Occupy Wall Street Movement, Canadians "have a political moment that we need to all try and take advantage of."
According to Greenpeace Canada, the majority of opinion polls evaluating the Canadian stance on federal energy investments overwhelmingly show that over 80 per cent of Canadians wish to see clean energy investments. In light of these results, "the oil industry is calling shots within the federal government rather than the federal government doing what it should do, which is to operate in the public interest and replicate the demand of the people," concludes Hudema.
For Schindler, it is clear that the Federal and Albertan governments are ignoring the fact that Canada has other alternatives for stationary power sources, and instead continue to favor dirty energy. "In Alberta, geothermal and wind are scarcely tapped," Schindler explained. Schindler says that this is indicative of how the Canadian government is easily influenced by oil and gas remunerations and propaganda so that "both the feds and province do not hesitate to continue to ‘greenwash' problems."
According to Hudema, "the only thing that is going to change this is what we are already seeing, is people power."
Please read the whole article and leave a comment.
This link is to Robert Redford's new video op-ed in the New York Times on Keystone XL: Robert Redford's video op-ed in the New York Times
Here's another video on the Keystone XL Pipeline:
A Keystone XL opponent emerges as a Nebraska Folk Hero.
For the Keystone Battle, a Folk Hero
Right now Republican Reps Joe (you lie) Wilson, John Shimkus, and Bob Latta are touring the the Alberta Tar Sands on a Big Oil junket, spewing the kind of comments Big Oil loves to see in the local Canadian coverage of their trip. See no evil, hear no evil speak no evil might be better name for this trio of hacks.
The sooner Canadians revisit their government's decision to proceed with the devastating Alberta Tar Sands projects the better.