She regretted, but didn't condemn, the Obama administration's decision to delay approval of the mega-project until after 2013. And she displayed refreshing humility about her own power to change minds in Washington.Needless to say, Saskatchewan's premier is rather in the latter category.
"To presume that somehow the premier of Alberta could come into this city and absolutely change the course of an independent regulatory process that's conducted over six government departments is a little too rich for me," she said. A welcome show of honesty, after decades of various federal and provincial blowhards going south to wave their tiny fists.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Compare and contrast
One Western premier has some perspective on what a provincial leader can expect to accomplish on the global stage:
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Federal and provincial blowhards having been doing a lot of tiny fist waving in Europe as well. In a recent series of articles in "The Tyee", Andrew Nikiforuk has discussed the many ethical challenges facing the Tar Sands, and writes as follows:
ReplyDelete'Since 2009 Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs in alliance with major oil companies (the Pan- European Oil Sands Advocacy Plan) has engaged in more than 110 lobby actions to derail Europe's Fuel Quality Directive. As one member of the European parliament put it "The government of Canada has been lobbying us in a manner that is not acceptable" '
Understood that it's a common problem. Though it's particularly jarring in Wall's case since he doesn't even have the "supporting our industry!" excuse - it's based solely on a desire to ingratiate himself with his Alberta funders.
ReplyDeleteOn second reading, I find Susan Riley's article confusing. How can two women who both agree that the Tar Sands can be expanded in an environmentally sustainable manner, resolve the real issue which is whether or not the Tar Sands can be expanded in an environmentally sustainable manner?
ReplyDeleteSeems to me neither is willing to consider the possibility that Tar Sands expansion is not environmentally sustainable and will accelerate climate change. Shouldn't we at least figure out if Tar Sands pollution and emissions can be controlled before we increase production, and lobby for export? Shouldn't we have a transparent, independent monitoring system in place to measure the environmental being done, and set new emissions regulations, and finally, then debate whether or not this project should be expanded? So many unanswered questions, and way too much lobbying!
I wouldn't take that message from either of them, at least based on the article - both see oil sands development making sense in the context of a broader sustainability strategy, which implies enough information to determine whether that's possible and fully debating our options. (And I wouldn't want to rule out the possibilities in either direction: just as we shouldn't assume that further expansion is a must, we also shouldn't rule out the possibility that expansion over the next couple of decades might well be a net positive if combined with realistic carbon prices and a strategy to move toward cleaner energy and a more diversified economy in the long term.)
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your position, but I think it is a mistake to proceed with Tar Sands expansion (even at a slower pace as the NDP appears to be suggesting) given the information we now have regarding its' negative environmental impact. We know from the Environment Commissioner's Audit that our information about Tar Sands pollution and emissions is woefully inadequate, and that we are making decisions without understanding the environmental consequences. We know from Dr. Schindler's research that hydrocarbons are polluting the air, water and soil surrounding the Tar Sands. We know from Alberta Health Services that cancer rates are higher than expected in the Fort Chip area. We know that the Alberta government has certified as reclaimed only .15% of the area disturbed by Tar Sands mining. Enough red flags have been raised to conclude that the Tar Sands are NOT environmentally sustainable until we can prove otherwise.
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