Apparently Alberta's environment minister is going to Copenhagen to defend Canada's honour internationally.This is like throwing water on a gasoline fire. Could it be that Albertans really think that global warming is a hoax, and that environmentalists are idiots? The last thing we need is an Albertan "environment" minister presenting an argument on an international stage, for why we need to continue spewing CO2. I just heard him on CKCO news, and he is going with the argument that the tar sands are only a tiny fraction of the CO2 production in the world. That is not going to help our image one bit.
My advice to Rob Renner. Please stay home and save a few tons of CO2. Your presence is not required, for one thing. Alberta is not even recognized as a nation. And your argument is basically saying "we don't care what you think, we're telling you this is no problem" If you are not bringing any solution, then all you are going to do is make Canada look even more stupid than Harper has done already. The only way you could make the situation worse is if you brought a live baby seal on stage and skinned it alive while the audience watched in horror.
The best you could do if you go there, is keep quiet and just listen to some people.
This is another of the predicted impacts of peak oil ... extraction is becoming increasingly costly, both financially and environmentally.
ReplyDeleteNot only are emissions from tar sands extraction three times higher than conventional oil production, but the processes are causing massive contamination of the Athabasca watershed. And the oil companies are significantly under-reporting the mess they're creating.
Alberta has a problem: their economy is heavily energy based, conventional oil sources are being depleted, continued 'prosperity' necessitates exploitation of the Tar Sands - and the politicians are lining up behind that increased exploitation.
The federal government must ramp down the billions in subsidies to the petroleum producers, reduce or eliminate depletion allowances and make the price of oil reflect the massive, and growing, externalities involved in its production.
Renewable energy development and production is being penalized by the anachronistic governmental supports for the oil and gas indutsries.