Alberta Canada's dirty oil
Activists planned to dunk the Canadian flag into a barrel of crude oil. Instead they cut it down at the Canadian High Commission in London, then chained themselves to the balcony but came down peacefully after just over an hour.
But oil and all natural resources by our constitution are owned by the provinces, not by the federal government. However international trade is a federal responsibility. So darts and laurels should be allocated to the specific parties.
In a 2005 letter, Alberta Ministers wrote...
1. We are the first and only province in Canada to pass greenhouse gas legislation, the Climate Change and Emissions Management Act.
2. We are the first province in Canada to take action on climate change through establishing Climate Change Central approximately 6 years ago, and through our comprehensive action plan, Albertans and Climate Change: Taking Action.
3. We are currently in the process of finalizing climate change regulations, which we hope to have completed late this fall through consultations with Albertans.
They are protesting now because of Climate talks in Copenhagen. And it is true tarsands in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan are comparably dirty. Marginally so when accounting for entire life cycle; from raw material to consumed in engine or plastic goes to the dump. But of course uglier then a well simply drilled and pumped to the surface. The tarsands is an open pit strip mining about 200ft deep and potentially about as large as the state of Iowa. It is laboursome
"Slowing Alberta's economy is one way to guarantee reducing emissions. But if Alberta's economy slows, all... will feel the pinch" - Premier Ed Stelmach's open letter, Dec 17, 2009
Alberta has invested $2billion in Carbon Capture and Storage, a way to process oil without releasing the emissions into the atmosphere. And now is thinking about having nuclear power supplement the power necessary in this province. Greenpreace co-founder Dr Patrick Moore backs nuclear power as a viable energy alternative.
The oil biz in any regard is a dirty business. I can't see the dependence on oil actually reducing anytime soon. Given the fact that consumers of need will always need fresh supplies, consumers indeed have choices on where to purchase that oil. Venezuela? The Middle East? Or a country like Canada that has genuinely stood up for human rights and stood up against human rights abuses.
Since taking office in 2006, PM Harper has openly criticized China's human rights abuses. He was the only G8 leader to not attend the Beijing Olympics. He welcomed and met with the DaliLama. He finally me with Chinese leaders 2wks ago to ease frosty relationship and initiate trade, while trying not selling out moral stance on Tibet and other issues to the almighty dollar.
I think people have choices. And you have to weigh in pros with the cons. Not sure anyone will ever be completely happy.
But oil and all natural resources by our constitution are owned by the provinces, not by the federal government. However international trade is a federal responsibility. So darts and laurels should be allocated to the specific parties.
In a 2005 letter, Alberta Ministers wrote...
1. We are the first and only province in Canada to pass greenhouse gas legislation, the Climate Change and Emissions Management Act.
2. We are the first province in Canada to take action on climate change through establishing Climate Change Central approximately 6 years ago, and through our comprehensive action plan, Albertans and Climate Change: Taking Action.
3. We are currently in the process of finalizing climate change regulations, which we hope to have completed late this fall through consultations with Albertans.
They are protesting now because of Climate talks in Copenhagen. And it is true tarsands in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan are comparably dirty. Marginally so when accounting for entire life cycle; from raw material to consumed in engine or plastic goes to the dump. But of course uglier then a well simply drilled and pumped to the surface. The tarsands is an open pit strip mining about 200ft deep and potentially about as large as the state of Iowa. It is laboursome
"Slowing Alberta's economy is one way to guarantee reducing emissions. But if Alberta's economy slows, all... will feel the pinch" - Premier Ed Stelmach's open letter, Dec 17, 2009
Alberta has invested $2billion in Carbon Capture and Storage, a way to process oil without releasing the emissions into the atmosphere. And now is thinking about having nuclear power supplement the power necessary in this province. Greenpreace co-founder Dr Patrick Moore backs nuclear power as a viable energy alternative.
The oil biz in any regard is a dirty business. I can't see the dependence on oil actually reducing anytime soon. Given the fact that consumers of need will always need fresh supplies, consumers indeed have choices on where to purchase that oil. Venezuela? The Middle East? Or a country like Canada that has genuinely stood up for human rights and stood up against human rights abuses.
Since taking office in 2006, PM Harper has openly criticized China's human rights abuses. He was the only G8 leader to not attend the Beijing Olympics. He welcomed and met with the DaliLama. He finally me with Chinese leaders 2wks ago to ease frosty relationship and initiate trade, while trying not selling out moral stance on Tibet and other issues to the almighty dollar.
I think people have choices. And you have to weigh in pros with the cons. Not sure anyone will ever be completely happy.