“It is ethical oil. It is regulated oil. And it's secure oil in a world where many of the free world's oil sources are somewhat less secure.”
This is a statement by Canada’s new Minister of the Environment, Peter Kent, which managed to stir up controversy this past week. In speaking to the reporter, Kent stated that the oilsands are crucial to the well being of the west and Canada and the oilsands are ethical because the industry and the profits are not produced in undemocratic or unethical ways.
I believe that everyone is entitled to their opinion. In pouring over the venomous comments and letters that have been written in response to his statement (and of course Ezra Levant’s book Ethical Oil), I am hopeful that Canadians will come to see the industry for its environmental, economic and energy supply implications rather than for the terms used to describe it.
Of course, the NGO groups have been using the ‘dirty oil’ slogan to depict what the oilsands industry is producing. I admit that this term is catchier than a truthful statement like ‘greenhouse gas emissions from the oilsands are comparable, on a full life-cycle basis, to emissions from the other crude oil sources used in North America.’ Or ‘In-situ oilsands production uses non-potable water which is unsuitable for drinking, livestock or irrigation. Up to 90 per cent of this water is recycled.’ But we cannot resort to sloganeering ourselves because we are held up to a higher standard of truth than our detractors.
Perhaps the greatest challenge is the lack of credibility that all industry spokespeople face on this issue. When we talk about the tremendous economic benefits of the oilsands we appear either self-serving or indifferent to environmental impacts. When we discuss environmental impacts it’s hard not to sound self-congratulatory or dismissive of the importance of continuous improvement.
Nevertheless, and whatever we are called, the oilsands industry will continue to encourage reasonable, fact-based conversations while balancing the environmental, economic and energy supply implications of the development of this tremendous Canadian energy resource.
For more information on Canada’s oilsands, please visit, www.oilsandsdevelopers.ca.
Don Thompson, president, Oil Sands Developers Group, Fort McMurray, Alta.
