Canadians want Alberta Oil Sands Production Cut

by albertacowpoke | August 3, 2009 at 03:31 am

334 views | 49 Recommendations | 15 comments

The Alberta Tar Sands have been in the news for some time, and has been kept alive by environmental groups. Both former Vice President Al Gore and President Obama have referred to oil coming from the Tar Sands as dirty oil.

The Alberta government has been trying, with little success, to improve the image of the oil sands. A recent campaign has talked about carbon sequestration, a method presently being tried near Redwater, Alberta.

A recent poll conducted on behalf of the Environmental group, Environmental Defence, found that 52% of Canadians want tar sands development slowed and investments directed toward the development of green energy. 29 % want oil sands production to increase and 19% don.t know.

Canada's Premiers (similar to Governor's of States) will be meeting in Regina, Saskatchewan this week. The Environment is expected to be on the agenda. Premier Campbell of British Columbia is sure to engage Premier Ed Stelmach of Alberta. There has been a recent uproar that British Columbians are paying for the clean-up of Alberta's dirty oil. B.C. has recently introduced a carbon tax.

Some Premiers are also interested in attending the Environmental Conference in Copenhagen later this year.

Provincial premiers will meet in Regina this week amid new poll results that show a majority of Canadians think oil sands production should be cut as Canada grapples with reducing greenhouse gases.

The poll, conducted for the group Environmental Defence, finds that 52 per cent of those surveyed want to slow down oil sands development and invest instead in clean-energy job creation. The poll, provided to The Globe and Mail, found that another 29 per cent believe oil sands production should be increased, while 19 per cent don't know.

The issue of global warming is expected to be on the agenda when the premiers gather for meetings in the Saskatchewan capital starting Wednesday. Canada is preparing to join in climate-change talks in Copenhagen later this year, and some provincial premiers have asked to be involved.

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Barry Artiste

at 04:49 on August 3rd, 2009

Notice the ones who want the oil sands to stop are the ones whose jobs and economy are not directly affected by it. Course the States should know a majority of the gas they put into their cars come from ALberta, not Saudi Arabia as most believe/

mtippett

at 07:41 on August 3rd, 2009

Yeah, if only the ecological costs of this exploration could be applied to those who make money off it. That's always the problem with such large scale projects of this kind: the profits are privatized and the costs are socialized.

Paschen

at 07:45 on August 3rd, 2009

BINGO!! I could not have said it any better. Thank you MT.

albertacowpoke

at 08:45 on August 3rd, 2009

Thanks for you comments mtippett. Actually the Alberta gouvernment had the ability to apply these costs to the producer and profit maker. They chose to go to bed with them instead. For decades they have collected royalty payments and squandered them.

I know what it's like when they decide that your land is in the way of a pipeline. It might be worth a story. In Alberta landowners only have surface rights.

eastvanray

at 16:23 on August 3rd, 2009

Actually, in a way Mike, they are. Massive taxes are levied against petrolium products. Governments simply need to be pressured to apply those tax revenues to the appropriate ends.

albertacowpoke

at 16:27 on August 3rd, 2009

I agree eastvan, the Alberta government has squandered a lot of that revenue.

albertacowpoke

at 04:53 on August 3rd, 2009

Not to speak of all the Natural Gas that flows to the US out of Alberta. This is the best kept secret. If I'm not wrong the pipeline run into a hub in Chicago..

sara star

at 07:15 on August 3rd, 2009

NS has gas running all the way to Texas, yet we can't get it in our own province.

marianmo

at 07:59 on August 3rd, 2009

ty for this very interesting post...at a time when the Alberta govt claims it is being poor and money isnt flowing, they want to cut off a source of revenue...at a time when the citizens of Fort McMurray and area are asking that the govt honour their commitment, and they have basically told the citizens to quit whining....they cut off a source of revenue...hmmm interesting..is there alcohol being served at caucus planning sessions....the oil and gas does flow to the states...the oil does go to colorado..the big oil companies there are all american..interesting...and gas apparently is hard to find for your car in Alberta..but not in the states..go figure..our dirty oil and gas ishelping to keep the US moving, and our country is coming to a standstill.....guess we'll have to send back all the Mexican, Philipino, Iranian, East Indian workers to their homelands as well as the US presidents of the oil companies and managers as well..hmmm interesting thought..ty for the post acp..what a way to start the day

albertacowpoke

at 08:41 on August 3rd, 2009

There has been a temporary shortage of gasoline in rural Alberta indeed. A lighting strike shut down two facilities just outside of Sherwood Park. Petrocan and Esso were affected. It happened, of course, on a long weekend.

All these years revenue was wasted, when either we should have been working on converting to another source or bolstering our present refining capabilities. Supplies are always vulnerable when only one refinery is down.

158

at 08:07 on August 3rd, 2009

Some thing to consider.

RRR (not verified)

at 07:11 on August 9th, 2009

Alberta just doesn't get it. The world is moving to new, more sustainable sources of energy (US, China, Japan, all have major green energy projects) and Alberta refuses to acknowledge this reality. Soon, Alberta is going to go the way of the coal industry if it fails to innovate.

eastvanray

at 11:50 on August 9th, 2009

The market for oil is not going away in my lifetime nor in the lifetime of anyone old enough to read this. Other sources of energy will gain market share but none will dominate oil until oil is gone. Oil is still the cheapest fuel per BTU and that is not changing soon.

albertacowpoke

at 07:16 on August 9th, 2009

Unfortunately I have to agree with you. During the years of the boom, Alberta squandered its wealth and is now running deficits. Even the cattle industry is in danger this year, with farmers dumping their livestock due to high cost of grain and lack of pastures due to droughts.