Saturday, May 07, 2011

Harper Majority and the Alberta Tar Sands:

Last night I, for the first time, saw a commercial promoting the tar sands in Alberta, claiming that Canada has an extraordinary source of wealth through them. This commercial was on MSNBC. Is this a sign of things to come under the Harper majority? Does this mean bye-bye environment?

The tar sands poison the drinking water of nearby Aboriginal communities, destroy natural environments, and create an excessive amount of greenhouse gases contributing to global warming and making Canada a climate change pariah on the global stage. Looks like it’s full-speed ahead and more on all this thanks to Harper’s majority.

The video below is not the actual commercial I saw, but it shows how the tar sands are being promoted.

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5 comments:

  1. It's all about Alberta.

    Ontario has been tricked into voting against its own interests.

    Ontario has the lowest corporate tax rate in North America, yet we are struggling. The high Canadian Dollar is not friendly to Ontario's service and manufacturing base. The dollar is high due to speculation on commodities -- read: oil and gas -- and this is really hurting Ontario.

    In order to negotiate successful trade agreements and to maintain the ones we have, Harper will have to make concessions in order to keep the Tar Sands highly profitable and devoid of responsibility foe the mess they are creating.

    Indeed, the profits are for Corps in Alberta to make, the costs are for the rest of us to pay.

    For generations.

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  2. Mark Francis, thanks for your comment. You make interesting points about the impact on Ontario. Economy is one aspect. However, Tar Sands and impact on the environment is very worrisome. Also the impact on Native communities in the Tar Sands area.

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  3. On May 3 Harper pronounced that it was now full steam ahead for the pipeline from Athabasca to his dream supertanker port in Kitimat. They call the slurry they're pumping oil but it's anything but. It's highly corrosive sludge full of acids, toxins and heavy metals. If a tanker load of that gets released into northern BC waters it's over. It'll make Prince William Sound and the Exxon Valdez look like so much spilled milk.

    Harper essentially dismissed environmental concerns over the pipeline and tanker traffic as West Coast transportation tantrums. He actually said that not going through with the supertanker initiative would be dangerous to Western Canada as though Athabasca, not British Columbia, is Western Canada.

    The man is an asshole.

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  4. I agree with all of the above. Yes, the slurry is very corrosive and toxic.

    And, as we have just been reminded, pipelines certainly leak, don't they?

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  5. "The man is an asshole."

    Mound, what can I say? You summed it up well.

    Mark, no question it is a bad news for the environment.

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