10-03-06
A report on the Athabasca tar sands by the Canadian Centre for Policy
Alternatives, Parkland Institute, and Polaris Institute warns of the potential
enormous economic, social, and ecological threat from Athabasca tar sands
development.
“The Athabasca tar sands project is the centrepiece of a continental energy plan
to send massive new oil and gas supplies to the US,” says Tony Clarke, Director
of the Polaris Institute. “Canada is sitting back and letting George W. Bush and
the big oil companies dictate our energy policy.”
“Fuelling Fortress America: A Report on the Athabasca Tar Sands and US
Demands for Canada’s Energy” highlights the need for a coherent national (and
Alberta) energy strategy. Neither government is doing the analysis or public
consultation necessary to develop policies to meet the world energy crisis --
let alone ensure a secure supply of energy for Canadians.
Since the signing of NAFTA in 1992, gas exports to the US have sky rocketed from
41 % to 56 % of our total Canadian production, and oil from 44 % to 63 % of
production. What’s more, as US exports continue to balloon, NAFTA prevents us
from reducing this share to meet Canadian priorities.
“We have less than a 10-year proven supply of both conventional oil as well
as natural gas remaining, yet most of the tar sands oil is earmarked for export
to the US, and most of the natural gas from the Arctic -- by way of the
yet-to-be-built Mackenzie Valley pipeline --is also intended for the US market
or to fuel extraction of the tar sands crude,” says CCPA Executive Director
Bruce Campbell.
The rapidly increasing exports of Canada’s oil and gas to the US puts our own
energy security as a nation in jeopardy. Despite having the second largest
proven petroleum reserves in the world, Canada is already forced to import
nearly 50 % of the oil its people need. Quebec and the Maritimes have to import
90 % of their oil needs.
“Canada’s energy is a national concern and all Canadians should have a say
into what role Alberta’s tar sands will play in ensuring the country’s long-term
energy security,” says Parkland Institute Director Gordon Laxer. “The
continuation of current energy policies is clearly not in the national
interest.”
The report concludes with several proposals for a made-in-Canada energy
strategy.
Source: bcpolitics.ca