Canadian Oxymoron of the Week ‘Ethical Oil’
Say hello to so-called “ethical oil”. And goodbye to any remnant of Canadian government respectability on the world stage, at least as far as environmental issues are concerned.
This week, newly minted environment minister Peter Kent took the opportunity of a full-length interview on CBC to launch a vigourous defence of the Alberta oil sands, regarded by many as one of the the most environmentally destructive mega-projects in the world. Piling falsehood upon falsehood, Kent claimed:
* Canada is on track to meet its greenhouse gas emissions target of 17% reduction from 2005 levels by 202o.
* Reductions so far have been due to “technology improvement” (with the oil sands as the sole example cited).
* Any contamination of the Athabasca River is natural and there is “absolutely no scientific evidence” of elevated contaminant levels from oil sands operations, specifically referring to leakage from tailings ponds. Renowned ecologist David Schindler is flat-out “wrong” to assert otherwise.