It was a unanimous decision. NAFTA’s North American Free Trade Agreement) environmental commission will not be looking into the oil sands tailings ponds. The decision came despite the fact staff with NAFTA’s Commission on Environmental Co-operation (CEC) recommended doing the opposite. In a written ruling, the CEC stated the reason there will not be an investigation is because of […]
Comment: Three Pinocchios – not a fairytale
Over the past months and right after the Senate defeated legislation authorizing the Keystone XL pipeline, President Obama said the pipeline was just to move Canadian oil through the US to the Gulf Coast for shipment overseas. He has also said he is concerned about its environmental impacts and the small number of jobs that […]
Comment: Prosperity in Canada relies on healthy oil industry
It’s been 30 years since Mancur Olson, wrote The Rise and Decline of Nations. The premise is the longer a society enjoys political stability, the more likely it is to develop powerful special interest groups that erode economic prosperity. His words have proven prescient as we witness Europe’s debt-burdened stagnation and degeneration of the U.S. […]
Comment: If it’s not a lie, does that make it the truth?
Senator John Thune, (Republican-South Dakota) said one of the first acts of the new Senate will be to force President Barack Obama’s hand on the Keystone XL pipeline. The project has been in the works since 2008 and its current version involves a 875-mile pipeline that would run from Morgan, Montana to Steele City, Nebraska. […]
Single hull oil tankers banned from U.S. waters – UPDATE
It’s only been a quarter of a century since the United States passed it’s Oil Pollution Act. A year after the 1989 Exxon Valdez environmental disaster off the coast of Alaska, American politicians wrote a law requiring all new tankers need to have double hulls to prevent similar catastrophes. But single hull tankers were still […]
Comment: Perils of OPEC being able to control oil prices
preamble: when it comes to Alberta oil and pipelines you often hear those in favour – especially in the U.S. – saying it’s important to they get their oil from a friendly government rather than relying on those in the Middle East. If you ever wanted proof of that, take a look at what OPEC […]
Key questions about the Keystone XL pipeline debate
Most people have heard of the Keystone XL pipeline. To many though it’s not clear why there’s so much controversy about the project. The basics are simple: The proposed pipeline to be built by TransCanada would carry 830,000 barrels of oil per day from the oil sands down to Nebraska. Supporters contend it will create jobs and bolster the flow of oil from […]
Forests at risk so oil can flow
The world’s last remaining forest wilderness is rapidly being lost – and much of this is taking place in Canada, not in Brazil or Indonesia where deforestation has so far made the headlines. A new satellite study reveals that since 2000 more than 104 million hectares of forests – an area three times the size […]
Comment: No fracking = no money
Nova Scotia certainly isn’t rolling in dough. The Maritime province has a higher unemployment rate than the national average. It’s also a “have-not” province on the equalization payment grid. That isn’t stopping them from putting the lid on one potential source of revenue. In September, Energy Minister Andrew Younger stated the province will ban hydraulic […]
Comment: Oil – a financial cure?
Austerity is in the air and there is much grieving and gnashing of teeth across the land. I understand the anger of the municipal workers. But I also understand the anger of the average taxpayer. Most of us don’t have a gold-plated pension plan like they do. And if things stay as they are, there […]
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