Tarsands pollution: Ottawa tries to ‘up its game’
Published On Mon Dec 27 2010
The Toronto Star
After digging their heads in the tarsands for years, the governing Conservatives have seen the light: Environment Minister John Baird vowed last week to “up the federal government’s game.”
This is a remarkable admission by Ottawa. But it had little choice, because the day before Baird’s mea culpa a scientific panel declared that the federal government had failed miserably in its duty to regulate tarsands extraction. The casualty was not only the water and air quality of Alberta, but also the credibility of the whole country at a time when our tarsands gambit has become a growing global target.
Before he quit as environment minister two months ago, Jim Prentice admitted over lunch with the U.S. ambassador that he was deeply troubled by the regulatory gaps and the foreign outcry, according to a diplomatic cable released last week by WikiLeaks. Prentice was prepared to step in with legislation if the industry didn’t clean up its act, according to the ambassador.
He never did. But Prentice did go public, before departing, with his concerns about evidence of heavy metals in the Athabasca River, traceable to industry sources. He asked the independent Oilsands Advisory Panel to report back. Its verdict is a stinging indictment of the Conservative inaction and denial in both Alberta and Ottawa.
The scientists described an embarrassing lack of systematic analysis and continuing “public distrust” in government’s oversight role.
“There is no holistic and comprehensive system,” said panel chair Elizabeth Dowdeswell, president of the Council of Canadian Academies and a former head of the UN Environment Program.
Concerns about pollution, water consumption, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions have given the industry a black eye around the world, eroded confidence in Canada and exasperated the scientific community. Yet Alberta and the industry have long ignored calls from environmentalists and from the likes of former premier Peter Lougheed to slow down tarsands projects until the technology improves.
The scientific panel described the rush to development as the equivalent of flying blind: “The impact of future industrial activity related to oilsands extraction and processing is not yet fully known.”
A report earlier this month from the Royal Society of Canada also criticized the lack of scientific data about tarsands development, which prevents analysts from reaching rigorous conclusions.
Traditionally, industry advocates and their apologists in government have responded to the growing public outcry with high octane publicity campaigns and political denunciations. Alberta has built up a $25 million war chest to counter the boycott campaigns, while Ottawa has played along.
Now Baird has promised to “be guided by science and by facts, not by politics and public relations.” But his earnest talk sounds like yet more PR spin.
One way for Baird to show he’s serious would be to pressure Alberta to slow down its breakneck pace of tarsands development; current plans call for the industry to double production to 3.4 million barrels a day in a decade. With the economy rebounding, the lull of the last two years is ending. This is the best possible time for Canada to take stock rather than dig itself into an even deeper environmental hole.
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/911796--tarsands-pollu...
