Ethical oil
(→External links) |
|||
| Line 6: | Line 6: | ||
The argument runs something like this: "Sure developing the tar sands means tearing-up the landscape and dumping billions of tonnes of [[greenhouse gas]]es into the atmosphere... but at least when oil is coming from [[Canada]] there's no money going towards supporting them [[heresy|godless]] [[Islam|Mooslims]] with their [[terrorism]] and [[shariah]] and all that. If we become the [[US]]' main provider they'll never have to go to [[Iraq War|war]] again! And [[Global warming conspiracy theory|global warming is probably a lie anyway]]!" | The argument runs something like this: "Sure developing the tar sands means tearing-up the landscape and dumping billions of tonnes of [[greenhouse gas]]es into the atmosphere... but at least when oil is coming from [[Canada]] there's no money going towards supporting them [[heresy|godless]] [[Islam|Mooslims]] with their [[terrorism]] and [[shariah]] and all that. If we become the [[US]]' main provider they'll never have to go to [[Iraq War|war]] again! And [[Global warming conspiracy theory|global warming is probably a lie anyway]]!" | ||
| − | It has made a convenient shield for | + | It has made a convenient shield for Prime Minister [[Harper]]'s aggressive expansion of the oil sands (which is unsurprising, given Harper's connections to the movement), to the point where the government has repeatedly [[PIDOOMA|accused]] Canadian environmental groups of [[anti-environmentalism|being agents of sinister foreign powers]].<ref>[http://deepclimate.org/2012/01/13/ethical-oil-political-connections-part-1-conservatives-go-newclear/ Deep Climate]</ref> |
==Economics?== | ==Economics?== | ||
| − | At this point the most adequate "[[ethical]]" justification for increasing crude production in Canada is to use it as emergency funding during a [[Great Recession|recession]] and/or funnel the cash made into developing technology that will make the extraction process more [[renewable energy|carbon neutral]]. Indeed, Canuckistan had its recovery after 2008 sweetened thanks to resource industries in Western Canada picking up the slack from struggling manufacturing in the East. | + | At this point the most adequate "[[ethical]]" justification for increasing crude production in Canada is to use it as emergency funding during a [[Great Recession|recession]] and/or funnel the cash made into developing technology that will make the extraction process more [[renewable energy|carbon neutral]]. Indeed, Canuckistan had its recovery after [[Great Recession|2008]] sweetened thanks to resource industries in Western Canada picking up the slack from struggling manufacturing in the East. |
This, of course, is a double-edged sword that could mean dangerous politics. There are growing signs that the economy is becoming over-reliant on the energy sector;<ref>[http://www.bnn.ca/News/2013/7/31/Canada-economy-grows-02-in-May-below-forecasts.aspx Canada’s economy held back by drop in oil sands output], BNN</ref><ref>[http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-30/alberta-says-budget-deficit-to-widen-on-lower-oil-price.html Alberta Says Budget Deficit To Widen On Lower Oil Price], ''Bloomberg''</ref> while this wouldn't be in a problem in, say, [[Saudi Arabia]], the petroleum in Alberta is extremely unconventional bitumen.<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/05/18/us-oilsands-carbon-idUSTRE54H6C220090518 Canada oil sands emit more CO2 than average: report], ''Reuters''</ref><ref>[http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/greenpage/regulator-industry-find-oilsands-cleanup-harder-than-first-thought-211041471.html Regulator, industry find oilsands cleanup harder than first thought], ''Winnipeg Free Press''</ref> [[China]] and other world powers are only lining up for it now in the fear of [[peak oil]], and when the [[effects of global warming|effects of AGW]] reach a breaking point demand for the stuff will plummet. No allegory to the [[Alaska#The Klondike gold rush|Yukon Gold Rush]] needed.<ref>[http://www.comeexplorecanada.com/yukon/dawson_city/ And we all know what happened to Dawson City.]</ref> | This, of course, is a double-edged sword that could mean dangerous politics. There are growing signs that the economy is becoming over-reliant on the energy sector;<ref>[http://www.bnn.ca/News/2013/7/31/Canada-economy-grows-02-in-May-below-forecasts.aspx Canada’s economy held back by drop in oil sands output], BNN</ref><ref>[http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-30/alberta-says-budget-deficit-to-widen-on-lower-oil-price.html Alberta Says Budget Deficit To Widen On Lower Oil Price], ''Bloomberg''</ref> while this wouldn't be in a problem in, say, [[Saudi Arabia]], the petroleum in Alberta is extremely unconventional bitumen.<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/05/18/us-oilsands-carbon-idUSTRE54H6C220090518 Canada oil sands emit more CO2 than average: report], ''Reuters''</ref><ref>[http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/greenpage/regulator-industry-find-oilsands-cleanup-harder-than-first-thought-211041471.html Regulator, industry find oilsands cleanup harder than first thought], ''Winnipeg Free Press''</ref> [[China]] and other world powers are only lining up for it now in the fear of [[peak oil]], and when the [[effects of global warming|effects of AGW]] reach a breaking point demand for the stuff will plummet. No allegory to the [[Alaska#The Klondike gold rush|Yukon Gold Rush]] needed.<ref>[http://www.comeexplorecanada.com/yukon/dawson_city/ And we all know what happened to Dawson City.]</ref> | ||
Revision as of 22:18, 27 December 2013
| None like it hot |
| The basics |
| Lies, talking points, manufactroversies |
|
| The deniers |
“”There’s no such thing as ethical oil. There’s only dirty oil and dirtier oil.
|
| —Al Gore |
"Ethical oil" is an attempt to re-brand the Athabasca tar sands into more palatable terms, along with the Alberta oil industry in general.
The term was originally coined by right-wing hack Ezra Levant[1] in an effort to mitigate the negative publicity that development of the tar sands had gathered due to its massive ecological destructiveness.[2] It has since been adopted, unsurprisingly, by the oil industry itself.[3]
The argument runs something like this: "Sure developing the tar sands means tearing-up the landscape and dumping billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere... but at least when oil is coming from Canada there's no money going towards supporting them godless Mooslims with their terrorism and shariah and all that. If we become the US' main provider they'll never have to go to war again! And global warming is probably a lie anyway!"
It has made a convenient shield for Prime Minister Harper's aggressive expansion of the oil sands (which is unsurprising, given Harper's connections to the movement), to the point where the government has repeatedly accused Canadian environmental groups of being agents of sinister foreign powers.[4]
Contents |
Economics?
At this point the most adequate "ethical" justification for increasing crude production in Canada is to use it as emergency funding during a recession and/or funnel the cash made into developing technology that will make the extraction process more carbon neutral. Indeed, Canuckistan had its recovery after 2008 sweetened thanks to resource industries in Western Canada picking up the slack from struggling manufacturing in the East.
This, of course, is a double-edged sword that could mean dangerous politics. There are growing signs that the economy is becoming over-reliant on the energy sector;[5][6] while this wouldn't be in a problem in, say, Saudi Arabia, the petroleum in Alberta is extremely unconventional bitumen.[7][8] China and other world powers are only lining up for it now in the fear of peak oil, and when the effects of AGW reach a breaking point demand for the stuff will plummet. No allegory to the Yukon Gold Rush needed.[9]
It didn't have to be this way: the province had a Heritage Fund specifically designed to prepare for a post-oil economy, progressively squandered over the last 30 years due to the boom and bust of oil prices and and anti-tax rhetoric (it's Alberta we're talking about here, remember).[10][11][12] Norway, on the other hand, is pointing and laughing.[13]
See also
- Clean coal
- Drill baby, drill
- False dichotomy
- NIMBY: A less-than-noble reason some oppose "ethical" oil.
- Not as bad as
- Oxymoron
External links
- Oil: Where Canada stands in the global picture, CBC
- If the world's top climate scientists are feeling like this on Keystone XL, then we have a bit of a problem.
- Memo to the Conservatives on climate policy: ‘Take the money, dammit!’, Maclean's
- My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun/Coral is far more red than her lips/If snow be white, then her breasts are dun/Because pipeline
Footnotes
- ↑ "Ethical Oil: The Case For Canada's Oilsands"
- ↑ Google "Alberta oil spill." Have at Captain Picard's ultimate facepalm when ready.
- ↑ Through the aptly-named Ethical Oil Institute, in fact.
- ↑ Deep Climate
- ↑ Canada’s economy held back by drop in oil sands output, BNN
- ↑ Alberta Says Budget Deficit To Widen On Lower Oil Price, Bloomberg
- ↑ Canada oil sands emit more CO2 than average: report, Reuters
- ↑ Regulator, industry find oilsands cleanup harder than first thought, Winnipeg Free Press
- ↑ And we all know what happened to Dawson City.
- ↑ Opportunity Lost? Alberta Is Facing Short- and Long-Term Financial Challenges Despite Its Oil Wealth, Conference Board of Canada
- ↑ Canadian Policy Prescriptions for "Dutch Disease", Institute for Research on Public Policy
- ↑ Peter Lougheed leaves lasting economic and political legacy for Alberta, Vancouver Sun
- ↑ What Norway did with its oil and we didn’t, The Globe and Mail