75 Groups from Canada, US and Europe Call for End to Toxic Tar Sands Tailings

authordefault
on

75 groups from across Canada, the U.S. and Europe have signed a petition calling on the federal and Alberta governments to immediately phase out existing tailings lakes and deny any proposed project that would create new tailings lakes. Greenpeace issued the call-out last week, and 45 groups across Canada, including 23 Alberta-based groups, six U.S. groups, and one group from Europe have signed on to support a moratorium on destructive tar sands practices.ย  To date, there have been over 600 signatories to the petition.ย ย 

Greenpeaceโ€™s petition comes as European members of Parliament (MEPs) wrapped up their tour of the Alberta tar sands late last week.ย  European members of Parliament were visiting to weigh in on the controversial dirty crude and were to report back on their findings regarding fuel legislation that could inhibit or impact the use of tar sands products. At stake is possible legislation and restriction on the importation of the dirty crude, or the labeling of it as โ€œdirtyโ€ or โ€œhigh carbonโ€.

The European Fuel Quality Directive, to be implemented January 1, 2011, would set EU-wide specifications for petrol, diesel and gas used in cars and other vehicles with the aim of protecting human health and the environment. The European Commission proposed mandatory monitoring and reporting of โ€œlifecycle greenhouse emissionsโ€ from fuels, which is essentially an obligation for fuel suppliers to ensure that the greenhouse gas emissions from their fuels throughout their life cycle (from production to transport to use) are cut by 10% by 2020 (Article 7a). The Directive would prevent some 500 million tonnes of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere, but considerable disagreement remains over key elements in the proposedย text.ย 

The initial draft of the Directive discouraged the use of tar sands products by classifying them as dirty. Canadian diplomats responded by arguing that the Directive could be seen as a trade barrier. While European experts studied the issue, all reference to the tar sands was dropped from the new draft policy.ย  Canada undoubtedly has a vested economic interest in ensuring the Directiveโ€™s text is favorable to the tar sands.ย  Even though Europe is not a very significant market right now for Canadian tar sands, Europeโ€™s policy decisions could inspire other nations to enact similar policies that would have more direct impacts on the export potential ofย oilsands.

Although Canada has hosted nearly 50 tours of the tar sands for various international delegations, the European tour was particularly important.ย ย Not only is the EUโ€™s population of nearly 500 million a big market for oil products, but the EU enjoys a lot of political clout and influence. According to International and Intergovernmental Relations Minister Iris Evans, Canadian leadership fears that โ€œif something happens in the EU and it is spread in other countriesโ€ฆwe could have roughly one-third of the worldโ€™s population subscribing to regulation or legislation that mitigates against ourย oilsandsโ€.

And while it represents a tiny market, dirty tar sands fuel is already finding its way to European pumps.ย  A report from Greenpeace, Tar Sands in Your Tank: Exposing Europeโ€™s Role in Canadaโ€™s Dirty Oil Trade finds that Europeans are filling up at the tank with the dirty fuel, perhaps unwittingly.

If the Directive were to label the tar sands oil as dirty or to restrict its import to EU countries, that could be devastating to oilsands industryย profits.ย 

Texas-based Valero Energy understands that cleary. The oil company that helped bankroll Prop 23 in California also has extensive ties to the tar sands. Valero and ExxonMobil are the main industry players enabling Alberta crude to enter the EU market.ย  These oil superpowers want to see tar sands output increase dramatically in the coming years, so a European Fuel Quality Directive is seen as a threat to their bottomย line.

Last week, European parliamentarians got the red carpet treatment, while the Alberta government swept the dirty facts under the rug.ย  As the Edmonton Journal reported, European members of parliament were not given a true picture of the toxic tar sands.ย  Delegation chairman Philip Bardbourn said the parliamentarians were not told about the recent David Schindler report that found that the tar sands boost the concentration of dangerous metals in the Athabasca watershed. The group was instead fed a bunch of industry and government greenwash, and told that the pollutants are naturally occurring. And what of those ducks killed by Syncrude?ย 

According to a report by Friends of the Earth Europe, oil and gas companies such as ExxonMobil, Shell and BP have been lobbying forcefully against the EUโ€™s Fuel Directive.ย  They even called for Article 7a to be completely removed from the text, claiming that it wasย โ€œprematureโ€.

The Alberta government doesnโ€™t want the rest of the world to question the clear environmental threat posed by tar sands development.ย  Leadership mistakenly sees this as a PR problem to be finessed, rather than the real environmental threat it truly represents. If Alberta made a real effort to clean up the tar sands, the PR spin would be unnecessary. Instead, Evans is jetting off on a 12-day trip to Asia to sell the tar sands to the Asian market (at an estimated cost of over $20,000) while Premier Stelmach is headed to India to do much of theย same.ย 

While the ducks keep dying and oilsands emissions keep polluting the globe, Albertaโ€™s spin campaign continues. How long will Alberta be beholden to the shortsighted profit motive of giant oilย companies?

Related Posts

on

Oil and gas majors are splashing the cash in order to have a presence at the flagship climate talks in Azerbaijan.

Oil and gas majors are splashing the cash in order to have a presence at the flagship climate talks in Azerbaijan.
Analysis
on

The flagship summit is at risk of turning into a tool for authoritarian petrostates.

The flagship summit is at risk of turning into a tool for authoritarian petrostates.
on

New documents show how a deceptive PR strategy pioneered in 1950s California first exposed the risk of climate change and then helped the industry deny it.

New documents show how a deceptive PR strategy pioneered in 1950s California first exposed the risk of climate change and then helped the industry deny it.
on

Meet those aiming to capitalize on Trump's re-election by slashing climate action, from Koch network fixtures to Project 2025 and beyond.

Meet those aiming to capitalize on Trump's re-election by slashing climate action, from Koch network fixtures to Project 2025 and beyond.