Stop the Pipelines, Save the Planet!

Without Keystone [and Gateway] oil sands face a future landlocked in bitumen, Globe and Mail

A cartoon as metaphor.

Pearl Harbour and the Gateway

The Gateway to China pipeline is Harper's less than subtle argument, some might call it blackmail, to convince Obama to sign on to Keystone or see the bulk of Tar Sands  exports go to his country's main geopolitical and commercial rival.

... one of the key aspects of President Barack Obama’s comments this morning at the Pentagon is the shift in strategy to bolster the air force and navy, and to build the U.S. military’s capacity in the Pacific region to counter China’s growing military presence. Globe and Mail, Jan 5, 2012

An embargo on oil shipments to Japan precipitated the attack on Pearl Harbour. The Gateway will be such a trigger in any test of strength between the United States and China in the Pacific and elsewhere.

Canada cannot ignore that the Gateway is not only environmental brinkmanship but  military as well. The Gateway has military implications that Canada cannot sweep aside in the hurried pursuit of profits from the Tar Sands if it is any friend of the United States.

With friends like these!

“No Keystone? No problem: Canada will sell oil to China”

Prime Minister Harper during the now traditional year-end Christmas television interview.

Flaherty talks tough with U.S. in wake of Keystone pipeline delay

“The decision to delay it that long is actually quite a crucial decision. I’m not sure this project would survive that kind of delay,” Mr. Flaherty told Bloomberg News. “It may mean that we may have to move quickly to ensure that we can export our oil to Asia through British Columbia.” Globe and Mail, Nov 11, 2011

If dirty oil was a perishable good that loses its value over time, Flaherty’s threat might make sense. But since it isn’t, the Finance Minister's threat to punish the Americans for delaying Keystone, by supplying the United States' (and Canada's) main commercial and ideological competitor with tar-sludge from which dirty oil is extracted, is simply a continuation of his government’s blackmail tactics.

If the Americans can stop Keystone, then maybe we can stop Gateway and put an end to the blackmail and maybe save the planet.

Calling a Spade a Spade

A British group that opposes the tar sands is warning Prime Minister David Cameron, who will visit Parliament Hill on Thursday (September 22, 2011), that it does not serve him well to get too close to his Canadian counterpart, Stephen Harper. In a strongly worded release, the UK Tar Sands Network demands that the "British government stop defending Canada’s criminal record on climate change." Globe and Mail

A Question of Ethics

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney on Tuesday slammed the Saudi embassy’s apparent effort to kill a 30-second advocacy ad that argues U.S. reliance on Canada’s oil-sands production is more “ethical” than buying oil from the undemocratic Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Globe and Mail, Sep 21, 2011

Ethics is about doing the right thing, and risking burning the planet with a planned gargantuan increase in greenhouse gases by processing tar-coated sand and gunk to extract what is generally referred to as "dirty oil" is not doing the right thing.

Kenney's accusation is like the pot calling the kettle black thereby demonstrating a willful ignorance of ethics.

Norway

Canadians can only look with envy at the Norwegians enlightened exploitation, fair taxation and distribution of North Sea oil wealth. Read What Did You Do With The Money Ralph? to understand why.

Deep Sea Drilling

Tories ease oil-drilling rules Ottawa Citizen, June 4, 2010.

In spite of the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, Canada is relaxing regulations for companies drilling deeper wells in much more perilous conditions (Chevron is set to drill for oil in Iceberg Alley off the coast of Newfoundland at a dept more than a thousand meters deeper than British Petroleum).

But do not worry more paperwork will prevent an environmental catastrophe that could be more devastating, much more.

A day after Canwest News Service revealed the company warned five years ago it would be able to clean up at most 12 per cent of a large spill, the Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board announced it is imposing "special oversight measures" on the project. Chevron now must provide daily reports on its drilling program and meet with the oversight team every two weeks. The company has said it will comply. Canwest News Service May 21, 2010

Because of severe weather conditions and icebergs bigger than the one that sank the Titanic bearing down from the Arctic on any drilling platform, the drilling of a relief well like the one bored in the Gulf of Mexico could not begin until eight months later (late next spring to lessen the threat of icebergs) should an accident like the one in the Gulf occur during the summer drilling season.

Islam may pose a serious challenge to the fragile exception, but global warming risks making fossils of us all.

Immigration and National Unity

The Counterfeit Canadian

The Selfish Nation

"When you have a policy that makes it easier for a liar to get into the country than an honest man, it should have been obvious to even the densest of politicians that you will get more of the former and less of the latter." Maude Barnstone

A Country of Countries   Terrorists and Politicians   You’re A Racist! Admit It!   Tamil Nadu

Jean Joseph Souviens, the future Vice-president of the independent country of Québec, believed that the divisive multiculturalism doctrine was Trudeau's response to Québecquer's wanting to be recognized as a distinct society within Canada. Using immigration he would create a country of minorities where none could claim a special status. In hindsight, this was like cutting your nose to spite your face.

Why Québec Will Survive

The Maple Leaf in Autumn