Canada to Curb Tar Sands Exports?
September 30, 2008, 2:59 pm
By Clifford Krauss // New York Times
Canada prides itself on its clean-and-green bona fides, and its ratification of the Kyoto protocol a few years back came in sharp contrast to the Bush administration’s dismissal of the agreement.
But the country’s rapid expansion of oil sands development, a great emitter of greenhouse gases, has strangely escaped much political debate — even though it is a major reason why Canada cannot meet its Kyoto targets.
That may be beginning to change in the current parliamentary election campaign to choose a prime minister on Oct. 14. The sharpest criticism has come predictably from Jack Layton, the leader of the social democratic New Democratic Party, who has suggested that further oil sands development should be halted until companies do more to restore lands and water polluted from oil sands mining operations.
Stephen Harper, the Conservative prime minister, is a supporter of oil sands development and is commonly criticized for not making global warming a priority. But he has come up with an oil sands proposal that is raising eyebrows in his home province of Alberta, the center of oil sands development.
He is proposing a ban on the export of bitumen, the raw tar-like substance that can be converted into synthetic fuel, to countries that do not have greenhouse gas emissions targets similar to Canada’s.
Canadian Conservatives say the proposal is not likely to have any impact on bitumen exports to the United States, but it could affect future business with China, which has long eyed Canadian oil sands as a plentiful source of energy for the future.
Environment Minister John Baird, a close ally of Mr. Harper’s, has suggested the proposal may affect plans to construct a major pipeline from Alberta to the coast of British Columbia to supply the Asian market.
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/canada-to-curb-foreign-tar-...
