Alberta pushing for more oilsands exports


       Renata D'aliesio, The Ottawa Citizen

Published: Wednesday, April 30, 2008

CALGARY - The Alberta government is optimistic that an energy-hungry
United States will end up lifting a cap on imports of fuel mined from
the province's oilsands.

And deputy premier Ron Stevens dismissed calls yesterday from American
environmentalists for an oilsands slowdown, saying the world needs
Alberta's oil more than ever.

Mr. Stevens, who is in Washington on a five-day mission to market the
province's oilsands as secure and environmentally sustainable, cited
soaring gasoline prices as a consequence of inadequate oil production.


"I think Alberta has a wonderful story to tell in that sense," Mr.
Stevens told Canwest News Service after meetings with government and
business officials. "We are probably the only non-OPEC jurisdiction that
can actually increase our production of oil over the foreseeable future."

But a coalition of environmental groups from the United States and
Canada are telling a different story about Alberta's oilsands.

They contend it's one of the most destructive energy projects on the
planet, requiring a lot of water and producing three times more
greenhouse gas emissions than conventional oil.

The groups took out an advertisement in a Capitol Hill newspaper
yesterday that shows an image of a maple leaf oozing oil from an
oilsands mining operation.

"Canada's governments are allowing the boreal forest to be dug up to
bring America the world's dirtiest oil," the ad charges.

Liz Barratt-Brown, a senior attorney with Washington-based Natural
Resources Defense Council, said yesterday the coalition is hoping to
influence how Americans and U.S. policy-makers view the oilsands.

"We don't think we can ban it, but I think we can say, 'Look it needs to
be cleaned up'."

© The Ottawa Citizen 2008

I did not know there was a U.S. cap on Alberta oil.
Will somebody explain why the refining process does not clean the
oil? If the US does not want it the Canadians can always build
a pipe line to the nearest sea port.

Paul Lamar



I don't think he means dirty in the literal sense.
Sven


The Rotary Engine NewsLetter. Powered by Linux.
ACRE NL web site. http://www.rotaryeng.net
Youtube key word UTUBPLEASE
Copyright 1998-2008 All world wide rights reserved.