McCain and Obama Agree – No to Tar Sands

McCain and Obama Stand United on Canada’s Oil Sands

2 Jul 08

Barack Obama made headlines across Canada last week over his proposed national “low carbon fuel standard.” Such a proposal, if implemented, would be a serious hit to Canada’s oil sands operations, which emit about 3 times the amount of greenhouse gas to produce when compared to the production of a conventional barrel of oil.

Not nearly as prominent in the Canadian press was an article in the Washington Times the week before reporting that presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain shares a similar view as Obama on a “low carbon fuel standard.” The Washington Times reported that:

Mr. McCain, who just this week praised Canada as a secure source of oil, embraced a national fuel standard plan last year at a press conference with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Mr. McCain has made his support for environmental issues a major part of his presidential campaign, and uses it as a key issue where he breaks with many other Republicans.”

Mayors Stand Up to Big Oil

U.S. Mayors Resolve to Avoid Burning Tar Sands Oil

MIAMI, Florida, June 28, 2008 (ENS) – The U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Miami this week adopted a resolution aimed at avoiding the use of high carbon fuels such as tar sands, liquid coal, and oil shale. The resolution encourages fuel analyses that include emissions from production, not just from burning the fuel.

The resolution calls for the creation of guidelines and purchasing standards to help mayors understand the greenhouse gas emissions of the fuels they purchase through their entire lifecycle from production through consumption.

“We don’t want to spend taxpayer dollars on fuels that make global warming worse,” said Mayor Kitty Piercy, of Eugene, Oregon, who submitted the resolution.

A Promise Obama Should Keep

One Obama Campaign Promise on Canada That I’d Like Him to Keep
From Canada’s Financial Post comes Peter Foster’s article “Obama plays ‘dirty’ oil card”.

On Tuesday, orotund Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama vowed to break the U. S. addiction to “dirty, dwindling and dangerously expensive” oil. An advisor said it was an open question whether Canada’s oil sands were Mr. Obama’s prime target, but the word “dirty” is a dead giveaway.

Mr. Obama, speaking in Las Vegas, implied that the U. S. might somehow do without the oil sands. “[T]he possibilities of renewable energy are limitless,” he declared. “We’ve heard promises about it in every State of the Union for the last three decades. But each and every year, we become more, not less, addicted to oil–a 19th-century fossil fuel.”

[. . .]

When it comes to picking on oil sands, Mr. Obama is fad surfing a popular wave. In December the U. S. government adopted a law to ban federal procurement of fuels that generate more greenhouse gases than “conventional sources.” California has also adopted low-carbon fuel standards. On Monday, a meeting of mayors in Miami slapped a Scarlet Letter on oil sands production, demanding “full life-cycle” accounting for such fuels.

Alberta Government to Host Democrat Denial Tour of Tar Sands

Take a look, especially at the highlighted section. Alberta is set to host two key delegations from the US. Any suggestions?

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Canada wants U.S. to run on Alberta oil

Sheldon Alberts, Washington Correspondent

Canwest News Service

Thursday, June 26, 2008

WASHINGTON – Two years ago Friday, the government of Alberta parked a supersized oilsands dump truck on the National Mall in Washington, announcing to U.S. lawmakers that Canada was about to become the next big thing in the global petroleum market.

It was ostentatious display – the yellow behemoth stood five metres tall with four-metre-high tires – that helped put Alberta’s oilsands on the map for a Congress deeply worried in the post-9/11 era about the security of U.S. energy supply.

Positive spin for oil sands needed now

Don Martin,  National Post Published: Thursday, June 26, 2008

Greg Fulmes For National Post

OTTAWA -There was a time when being Alberta’s man in Washington D. C. involved golf rounds and cocktail circuits of non-stop fun.

As America’s most reliable energy supplier, the province rated a red-carpet reception in a national capital thirsting for secure oil. Not any more.

Gary Mar is not yet a political pariah, but he’s running an Alberta office in the Canadian embassy that’s fighting negative perception battles on multiple fronts.

Arguably the brightest Cabinet minister to grace former premier Ralph Klein’s front bench for more than a dozen years, he’s been representing the province in the U. S. capital for less than a year now and finds himself under increasing siege by an organized environmental backlash against the Alberta oil sands.

Mr. Mar is continuing to fight the threat of a U. S. energy bill that would prohibit federal agencies, including energy gobblers like the air force and post office, from buying oil, such as from the oil sands, that gives off above-normal emissions during production.

Alberta ignores U.S. oil critics at its peril

Don Martin, National Post Published: Wednesday, June 25, 2008

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=613475

Claudia Cataneo/National PostSuncor oilsands, in Fort McMurray, Alta.

There was a time when being Alberta’s man in Washington D.C. involved golf rounds and cocktail circuits of non-stop fun.

As America’s most reliable energy supplier, the province rated a red-carpet reception in a national capital thirsting for secure oil. Not any more.

Gary Mar is not yet a political pariah, but he’s running an Alberta office in the Canadian embassy that’s fighting negative perception battles on multiple fronts.

Arguably the brightest Cabinet minister to grace former premier Ralph Klein’s front bench for more than a dozen years, he’s been representing the province in the U.S. capital for less than a year now and finds himself under increasing siege by an organized environmental backlash against the Alberta oil sands.

Oil sands industry faces rough road

Oil sands industry faces rough road in reaching out to green groups

By Jeffrey Jones
Reuters

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

CALGARY, Alberta: Oil sands producers in Canada have a rough road ahead persuading environmentalists and an increasingly concerned public that they are serious about protecting the environment while investing billions of dollars in new projects.

The industry’s lobbying group and several chief executives began a new communications campaign this week aimed at countering a full-court press by environmentalists over the impact of oil sands development on air, land, water and local communities.

Top executives admit they have come up short responding to concerns over their operations and explaining the progress they say they have made in areas like investing in carbon capture technology and land reclamation.

“As a result, we’ve been a bit overtaken by the other side of that equation, which resulted in what we think is an unbalanced view of our industry, so we do need pick up the ball and tell our side of the story,” Marcel Coutu, chief executive of Canadian Oil Sands Trust, said Tuesday.

Obama May Say No to the Tar Sands

Obama’s eyes on oilsands

Democratic candidate’s clean-oil vow threatens Alberta

Sheldon Alberts

Canwest News Service

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

CREDIT: Reuters Supporters greet Barack Obama in Las Vegas yesterday. According to a U.S.-Canada relations expert, it seems the presumed Democratic presidential nominee wants to eliminate ‘dirty’ oil sources such as the oilsands. ‘He is very aware of them and the process that’s generating them.’

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama took aim at the Alberta oilsands yesterday, declaring he would break America’s addiction to “dirty, dwindling, and dangerously expensive” oil if he is elected U.S. president

Jason Grumet, Obama’s senior energy adviser, told reporters it’s an “open question” whether the oilsands fits Obama’s plan to shift the U.S. sharply away from carbon-intensive fossil fuels.

“If it turns out that the only way to produce those resources would be at a significant penalty to climate change, then we don’t believe that those resources are going to play a growing role in the long-term future,” said Grumet.

The remarks amount to a shot across the bow of Alberta’s oilsands industry, which is planning to boost production from 1.3 million barrels a day to 3.5 million barrels over the next decade.

NAFTA and the Tar Sands

Bitten by the deal that once fed us

Canadians should hope for an Obama presidency and the reopening of NAFTA

GORDON LAXER

From Monday’s Globe and Mail

June 23, 2008 at 8:44 AM EDT

John McCain’s visit to Canada on Friday was a preview of just how important the issue of renegotiating the North American free-trade agreement will be in this fall’s U.S. presidential election. The prospect of a Barack Obama presidency has sparked a lot of “will he or won’t he” worry in Canada. You can feel the fear of the business-as-usual crowd trying to reassure themselves that Mr. Obama won’t really reopen NAFTA.

He now says he won’t unilaterally withdraw, and that his rhetoric got a little overheated, but Mr. Obama still promises to open up a dialogue on NAFTA. Instead of wringing hands and holding on to the past, Canada should seize the opportunity that renegotiation could bring.

McCain to Get his Hands Oily

McCain’s Mission to Ottawa

US, Canada need to forge a less oily relationship.

View full article and comments here http:///Views/2008/06/19/McCain/

By Aaron Freeman and Matt Price

Published: June 19, 2008

TheTyee.ca

John McCain will take the stage in Ottawa on Friday to try to draw a clear line between himself and Barack Obama on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). You’ll remember that Obama and Clinton mixed it up during the primary race about who would go further in renegotiating the trade deal to strengthen labour and environmental standards. McCain, by contrast, wants to portray himself as a free trader, no holds barred.