No Balance on Tar Sands

No balance on tar sands TheStar.com – comment – No balance on tar sands

June 10, 2008

Prime Minister Stephen Harper often talks about finding the right balance between economic growth and environmental protection.

But Harper put growth well ahead of the environment last week when he gave the green light to Imperial Oil’s proposed $8 billion Kearl tar-sands project, which is predicted to create 3.7 million tonnes of greenhouse gases annually – equivalent to putting another 800,000 cars on the road.

The project was stalled in March by the federal court, which ruled that a federal-provincial environmental review panel that recommended approval had failed to justify its views.

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Top 10 Reason’s to Hate Canada’s Tar Sands

Top ten reasons to hate the tar sands

1. Residents of communities living downstream from tar sands operations are experiencing unusually high rates of rare cancers and auto-immune diseases. Dr. John O’Connor spoke out on the occurrance of rare cancer clusters in the community of Fort Chipewyan.

2. The Alberta tar sands are the fastest growing contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. By 2020 they will emit more GHG’s than double that produced by all the cars and trucks in Canada.

3. Development of the tar sands requires massive clear-cuts of the pristine, biodiverse boreal forest, which acts as a carbon sink. A area the size of the state of Florida is what is on the chopping block.