Rethinking the Past to Generate a Better Future

Anyone who is thinking of going to Alberta should be aware of the fact that they are aiding a great environmental flop. As Alberta’s Tar Sands serve as the largest supplier of oil to the United States (or will when the Conservatives are done with it), a new string of American attack ads peg Canada as one of the worst countries in the world with regard to oil. Let us not forget that Canada won the colossal fossil award and our current conservative government is reluctant to make the necessary changes to prepare Canada for a 21st century economy. Rethink Alberta is a well-developed site by Corporate Ethics International and is attacking the oil sands from one aspect to another. In a time when technology is evolving at a rate that could very well make fossil fuels redundant, the Conservative government of Canada would rather prevent the greening progress of the United States than aid it. The Copenhagen Summit, and several Environmental conferences are very good examples of how Canada is setting the wrong example for the world and how world leaders are mocking Canadians as we speak.



Here is an excerpt from the British tabloid during the Copenhagen Summit. The exact quote can be found for looking for Canada in the interactive display under The Crucial Data marker.

“A pathetic 3% cut on their 1990 emissions levels by 2020 – an offer mired in thick black tar.”
-The Guardian

Is this the way that the world should view Canada?

This attack could hurt the economy, although, it isn’t like the profits from oil won’t cover the loss of tourism… If the American oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico isn’t a good enough warning of the future of Alberta’s prized landscape if the drilling is continued and extended, then there is no good enough warning. Recessions are a good time to reformat and to rethink a country's economy. Investing in new sectors stimulates new competition and a new drive on the market. The race and demand for greener technology is one that should be the center piece of the new economy, not the backbench road block. It is when a country or person continues its old ways that the results run flat and the disaster repeats itself.

In a modernizing economy, we should look at modernization. If we continue to prop up old and inefficient methods of generating revenue, we will continue to prop up old and unsettling disasters in both the economic and environmental spectrums.

“In Canada, Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach wasted no time in travelling to the U.S. to point out that the oil sands development in the northern reaches of his province — which have come under widespread international criticism — should suddenly be looking a little more attractive. At the very same time that the inquiry began in Washington, the drilling of the deepest-ever offshore oil well in Newfoundland began.”
-MSN Money

Our landscapes are worth preserving along with our unique values and culture and tourism industry. Shall the tourism industry falter, any new economic opportunities will be blocked and the Canadian economy will not improve and without improvement, it as well will falter. It isn’t only time to rethink Alberta; maybe it’s also time to rethink Canada and its Conservative government.