In the wake of the latest Keystone XL setback, you have to wonder whether it's starting to sink in, whether the tar sands industry and its political apologists are getting anywhere close to that feeling of "Really, it's me, not you."
For decades this industry has developed a culture of always getting its way. When confronted with opposition inside its native Alberta, it could always bully or buy its way free, knowing that the provincial government in Edmonton was another of its wholly owned subsidiaries.
Then, as Ottawa was taken over by the Calgary oil crowd in the form of the Harper government, it knew it could also rely on shameless cheerleading from the likes of Jason Kenney, Joe Oliver, and the rest of the "ethical oil" team, and also from federal Environment Minister Peter Kent, who still, after all these years, is simply reading the lines given to him.
The danger with this kind of cozy domination is that you come to believe in your own absolute rectitude, that in the face of ongoing opposition you continue to truly think that dissenters must be either confused or part of some nefarious conspiracy.
"It's not me, it's you," you say to yourself. So, your response is to provide ever more "information" (which of course is never "rhetoric") and go on the attack against your opponents themselves (avoiding their actual criticisms).
But reality has a funny way of biting back, as George W. Bush found out after trying to supersede it.
The tar sands industry now faces legal challenges from First Nations, low carbon fuel initiatives in California and the EU, opposition to its pipelines in the U.S., in British Columbia, and in Eastern provinces and states. It faces water pollution concerns from the North, acid rain concerns from Saskatchewan, and jobs concerns in Eastern Canada due to Dutch Disease. It faces calls to reverse its exploding greenhouse pollution from Nobel Laureates, and from Canadians concerned that the industry is unfairly blowing Canada's carbon budget.
Are all these people crazy? Is it still you, not me? Is all the mounting evidence simply wrong?
As it stands, the industry has massive expansion plans, and despite what its political apologists say, they have intentionally refused to put in place any regulatory limits that would get in the way of this expansion -- Canada's environmental laws just tinker ineffectually around the edges.
So we remain on a collision course between an industry and reality, between a culture of deafness and a world on fire.
To get off this pathway, industry cannot avoid forever the question of how big it needs to be and for how long. Mindless expansion is something that cancer does, not thinking human beings. The environment does not care how efficient you are, it only cares about your overall impact, which must come down, not go up.
Hello, is anybody there ready to listen yet?
Obama rejects Keystone pipeline from Canada to Texas - for now ...
State Dept. Blocks Keystone Pipeline Project | Fox Business
Keystone XL Pipeline Seen Moving Ahead on Alternative Route ...
Keystone pipeline: How many jobs really at stake? - CBS News
They can now PIVOT away from The Carbon Economy to the Hydrogen Economy and achieve a dramatically reduced level of pollution caused now by The Carbon Economy.
Here are some examples on the emergence of The Hydrogen Economy.
This 11.2 MW Hydrogen Fuel Cell Park became operationaÂÂl in South Korea recently and can supply POLLUTION FREE free power to 20K homes just from a 1 acre of land footprint: http://tinÂÂyurl.com/Â6Âskgw9h .
This outfit in the U.S. puts up Hydrogen Gas Plants and sells the Hydrogen Gas, by pipeline, to all of the Gulf Coast Oil Refineries in the U.S. which they then use to try and reduce the POLLUTION from their coking processes: http://tinÂÂyurl.com/Â6Âumyf7f .
Mercedes Benz is PRODUCTION READY with their Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric vehicle technology but The Oil Cartel will not install Hydrogen Gas pumps on their lots. Here is one of their cars that drove 33,000 pollution and trouble free kilometers this past summer in the US, Australia, Asia, China, Russia and Europe and was found nudging a "oil jack": http://tinÂÂyurl.com/Â6Ânxrcq2 .
So, there you have it.
You have the Fuel Cell Electric Generation Plant that runs the Hydrogen Production Plant that supplies the Hydrogen gas for the car.
The greens have had their way for too long.
How do they do that?
Ever hear of campaign finance laws?
Let me explain.
Standard Oil develops a 95% monopoly on oil refining at the turn of last century. That wealth sets up The Pratt House in 1921 which now has a 4000+ membership base of wealthy and Corporate Elites which now controls each Administration.
That Rockefeller massive wealth, not only sponsors Pratt, its TAX EXEMPT Foundations control the 3 big private Universities. From there all the PhD's and Professors are seeded throughout the land who act as experts to the Corporate controlled media whose heads hold Pratt membership.
So Standard morphs into Exxon who controls Imperial Oil.
Maurice Strong comes off the Rockefeller Foundation's BoD's and holds a meeting in the late 60's for the purpose of "SPAWNING THE NEXT GENERATION OF POLITICAL LEADERSHIP IN CANADA". At the meeting were names like Trudeau, Davis, Lougheed, Blakeney and others and all were bankrolled to power.
Mitchel Sharp, also off Rockefeller's Foundation board, is Chretien's $1/year paid adviser.
Harpo just came back from a speech at Pratt.
And I haven't even got to Ralph Klein or Power Corporation yet!
That's how BIG OIL controls Canada.
Ok, you can all start laughing at me now.
Big oil has there hands in the government, both provincially and federally.
When you say big oil "intentionally refuses to put in place any regulatory limits that get in the way of expansion" it proves that big oil cannot be trusted, and in extension the federal and provincial governments should not be trusted, if there is no regulatory limits put on the expansion of the Tar Sands.
It works for our neighbours the same as it works for us, or anyone else.
It may be generations before fossil fuels are eventually replaced by other energy sources. in the meantime the reality is that Canada should make every effort to develop it's natural resources, bringing jobs and prosperity , across the country.
This is the usual socialist claptrap announcement, totally divorced from reality !!!
It is not being socialist to say that, it is obvious.
As long as we live in an oil driven energy world, it would be illogical and counterproductive for Canada to fail to develop these resources.
The evidence for climate change is overwhelming. The evidence that climate change is destroying Eco-systems NOW is overwhelming. Tell me as truthfully as you can whether you think your land base, air, water etc is more valuable then the economy or not.
If you say the latter then you are truly lost as you cannot live without the former. What Canada and every other country should be doing is replacing fossil fuels with alternative sources....thirty years ago but immediately will have to do. If it is jobs and prosperity you are looking for why wouldn't they be just as valid in a green industry as the old, dirtier one?
You sound like an ostrich with his head stuck in the tar sand.