The ethical oil campaign often glosses over the price we're paying to develop the tar sands. But how ethical is an industry that destroys our boreal forests, pollutes our water and drives species to extinction? It's time we stop pointing fingers at other countries and take a long hard look at how we are acting in our own backyard.

Canada's boreal forest represents wealth and opportunity for development, but such activities must be thoughtfully planned and managed if we are to maintain the boreal's ecological values. There are few places left on the planet where waterways and vast wetlands remain alongside intact forest ecosystems.

One endangered herd in Alberta's tar sands region is at great risk of disappearing. Clear-cutting and no-holds-barred oil and gas exploration and development have affected more than 60 per cent of the habitat of the Red Earth caribou herd, leaving little undisturbed forest where it can feed, breed, and roam.