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New tar sands land use plan is mainly a public relations ploy
By Elizabeth Shope’s Blog, NRDC
Monday, April 18, 2011
Alberta would like us to think that they are doing a fabulous job monitoring and regulating the tar sands and that their draft Lower Athabasca Integrated Regional Plan (LAIRP) is a giant step towards even tighter regulations. Alberta would like us to think that we have nothing to worry about when it comes to the tar sands that would flow through the proposed Keystone XL pipeline – that they will have all been mined or drilled for thoughtfully, with minimal environmental and social damage occurring in Alberta. Alberta would like us to think that they have a long-term vision for a sustainable future.
Don’t be fooled. Alberta’s draft land use plan is yet another indication that Alberta is more interested in catering to industry interests than in attempting to curb the impacts of tar sands developments on land, water and air. But as Canada’s Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said following President Obama’s April 6, 2011 remarks that there are questions we have to examine about how destructive tar sands are, “It’s not going to be fixed by better public relations… It’s a problem of substance.” Ignatieff is not the first Canadian who has realized there are serious problems that need to be addressed in the tar sands in order for Alberta not just to be considered responsible stewards of the environment but to actually be responsible. In moving forward, if Alberta wants to be serious and be taken seriously about their land use plan, they need – as our partners in Canada have called for – a group of independent scientists to review and improve the plan.
Not one but three major national reports came out in Canada last year indicating that there are serious failures in tar sands oversight, monitoring and regulation:
Tagged with: keystone xl, alberta government, lairp
