The more I read about the oil sands, the more unsettling I find the whole business. So, for the sake of argument, where do you lot stand on this?

Public Poll...

Im just going by what I've read in the various media. Sure the jobs it creates and the money it brings in (when oil isnt $50 a barrel) are great, but the environmental recovery aspect seems patchy, and the contamination of the local river systems already seems out of control and that before things really start to ramp up. It just seems like a scar on Canadas mostly squeeky clean environmental image..although that is mostly just that, image.

I honestly cant see the oil companies being made to get this right, the government, both federal and provincial, is in too tight with them.

There must be people here working there who see a totally different side...I'm interested in what they think, for or against.

I think the whole green thing here is more about appearing better than the US than actualy doing anything

Im not sure its even that, its just the natural geography of lakes and mountains and pristine frozen wildernesses and whatnot lends itself to appearing to have an amazing environmental awareness, but the reality is its cold and places are far apart, so Canadians as a rule are going to have a high CO2 footprint, and the country was founded on the trapping business and a streak of "nature is there to be harvested" seem to remain here, whether that be recreational deer hunting or seal clubbing etc.

But be that as it may, I'm not at all convinced that its an excuse for clear-cutting the virgin arboreal forest, stripping the top soil and creating vast lakes of shit all in the name of accessing the oil reserves in the tar sand, while using vast amounts of energy and seemingly creating a major pollution hangover in the process.

It reminds me in some ways of the use of nuclear power, where in some respects it looks like a good idea, and the argument is that its OK because someone else will come along later with solutions to the waste issue...at least we are pretty sure they will, we hope...

We had a thread on this six months ago. Opinions were mixed, but mine is "strongly agree" with the poll question.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=545339

Edit: I'd linked to a search result rather than the thread itself. I bumped it up to the top page in the process. It's a good read.

Jancal, you cant vote strongly disagree without puting up an argument to justify that. I am genuinely interested in what people think.

Perhaps the oil companies are just doing a horrible job in explaining whats going on and why they have become percieved as the bad guys in all this?

My OH will give more info - he can explain better than I can. Plus I am in the middle of getting dinner ready. He has worked in O&G for many years so can give some insight. I have put up with enough crap recently.

If the oil companies can still find a way to make money from it, they're going to keep extracting and selling it no matter how much anyone dislikes it. They'll spend as little as possible on showing how much they care about the environment, but probably spend much more than that on public relations and lawyers.

As for us, the consumer. When we're putting gas in the car, do we really care where the oil has come from. For example, would any of us prefer to pay $2 or more a litre for gas than we're paying now if it was produced with less destruction to the environment, or are we more concerned with getting our gas at as cheap a price as possible.

That's an argument? Hubby says so, so it must be right?

I'm also in the middle of getting dinner ready. It's equal opportunity cooking in our house.

Oi, play nice!

2 pumps side by side - one independently verified as minimizing environmental impact by the way the oil's extracted and refined? I'd like to think I'd make a responsible choice and pay the extra. Might mean planning journeys more carefully, or sucking up the cost, but so be it.

Hangs head in shame.

Oh well you have blown your chance of a very well-informed view. Have you always been a bully?

In the interests of not introducing early thread drift and, of course, of avoiding further reprimands from Uncle Iain, I'll just say that I look forward to hearing your husband's well-informed view.

So you should.

I saw in another thread that you tried to recruit my Mrs to hang around.