A Breath of Fresh Air

Over the past few years, the oil sands industry dealt with
many campaigns demonizing the industry. Recent months have seen
continued and increased efforts to pressure corporations and
government in the U.S. and other international markets to declare
themselves against oil sands development and to avoid the oil sands
product. It is unfortunate that many users of the oil sands product
are unaware of the amount they rely on this great resource, having
limited awareness of energy issues and what the oil sands are doing
to reduce our environmental footprint. From what I have seen, this
has resulted in embarrassing situations when the users need to
retract their statements after discovering how the oil sands are a
key energy source for their operations and that the oil sands are
not "dirty" after all. As a reader of my blog, you know that Ive
often used this medium to express my frustration with such
campaigns in an attempt to educate readers about the misinformation
they are often fed. Ultimately, I want to create a balanced
conversation on issues surrounding oil sands development. The
latest campaigning going on in Europe is no different from many of
the campaigns we have seen in the past. However, I did discover a
breath of fresh air amongst the propaganda. Outside the European
parliament in Brussels, ENGOs have posted signage discouraging the
development of Canadian oil sands. In connection with their
displays, they are encouraging citizens to write to their appointed
Member of European Parliament (MEP) and call for the European Union
to ban the importation of Canadian oil sands crude. Their
campaigning has been successful and several constituents wrote to
Roger Helmer, MEP for Brussels and East Midlands. His response, the
breath of fresh air I was referring to, is worth writing about. On
his personal blog, similarly titled to mine, Straight Talking, MEP
Roger Helmer posted a thought-provoking response to the anti-oil
sands propaganda and several letters he received from constituents
in a post titled After the Nuclear Scare: The Tar Sands Scare. He
thanked the constituents for their concern but pointed out several
flaws in their argument and told these individuals that this issue
needs to be put into perspective. Quoting from Mr. Helmers letter,
Canada is a civilized, environment-conscious and democratic
country, and I have every confidence that they will manage this oil
sands industry in a responsible way it is not my place to
interfere in their internal affairs. Nor am I prepared, in these
times of serious energy-security risks, to cut the EU off from a
potentially important new energy source. It is not often that we
see such truth in black and white print, and its refreshing to see
others across the world recognize Canadas significant achievements
in the responsible development of this important resource. The
industry believes that it is vital to have conversations about
these issues. Mr. Helmer further points out that, although he
received a handful of letters of complaint about Canadas oil sands,
he would hate to think about how many hed receive should the lights
go out. So, thank you Roger Helmer for your thoughtful response
letter to concerned constituents. I hope it helps shed some light
and helps them reconsider their position and, at the very least,
gets them thinking more objectively about energy use and energy
sources as the world is beginning to discover there are no
impact-free energy sources. The most we can hope for is
environmentally responsible development, whatever that development
is. And the oil sands can, and should, continue to play an
important role in providing a secure energy supply.