In a recent article in the Toronto Sun, Ezra Levant (author of "Ethical Oil") applauded environment minister Kent's description of the Canadian tar sands as the world's "ethical oil" source. Levant's argument is summed up best in the following quote:
"We're not just better than they are environmentally. We're also more peaceful, we treat workers better and we respect human rights. In other words, we produce oil in a Canadian way, not a Saudi way. The oilsands are like the fair trade coffee of the word's oil industry."
In many respects this is a fair argument. It is certainly undeniably that Canada has the best human rights record among the top 4 oil exporting countries, and I'm sure Canadian environmental regulations far outmatch those of Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the U.A.E.
But does being better than the most obvious alternative really make the tar sands the best option?
The answer to that question is an obvious no. In this age of climate change and environmental degradation, government policy should be promoting solutions in more sustainable energies such as solar, nuclear and geothermal. If the best we can do is a slightly better alternative to the practices that got us into our current mess, then clearly we're not trying hard enough.
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