[This post is the fourth in a 5 part series, which looks at the main economic, social, and environmental justifications for Alberta's Oil Sands. The final post in this series will discuss select renewable energy sources, along with the feasibility of implementation in Alberta. Click for Justification 3, Justification 2 and Justification 1]
“Canada’s oil sands industry operates within some of the most stringent and comprehensive regulations for resource development anywhere in the world” (OSDG)
Unfortunately, although many hours and expenditures are going into drafting these complex socio-economic and environmental regulations, the laws are simply not being monitored. World class policies remain on paper, while the realities of the industry are not accounted for. The Royal Society of Canada explains that “the environmental regulatory capacity of the Alberta and Canadian Governments does not appear to have kept pace with the rapid growth of the oil sands industry over the past decade.”
There is also a clear lack of transparency in the industry; although oil is being extracted on public lands, private property leases have been administered. Public ground access is prohibited, and minimum flight elevation rules hinder any useful observations. In addition, there is a “paucity of relevant data available to the public due in large part to a decline in government monitoring in recent decades that have coincided with rapid and major expansion of the [oil sands] industry.” (Timoney and Lee)
1 comments:
I'm sorry, but what kind of "stringent and comprehensive regulation" would allow for gigantic lakes of toxic water such as the tailing ponds? Or the polluting of four barrels of water for every barrel of oil produced?
Arg!
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