Oil Companies Call for a New NEP
CALGARY - The Alberta Conservatives will not decide for months on a request from several major oilsands companies to halt development leases in three huge and environmentally sensitive swaths of the oilsands region, Conservative Leader Ed Stelmach said today.
The request threatens to pit Stelmach's commitment to environmental protection against his campaign mantra of not "touching the brake" on energy development, although he repeatedly dodged that question as the final week of campaigning towards next Monday's election began.
Industry giants including Petro-Canada, Imperial Oil, Husky Energy and Suncor Energy support the request for protected conservation areas in a January letter to the Alberta government by the Cumulative Environmental Management Association. The letter asks that the government not sell oilsands leases in the three areas until at least 2011.
posted by calgarygrit at
10:03 p.m.
2 Comments:
In other words, companies that have already invested a fortune into the oilsands don't want any more competition until 2011, at least...
It's all a matter of perspective, caring 'green' corporations? Or 5-year monopolists?
By
Anonymous, at 11:35 a.m.
This is not just a matter of business interests. There is a very real need for land to be set aside for conservation purposes in the tarsands region, and some opportunities available right now (but perhaps not much longer). The fact that those coincide with, or at least do not detract from the interests of some corporations, should not keep the Government of Alberta from giving those options consideration and then acting upon the opportunity. After all, isn't the conciding and business interests and environmetnal responsibility supposed to be what sustainability is all about?
By
Anonymous, at 3:28 p.m.
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