Global Warming is Only One Symptom

CANADA MUST REJECT FIVEFOLD EXPANSION OF OILSANDS PRODUCTION

TO:
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper,
Canadian Environment Minister John Baird,
US President George W. Bush,
US Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman, and
US Ambassador David Wilkins.

Dear sirs,

This January I travelled to Central America, visiting parts of Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. I had the opportunity to travel to the islands of Bocas del Toro, Panama. The rising sea levels around the picturesque archipelago of jungle islands proves that climate change is a clear and present danger. The evidence was obvious to even the untrained eye and casual observer.

* palm trees surrounded by ocean water along the mangrove islets water taxi access-route from Changuinola to Bocas del Toro.
* abandoned foundations along main street along the water's edge are being flooded with waves from the Caribbean Sea;
* restaurant and hotel wharfs are being rebuilt 2 feet higher on the island of Bastimentos.

The government of Canada must immediately reject the plan for a fivefold expansion of oilsands production emerging out of the Security and Prosperity Partnership meeting between Canadian and U.S. oil executives and government officials.

As per CBC News,

"U.S. and Canadian oil executives and government officials met for a two-day oil summit in Houston in January 2006 and made plans for a "fivefold expansion" in oilsands production in a relatively "short time span," according to minutes of the meeting obtained by the CBC's French-language network, Radio-Canada."

"Canada is already the top exporter of oil to the American market, exporting the equivalent of one million barrels a day - the exact amount that the oilsands industry in Alberta currently produces. A fivefold increase would mean the exportation of five million barrels a day, which would supply a quarter of current American consumption and add up to almost half of all U.S. imports."

"...the current extraction of oil from the tarsands results in the spewing of millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere..." and, as noted in the minutes of the January meeting, the proposed expansion would require Canada to "streamline" its environmental regulations.

Already current oilsands development destroys vast tracts of land, clears forests, and consumes 26% of Alberta's groundwater. The extraction process takes at least six barrels of water to produce just one barrel of oil. The resulting toxic wastewater cannot be put back into circulation and sits in 50-square-kilometre pools visible from space.

It can be argued that Canada's energy subservience to the United States has already prevented it from adhering to its Kyoto Accord obligations.

Moreover, on friday, the world's scientists gave their starkest warning yet that a failure to cut greenhouse gas emissions will bring devastating climate change within a few decades. The report, from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is written by hundreds of scientists across the world and has been approved by every government. It leaves little room for doubt that human activity is to blame.

Furthermore, is it not sad and ironic that as Bush, Blair, Howard, and Harper go in/extend missions into Afghanistan, Iraq and now Iran for oil and gas, those very same vices are increasing the exponentially rate of growth of climate change to the tipping point of our civilization?

Canada already exports 70 per cent of the oil it produces each year to the United States while importing oil from other countries to meet our own energy needs. "Stephen Harper claims Canada is an energy superpower", says Jean-Yves Lefort, trade campaigner. "What kind of 'energy superpower' needs to import nearly half of its oil and gas from abroad?"

A growing number of Canadians, like myself, have begun to not only actively campaign for real cuts to industrial greenhouse gas emissions but also actively campaign against a move towards the creation of a continental energy and natural resources pact that would grant U.S. investors even greater access to Canadian energy supplies.

The public appetite for serious action is growing on both fronts. The scientific case for action is beyond doubt. Unless the world's political leaders deliver more than just warm words this year, they are likely to go down in history as the people who failed to heed mankind's final warning.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Environment Minister John Baird must both:

* Reject the fivefold expansion of oilsands production immediately,
* Accept Canada's commitment to the Kyoto Protocol & make real industrial greenhouse gas emissions cuts.

What are your plans to address these critical issues, and can I be assured that you will take action on it.

Be well.

Paul Malouf
Montreal, Canada