Tar Sands op-eds run in Canada and US
September 16th, 2009
As Canadian Prime Minister came to visit Obama on September 16, 2009 we landed op-eds on both sides of the border. Co-written with renowned climatologist, James Hansen, we expose Canada's dirty Tar Sands in the Boston Globe and the Toronto Star.
Boston Globe -- Using the market to tackle climate change
Read the full Boston Globe article here >>
By James Hansen and Aaron Sanger
IT HAS become clear that the full changes America needs will not be solved by simply swapping White House tenants. In fact, this has been emphasized by the new tenant himself: we can’t stand on the sidelines and expect to realize the full change we need. And the change we most urgently need is the one that government is least able to tackle alone: the climate crisis. The US government has so far produced only a counterfeit proposal for responding to climate change. As fossil fuels’ day in the sun approaches dusk, the main sources driving continued greenhouse gas emissions are growing hungrier.
Witness the rise of Canada’s Tar Sands oil developments. The Tar Sands represent the end of easy oil. This is the hard stuff: oil mixed deep into a sandy soil. The process of extracting it, refining it, and shipping it adds up to an oil dirtier, more polluting, and more harmful to our climate than all the oil that has gotten us into this mess. Global-warming emissions from Tar Sands oil production are three to five times greater than from conventional crude production...
Read the full Boston Globe article here >>
Toronto Star -- Read the full Toronto Star article here >>
By James Hansen
In 1988, when I addressed the U.S. Congress on the dangers of global warming, I warned leaders that it was time to stop waffling. Humans were changing the climate in new and dangerous ways and we needed to take action. At the time, I knew we could expect stiff resistance from the usual suspects, but if you had told me that 20 years later, one of the most stubborn holdouts would be a self-interested Canada, I wouldn't have believed you.
That's because then, as now, Canadians are a compassionate people, concerned about the environment and the role their government plays on the international stage. And yet, there are few countries I can think of that have done more to undermine international efforts to fight climate change in recent years, than Canada...
