'Dirty Oil' Anger Shocked Tories, Wikileaks Reveals

Allan Woods - Ottawa Bureau - theStar.com - De 23'10

OTTAWA—Canada was “too slow” to respond...

Editor's comment - A day late and a dollar short, wouldn't you say, Jim? l.p.

How Ethical Are Ethical Funds? (Opinion)

"Conscientious" investments and the tar sands connection 

by Larry Powell

Beautiful Destruction photo.

I doubt that many investors with a social conscience would assume that the ethical funds they hold would be helping pay for such projects as the Alberta oil sands.

I certainly didn't - turns out, I was wrong!

All five of Canada's major banks lend money to tar sands operators. And all five are actually included in the portfolios of the many ethical investment funds in this country. As if that isn't enough, so too is at least one major corporation, Suncor Energy, which actually extracts the tar from the sands!

Ethical Funds lists Scotiabank, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and Suncor Energy among its top ten holdings. The investment company adds, RBC, for one, "provides significant capital to the oil and gas and other smokestack industries."

Suncor describes itself as a "pioneer" and one of the biggest players in the development and upgrading of the Alberta oil sands. So far this year, the company has been producing, on average, more than a-quarter-of-a-million barrels of oil per day. 

Last spring, a US-based environmental group, Rainforest Action Network, (RAN), listed the five major Canadian banks; RBC, Toronto Dominion (TD), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Scotiabank and Bank of Montreal (BMO) as investors. At that time, RAN reported that investment totalled almost $50 billion (correct).

In a letter to RAN about a year ago, RBC confirmed it was "a financier of oil sands activity, although, at almost $17 billion, (correct) not currently the largest."

So just what is the concern here?

For years, critics have been pointing out the profound impact which development of the sands is having on the environment and the health of people, both regionally and globally. Some even describe it as the "dirtiest project on earth!" 

The Alberta-based Pembina Institute says, of all the provinces, Alberta was responsible for over half of the increase in all greenhouse gas emissions between 1990 and 2008 - about 52%! (The tar sands, of course, were operating, full-bore, during that period.) Pembina predicts that, given the projected growth of the sands, their already substantial emissions will nearly triple by 2020! The 25 year-old Institute researches and advocates for "sustainable energy solutions that will protect the earth's living systems - air, land and water."


Meanwhile, millions of hectares of pristine boreal forest are being bulldozed to make way for more and more tar sands plants. According to Greenpeace, this could soon amount to an area twice the size of New Brunswick!

 The National Academy of Sciences in the US reports that oil sands development has been contaminating  the Athabasca River watershed, downstream of the sands, to a greater degree than earlier thought. It warned that oil sands development was elevating levels of poisons in the Athabasca River and its tributaries that were "likely toxic to fish embryos."

Fish with large lesion caught in the Athabasca watershed.

Meanwhile, people living downstream of the oil sands, in the community of Fort Chipewyan, have been reporting high rates of cancer and other illness. George Poitras, a member of Mikisew Cree indigenous First Nation says, "My people are dying," and blames oil sands development.

What does the ethical investment community have to say?

I contacted Robert Walker, Vice President of ESG Services of Vancouver, to comment on this story. His firm manages several "sustainable" or "social investment" companies, including Ethical Funds.

As he puts it, "Every major bank in Canada has exposure to oil sands."

Ethical Funds lists "respect for the environment" and a pledge that "disadvantaged communities should not bear the brunt of adverse environmental impacts" among its "core values."

So just how does it justify this state of affairs?

In Walker's words, "Note that we do not describe the companies in our Funds as ‘ethical’. This is not our claim."

Walker recognizes that the companies in question have a chequered reputation in managing their social and environmental responsibilities. But he says his industry is constantly "engaging" and "pressuring" them to do better. It even hands out and publishes report cards on their performances in this regard. All this, he believes, will gradually help convince them to change their ways.

Walker believes banks like RBC can play "a pivotal role in encouraging their clients to tackle climate change."

He concludes, "We are at least partially responsible for progress that banks like RBC are making in this space." 

Despite these reassurances, it's not clear just what "progress" Walker can point to; whether his industry is, in fact convincing the banks to become better corporate citizens; or why, as he suggests, it would not be logical for the average investor to conclude - if these companies are embraced within ethical funds' portfolios - that they are, in fact, ethical!

In its defense, RBC does sponsor the "Blue Water Project," through which it promises millions of dollars to help protect watersheds and ensure access to clean drinking water. It's doubtful, however, any of that money has gone toward protecting the Athabasca watershed, the deterioration of which the bank has surely played a part, albeit indirect. 

So is the Blue Water Project an example of the bank's good intentions? Or hypocrisy?

If tar sands investment can be considered "ethical," I find it rather hard to imagine what would not!

If you believe, as I do, that our investment money should be going to less harmful and less polluting ventures than this, I'd urge you to do something about it, also. 

As a result of all of this, I have chosen to shift my modest investments away from those involving the tar sands and, into less harmful ventures.

I'd invite you to consider something similar!

         ======
Please also read: "Is Fracking Appropriate for Ethical Investing?"

Tar Sands' Long Shadow

Manitoba Wildlands - 4/12/10

Canada Exports Dirty Oil and Dirty Energy Policies 

 

Beautiful Destruction photo

Put a CAPP on Tar Sands Greenwashing

Mike Hudema - Greenpeace - November 23, 2010

Faced with the grim realities of...

First Nations Struggle to Undo the Profound Harm of Greenwashing Tactics by Ottawa & the Alberta Government

Indigenous Environmental Network
OTTAWA, Nov. 5 – This morning the Indigenous...

 Immense trucks used to strip-mine bitumen. beautifuldestruction photo.

Federal Government Failing to Enforce Laws in Oilsands

Simon Dyer — Pembina Institute - Oct. 20, 2010

You could be forgiven...

A thick layer of tar & a thin film of oil/bitumen

reflecting a late summer sunset on the Albian Sands Muskeg River Mine tar pond. Photo by beautifuldestruction.ca

Pipleline About to be Installed in Manitoba, Presumably to Link to Alberta Tar Sands

Above is a map of the Keystone XL pipeline, designed to carry dirty tar sands oil into the 'States.

COMMENT: Construction on this questionable project is now well advanced in southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Isn't it nice how our leaders wait for our permission before proceeding. Do da word "presumptuous" come to mind? l.p.

Please also read item directly below.

Senators Push For Hasty Approval of Pipeline For World's Dirtiest and Costliest Oil

AlterNet/by Michael Brune Se 23 - 2010

The oil it promises to provide…

Stripping the first layer of 'overburden' a layer of earth, sand and gravel up to 100 feet deep covering the bitumen ore or tar sand. The trees have been removed but, in this case, the topsoil is not being separated. Courtesy of "Beautiful Destruction"

Rethink Alberta (Video) UK version

Deformed Fish Found in Lake Downstream From Alberta Tarsands

Bob Weber The Canadian Press Se 17 '10

EDMONTON—The fish are hard to look at.

This white fish is too red. Photo by: Ed Kaiser, edmontonjournal.com

Alberta Premier Has a Bad Week Over the Tar Sands; *Poor Baby!

Climate Action News Sept 9th, 2010

It was a tough week for...

Another *pornographic image
from Alberta's tar sands.
Courtesy of the Tarnished Earth Gallery.

(*Editor's comments)

More Major U.S. Corporations Join Boycott of Alberta Tarsands Fuels

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press - 26/08/2010

EDMONTON - Another four major U.S….

Tar sands
photo by
Beautiful
Destruction

Stop the Tar Sands Pipeline

Natural Resources Defense Council's Save BioGems News, Au 25, 2010

In northeastern Alberta, the lush forests, sedge meadows and freshwater lakes of the Peace-Athabasca Delta attract more than a million birds every year.

Manitoba geese photo by l.p.

These undisturbed wetlands are critical nesting grounds for tundra swans, snow geese, whooping cranes and countless ducks, but they are slowly being poisoned by tar sands oil extraction taking place just south of the delta.

Tar sands oil development has already contaminated rivers and lakes with toxic discharge, created vast waste ponds and worsened global warming pollution. Now, plans for a new trans-boundary pipeline that would bring tar sands oil from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast is moving forward, paving the way for additional mining and drilling in the boreal forest. Not only would the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline destroy even more habitat for millions of migratory birds, it would do nothing to lead the United States toward cleaner forms of energy production.
» Call on President Obama to oppose the tar sands pipeline.

Emissions From Alberta Tar Sands Rise, Not Fall, as Canada Claims!

Susan Casey-Lefkowitz’s Au'10

SWITCHBOARD Natural Resources Defense Council Staff Blog

The latest "line" from Canada is...

Liquid mine wastes
are a major liability
of oil sands mining.
Photo: David Dodge,
Pembina Institute.

Tar Sands Toxins Growing Rapidly

Globe & Mail - Au 10-2010

Volume of arsenic, lead increased 26 per cent in last four years, Environment Canada says.

AB tar pond by
Beautiful Destruction

Anti-Tarsands Protest Unfurled on Calgary Tower

Tuesday, August 3, 2010- CBC News

What Those Who Killed the Tar Sands Report Don't Want You to Know

By Andrew Nikiforuk, 15 Jul 2010, TheTyee.ca

Why did a parliamentary committee suddenly....

Open pit bitumen mine
courtesy Beautiful Destruction.

50 Members of Congress Warn State Dept Against Rubberstamping 2,000-Mile Tar Sands Pipeline

"Solve Climate"

In unexpected speech…

Photo courtesy Alternet

Leaked G20 Documents: Canada Won't Cut Extra Subsidies for Fossil Fuels

Clare Demers - Pembina Institute

Despite the Harper….

EDITOR'S NOTE: Shame on you, Harper! You are doubtlessly the worse Prime Minister my country has ever known! l.p.

Scouring Scum and Tar from the Bottom of the Pit

Peter Cizek | July 9th 2006-Canadian Dimension

Faced with the...