Toronto’s NOW magazine quotes Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow saying, “The crisis in the Gulf is a direct result of the deregulation of the oil industry under the Bush-Cheney regime. BP spent untold millions to lobby governments to let them go deeper and deeper into fragile ecosystems. Their Tiber site in the Gulf is 35,000 feet. They spent an unprecedented $16 million in lobbying in 2009 to keep the Obama Administration in line, successfully it appears, by Obama’s announcement now of offshore sites.”
The article by Enzo Di Matteo continues, “The question Canadians should be considering is, can it happen here? The PM says no. Environmentalists argue it’s already happening, maybe worse, in the tar sands. BP is lobbying the Canadian government to allow them into the fragile Beaufort Sea. Indeed, BP’s making noise about pulling the plug on exploration in the Arctic if the feds don’t weaken current regs. The PM’s clearly heard the message, promising to cut “red tape” in the North for energy and mineral exploration in the Throne Speech.”
Di Matteo adds, “The Council of Canadians is calling for a total moratorium on off shore drilling in Canada and an accounting for the safety regulations of the existing sites. ‘If Canadians do not want to see the Arctic look like the tar sands of Northern Alberta, Canada’s Mordor’, says Barlow, ‘they must say no to any more offshore drilling’.”
The full article is at http://www.nowtoronto.com/daily/story.cfm?content=175030
For recent campaign blogs expressing concerns about drilling in the Arctic, and comparing US and Canadian regulations:
http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=3604
http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=3544
http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=3492
Our letter calling for a moratorium in the Arctic is at:
http://canadians.org/energy/documents/coc-ien-redoil-join-letter.pdf
