Terahertz

Need proof the government is lying to you?

Ed Stelmach is spending $25 million dollars of Albertan taxpayers money on advertising.

Why should a province advertise? Not for tourism, but in this case, to convince the world the oil sands are environmentally friendly.

Note:  realize that the money is not coming from taxpayers, it is likely coming from oil revenues, however, in a democracy (if Alberta can still be called that) that money belongs to all citizens and taxpayers of the province.

The oil sands are in absolutely no way environmentally friendly. He can claim that companies are trying to make as little impact as possible on the environment, but its still a stretch.

Now, however, the British government has stopped ads from running in England from Shell that would have claimed the Alberta oil sands were a "sustainable energy source". The ads were pulled because they "misled" the public.

I'll say it again: The government of Great Britain, who's head-of-state, the Queen, is our head-of-state, has said that Shell was delibrately lying about it's own record, and that of the Alberta government.

Does Ed Stelmach agree?  Of course not.

"We're going to continue with our campaign of education," said Tom Olsen, Premier Ed Stelmach's press secretary. "We believe you can develop the resource while protecting the environment."

The government reps raise their arms and scream a little louder (sounding like an ignored child):

Alberta Energy spokesman Jason Chance said Wednesday the U.K. ruling further demonstrates it's important for government and industry to continue talking to audiences around the globe about the work they are doing on environmental protection.

"The full picture of Alberta is not being considered here," Chance said. "We can develop the oilsands in an environmentally responsible manner."

The article ends with a nice quote from Alberta Pembina Institute's Dan Woynillowicz:

"They don't like to be told things that aren't accurate," he said. "The government's response has been to play defence in an aggressive way and say 'No, we don't have a problem here.' "

There is a problem Ed, and that problem exists for every person in the world as long as this insanity continues.