Alberta Tar Sands and Mackenzie River Delta

Just weeks after a federal court demanded more information on the significance of the climate change effects of Imperial Oil’s $8-billion Kearl Tar Sands Mine, the Canadian government is demonstrating its hypocrisy on the climate change crisis by preparing to fast-track the company's federal approvals. In doing so, the feds are ignoring once again the dangerous health and environmental effects resulting from tar sands mines, including significant greenhouse gas emissions and the increased incidence of cancer in downstream indigenous communities.

There is a growing consensus that 450ppm CO2e is the "tipping point" for dangerous anthropogenic climate change. This means that any new project that would increase global concentrations of CO2e should by definition be seen as a project with a "significant" effect on Global Climate Change.

The Kearl mine will introduce significant amounts of Greenhouse Gas Pollution into the atmosphere - the equivalent of 800 000 new cars appearing on Canada's roads.

One thing seems clear - the Canadian Harper government is able to move something really fast through when it wants it. The problem is what Canadians really want is for him to move GHG reductions - not increases - through quickly. In March, Environment Minister John Baird stated that tar sands projects would be required by 2012 to incorporate carbon capture and storage technology to reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by 2018. The Kearl Project should be subject to these rules!