Big Oil loves to talk about its plans for what it calls “responsible development” of natural resources. They’ve discovered that if they just tack the word “responsible” onto their projects, people are much less likely to criticize what they’re up to. Unfortunately, while it’s easy to use the word “responsible”, it’s more difficult to actually be responsible.
One of the frontiers of the oil industry is extraction of petroleum from oil sands. Oil company spokesmen say that they’re being responsible in their oil sands projects. The chairman of Imperial Oil Limited refers to “our commitment to responsible development of this significant resource,” promising that “responsible development of the oil sands is possible”.
Is truly responsible exploitation of oil sands possible? Maybe, in the sense that colonies on the Moon and Mars are possible. Looking at extraction from oil sands that’s actually taking place right now, however, it’s clear that responsible oil sands development is not within the realm of what can be done.
A recent study of the effects of oil sands extraction in Alberta finds that the Athabasca River downstream from oil sands operations contains much more pollution that had been previously reported – in the case of some substances, 50 times as much. The study characterizes the amount of pollution as equivalent to an oil spill into the river, every year, year after year. Under what definition of “responsible” would this kind of pollution be regarded as responsible?
For more information about the irresponsible consequences of oil sands development, follow Oil Sands Watch.
