Oh to be at the table for this meeting.  Eddie ‘Big Oil’ Stelmach and the Pembina institute are going to talk about the Tarsands in Alberta and their viability as a resource for the US.

“Premier Ed Stelmach is scheduled to meet with the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, next Wednesday in Ottawa.  The powerful U.S. Democrat is a key figure in the debate over energy resources and she wants to know more about the Alberta oilsands.”

The initial reports were that it was only going to be the oil companies front man our democratically elected and beloved Premier.  This however is not the case.  The Pembina Institute has also been invited to participate in the meeting with Pelosi.

“Marlo Raynolds, the executive director of environmental think-tank Pembina Institute, has been invited to join a round-table discussion with Pelosi on Thursday along with other non-governmental organizations and First Nations groups.

“I think this is probably one of the most important meetings that the Pembina Institute has been invited to,” he said.”

I can just imagine the dear leaders eyes rolling as his governments assertions about the oilsands will actually be scrutinized and called into question.  Poisoning the Athabasca river in the name of resource extraction might not fly too well with Pelosi.  Not that our magnanimous government would consider covering up or smearing people who have the audacity to raise concerns about what is happening to the people and the environment because of the tarsands resource extraction project.  After-all, what is a little more cancer and increased mortality for Fort Chipewyan, compared with serving the energy needs of the USA?  (See the study here and the controversy about the study here.)

Forest Ethics has been kicking up quite a fuss over the carbon output of Oil Sands, enough of a stink to cause many major US corporations to exclude Alberta crude from their lists of energy suppliers.  Oil courtier Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach’s role in the upcoming meeting becomes a little more clear as Stelmack’s concern for corporate profit the people of Alberta will be front and centre on his agenda.

My hope is that the Pembina Institutes’s representative can interject some much needed balance and a people based perspective to counter the corrosive effects of a mendacious PR campaign our province has been waging trumpeting how awesome the Oil Sands are.