It's Water (& Oil) Week!

Yes, it's time to celebrate that we still have some reasonably clean water, at least in this part of the world. Of course, a range of presentations and talks is held this week at the University of Alberta and unfortunately I have not been to any yet thanks to a 24-hour-flu spread over 2 days. Never mind, tomorrow is my turn. Yes, the film screening is about the oil sands, what else should it be about in Alberta! Here is the trailer to White Water, Black Gold so you don't forget how much beauty and ugliness co-exist - and you can make a bet on which side will win, probably still in your lifetime.

At this point I would like to make a comment about a comment posted on CPAWS Northern Alberta's Facebook page. Last week CPAWS posted a link  to an article in the Globe and Mail titled U.S. think tank urges preservation of Canada's boreal forest  It fits in here because the oil sands are not only wasting and spoiling Canada's water they also destroy lots of boreal forests. So here's the comment of a reader:  "If Canadiens at large were aware of how significantly the boreal forest has shrunk over the last, say thirty years, they would freak. They really would. Ignorance from the part of the population has allowed the industry to clear cut their way across the continent. For humans to come to their senses there is nothing like being confronted to irreparable dammage ..." 

Optimist! I'm disillusioned. No, Canadians would not freak, ignorance makes life much easier than freaking over something. How many Canadians know about the oil sands? I hope it's part of their school curriculum, so all of them. And how many freak about it? A minority!? Shrugging shoulders, saying it's bad and then forget about it (that's the usual reaction I see), does not do anything. Some bold people will admit to being oil addicted, as individual and as nation. My husband complains that the accounting systems used in Edmonton have long been thrown out in the UK and NZ as obsolete; well, environmental behaviour here is just as behind. I can't believe it's the US that comes up with the recommendation of protecting the boreal forest. Sure, if the US does not buy the oil than somebody else does. Alberta is working hard to expand into the Asian market, planning pipelines across the Alberta and B.C. to the Pacific. Enbridge is packing "the Northern Gateway Project" up as a fantastic project that will bring so much prosperity. Oh, and they plan to import condensate (something 'harvested' from natural gas) which is odd but I have not found out the reason yet (not yet read their complete brochure).  I'm looking forward to tomorrow's film.