Alberta premier defends oil sands development

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By staff and wire reports

TETON VILLAGE, Wyo. — Alberta’s top official defended his province’s development of crude oil  from Canada’s massive oil sands Tuesday as environmentalist complaints trailed him to the Western Governors’ Association meeting in Wyoming.

Premier Ed Stelmach said he expects his province’s oil industry to be scrutinized because it’s the top source of imported crude oil to the United States.  Alberta exported 1.35 million barrels of crude oil per day to the United States in 2006, making up 13 percent of U.S. crude imports.

“Being the No. 1 supplier to the United States, we expect that we’ll be drawing attention, simply as a result of that,” Stelmach said. “We’re continuing to work to be leaders in greening our growth; we will lead in that policy development with or without the federal government. We’re willing to make the investments.”

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In this file photo, mining trucks carry loads of oil sands after being loaded by huge shovels at the Albian Sands oils sands project in Ft. McMurray, Alberta, Canada. (AP Photo/Jeff McIntosh)

In this file photo, mining trucks carry loads of oil sands after being loaded by huge shovels at the Albian Sands oils sands project in Ft. McMurray, Alberta, Canada. (AP Photo/Jeff McIntosh)

Nebraska is, in  its way,  at the crossroads of Alberta oil sands development.

Alberta oil sands are expected to be the source of oil to be piped across Nebraska in two lines, one under construction and one proposed by TransCanada, to refineries in Illinois, Oklahoma and the Gulf Coast.   A new refinery proposed by Hyperion Resources to be built in Elk Point, S.D., across the Missouri River from Nebraska, would use oil from Alberta sands. 

The Natural Resources Defense Council and other groups took out an advertisement in the Casper Star-Tribune, Wyoming’s largest newspaper, criticizing the impact of Alberta’s oil sands development on forest land and the emissions that type of crude produces as fuel. The groups also sent letters to all the governors in attendance at the Western Governors’ Association meeting, including Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman.

“We look at this as a time when we need to be very concerned about climate change,” said Josh Mogerman, NRDC spokesman. “This is a double whammy of creating more (carbon dioxide) and also knocking down one of the biggest forests in North America that absorbs (carbon dioxide).”

Stelmach said Alberta has pioneered carbon-capture efforts, was the first North American jurisdiction to impose a levy on carbon emissions and has worked to reduce energy consumption in the province.

Among the Western governors at the three-day meeting in Wyoming, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said the oil sands are an important fuel source for the United States. While it may produce some environmental challenges, so do sources such as coal and nuclear power.

“This oil replaces oil that we’re buying from dictators around the world,” Schweitzer said. “We will never have to send troops to the border between Montana and Alberta to protect that energy supply. These are good trading partners. They’re friends of ours. We will help them develop their energy, and they will help us develop our energy.”

Nebraska’s and South Dakota’s governors also attended part of the summit.    Heineman gave a presentation on water issues and attended a meeting on renewable energy, according to his office.

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter said the fuel from Alberta’s oil sands is helpful to the United States, but mitigation and reclamation are important because of the industry’s environmental impacts. Ritter said Stelmach has expressed a commitment to those measures.

“But it is a nonrenewable resource, and it is something that should again give us pause for concern if we don’t look at how we diversify the portfolio,” Ritter said.