New Environment Minister Calls Oil Sands “Ethical Oil”

Peter Kent says that environmental concerns over the massive oil sands development are overblown.

Speaking on his second day as federal environment minister, Kent stayed firmly on the Conservative message and said that Alberta’s oil sands industry represents an ethical source of fuel that economically benefits the whole country. Recent reports found that federal and provincial monitoring of the environmental impact of the oil sands is inadequate, and while Kent did renew the government’s pledge to enhance monitoring, he said that the industry has been unfairly demonized as a polluter. The Conservatives have been at pains to convince Canadians and the international community that the oil sands are safe, with American environmental concerns threatening to scuttle a lucrative pipeline deal with the U.S.