Lobbyists trying to save nature

Re. “Blogger uncovers U.S. effort to keep Alberta oil cheap,” David Staples, Nov. 14

So Canada and the oil industry are being bullied by American environmentalists? Don’t make me laugh.

For months, news articles have portrayed Alberta, and now Canada, as the victim of unfair and unreasonable demands to keep its oil landlocked and in the ground. We are also kept well-apprised of the fortunes and vicissitudes of major players in the fossilfuel industry. Most recently, it is sky-is-falling accounts of discounted oil prices.

Yet two weeks ago, a news release stated that over 60 per cent of wildlife populations have declined since 1970.

Let me suggest a different spin on the environmentalists’ motives. Far from victimizing Canada, they are merely trying to ensure there will be some nature left in the global environment to enrich the lives of generations of humanity in the future. In their view, the real victims, of climate change and other human-induced activities, are vulnerable populations.

Instead of belly-aching about “lost” billions of petrodollars and invoking foreign conspiracy theories, Canada should be preoccupied with doing its bit to achieve globally ratified carbon-reduction targets.

P.J. Cotterill, Edmonton