Ethical oil

[[File:Athabasca Oil Sands map.png|thumb|right|165px|It's this big already.]]
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{{cquote|There’s no such thing as ethical oil.  There’s only dirty oil and dirtier oil.|||[[Al Gore]]<ref>[http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/no-such-thing-as-ethical-oil-al-gore-tells-toronto-audience/article11777256/ 'No such thing as ethical oil', Al Gore tells Toronto audience], ''The Globe and Mail''</ref>}}
"'''Ethical oil'''" is both an [[oxymoron]] and a [[bullshit]] [[Propaganda|attempt to]] [[Conservative correctness|re-brand the Athabasca tar sands into more palatable terms]], along with the [[Alberta]] [[oil]] industry in general. 

The term is used in [[Canada]] and was originally coined by [[right-wing]] hack [[Ezra Levant]]<ref>[http://www.amazon.ca/Ethical-Oil-Case-Canadas-Sands/dp/0771046413 "Ethical Oil: The Case For Canada's Oilsands"]</ref> in an effort to mitigate the negative publicity that development of the tar sands had gathered due to its massive ecological destructiveness.<ref group=note>Google "Alberta oil spill." Have at [[Star Trek|Captain Picard]]'s [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNsrK6P9QvI ultimate facepalm] when ready.</ref> It has since been adopted, [[PR|unsurprisingly]], by the oil industry itself.<ref group=note>[http://www.ethicaloil.org/ Through the aptly-named Ethical Oil Institute], in fact.</ref>

The argument runs something like this: "Sure, developing the tar sands means tearing-up the landscape and dumping billions of tonnes of [[greenhouse gas]]es into the atmosphere... but at least when oil is coming from Canada there's no money going towards supporting them [[heresy|godless]] [[Islam|Mooslims]] with their [[terrorism]] and [[shariah]] and all that. If we become the [[US]]'s main provider, they'll never have to go to [[Iraq War|war]] again! And [[Global warming conspiracy theory|global warming is probably a lie anyway]]!"

It made a convenient shield for then-prime minister [[Stephen Harper]]'s aggressive expansion of the oil sands (which is unsurprising, given his connections to the movement), to the point where the government has [[Anti-environmentalism|repeatedly]] [[PIDOOMA|accused]] Canadian [[environmental]] groups of [[Shill gambit|being agents of sinister foreign powers]].<ref>[http://deepclimate.org/2012/01/13/ethical-oil-political-connections-part-1-conservatives-go-newclear/ Deep Climate]</ref>

They also successfully lobbied the {{wpl|Canada Revenue Agency}} to 
harass
 audit various environmental charities.<ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/7-environmental-charities-face-canada-revenue-agency-audits-1.2526330 7 environmental charities face Canada Revenue Agency audits], CBC</ref> We're going to 
smack our heads into desks
 remember the Harper years quite well in the next few decades.<ref>[http://business.financialpost.com/2014/08/15/albertas-oil-sands-among-riskiest-energy-plays-in-the-world-report-says/?__lsa=28e7-f305 Alberta’s oil sands among riskiest energy plays in the world, report says], ''National Post''</ref>

==Economics?==
At this point, the most adequate "[[ethical]]" justification for increasing crude production in Canada is to use it as emergency funding during a [[Great Recession|recession]] and/or funnel the cash made into developing technology that will make the extraction process more [[renewable energy|carbon neutral]]. Indeed, Canuckistan had its recovery after [[Great Recession|2008]] sweetened thanks to resource industries in Western Canada picking up the slack from struggling manufacturing in the East.

This, of course, is a double-edged sword that could mean dangerous politics. There are growing signs that the economy is becoming over-reliant on the energy sector;<ref>[http://www.bnn.ca/News/2013/7/31/Canada-economy-grows-02-in-May-below-forecasts.aspx Canada’s economy held back by drop in oil sands output], BNN</ref><ref>[http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-30/alberta-says-budget-deficit-to-widen-on-lower-oil-price.html Alberta Says Budget Deficit To Widen On Lower Oil Price], ''Bloomberg''</ref> while this wouldn't be a problem in, say, [[Saudi Arabia]], the petroleum in Alberta is extremely unconventional bitumen.<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/05/18/us-oilsands-carbon-idUSTRE54H6C220090518 Canada oil sands emit more CO<sub>2</sub> than average: report], Reuters</ref><ref>[http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/greenpage/regulator-industry-find-oilsands-cleanup-harder-than-first-thought-211041471.html Regulator, industry find oilsands cleanup harder than first thought], ''Winnipeg Free Press''</ref> [[China]] and other world powers are only lining up for it now in the fear of [[peak oil]], and when the [[effects of global warming|effects of AGW]] reach a breaking point, demand for the stuff will plummet. No allegory to the [[Alaska#The Klondike gold rush|Yukon Gold Rush]] needed.<ref>[http://www.comeexplorecanada.com/yukon/dawson_city/ And we all know what happened to Dawson City.]</ref>

It didn't have to be this way: the province had a Heritage Fund specifically designed to prepare for a post-oil economy, progressively squandered over the last 30 years due to the [[boom and bust]] of oil prices and anti-[[tax]] rhetoric (it's Alberta we're talking about here, remember).<ref>[http://www.conferenceboard.ca/economics/hot_eco_topics/default/13-02-25/opportunity_lost_alberta_is_facing_short_and_long_term_financial_challenges_despite_its_oil_wealth.aspx Opportunity Lost? Alberta Is Facing Short- and Long-Term Financial Challenges Despite Its Oil Wealth], Conference Board of Canada</ref><ref>[http://irpp.org/research-studies/canadian-policy-prescriptions-for-dutch/ Canadian Policy Prescriptions for "Dutch Disease"], Institute for Research on Public Policy</ref><ref>[http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Peter+Lougheed+leaves+lasting+economic+political+legacy+Alberta/7239712/story.html Peter Lougheed leaves lasting economic and political legacy for Alberta], ''Vancouver Sun''</ref> [[Norway]], on the other hand, is pointing and laughing.<ref>[http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/canada-competes/what-norway-did-with-its-oil-and-we-didnt/article11959362/ What Norway did with its oil and we didn’t], ''The Globe and Mail''</ref>

==Ethical Oil Institute==
The Ethical Oil Institute is an [[astroturf]] organization that was founded by Ezra Levant and Alykhan Velshi.<ref name=desmog>[https://www.desmogblog.com/ethical-oil-institute Ethical Oil Institute] Desmog Blog</ref> It was created in order to 
harass
 advocate against "foreign special interests" meddling in Canada's Tar Sands debate, and to run 
intimidation
 [[Public relations|public outreach and media campaigns]] at various points during the Canadian election cycle.

Branding itself as a "small grassroots organization"<ref>https://www.desmogblog.com/ethical-oil-institute</ref>, Ethical Oil Institute 
deer caught in the headlights
 "spokesperson" [[Kathryn Marshall]] (married to Hamish I. Marshall, currently President of Touch Media, which runs digital strategy for Ezra Levant's [[Rebel Media]]<ref>https://news.vice.com/story/inside-rebel-medias-big-money-anti-islam-crusade</ref> and is also currently running the campaign of Brian Jean<ref>http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/scheers-campaign-manager-on-ending-his-rebel-ties/</ref> for the leadership of Alberta's new United Conservative Party as of Aug 2017) had a spectacular meltdown on the [[CBC]] (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) in early 2012 when presented with simple counter questioning about Ethical Oil's funding sources. At one point, she could barely get a sentence out of her mouth and continually referred to environmental groups such as the [[Sierra Club]] of Canada as "puppets" of "foreign interests".<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxmtmpojPCE</ref> This led to a number of parody articles and videos, one of the most notable being "Ethical Oil: the Puppet Rap", which has 33K views on YouTube.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYUd7WOdjyU</ref> Astonishingly, but hardly surprising given his 
thin skin
 ability to take criticism, Levant is still so "stung" by this public rebuke that he actually tweeted about it 5 years later.<ref>https://twitter.com/ezralevant/status/911260131978969089</ref>

==See also==
*[[Clean coal]]
*[[Fracking]]
*[[Drill baby, drill]]
*[[False dichotomy]]
*[[NIMBY]]: A less-than-noble reason some oppose "ethical" oil.
*[[Not as bad as]]
*[[Oxymoron]]

==External links==
*[http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactives/oil-dashboard/ Oil: Where Canada stands in the global picture], CBC
*[http://www.nature.com/news/climate-science-a-line-in-the-sands-1.13515 If the world's top climate scientists] are feeling like [http://gifrific.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Unsure-Larry-David.gif this] on Keystone XL, then we have a bit of a problem.
*[http://www.canadianbusiness.com/economy/time-to-clear-the-air/ Time to clear the air], ''Canadian Business''
*[http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/10/23/memo-to-the-conservatives-on-climate-policy-take-the-money-dammit/ Memo to the Conservatives on climate policy: ‘Take the money, dammit!’], ''Maclean's''
*[https://twitter.com/DougSaunders/status/390331822292221953 My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun/Coral is far more red than her lips/If snow be white, then her breasts are dun/Because pipeline]
*[http://www.ethicaloil.org/ EthicalOil.org] — "Ethical" Oil Institute
*[https://canadaaction.ca/ Canada "Action"] — the present day successor to the above

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}
==References==
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[[Category:Canada]]
[[Category:Conservative deceit]]
[[Category:Denialism]]
[[Category:Energy]]
[[Category:Environmentalism]]
[[Category:Neologisms]]
[[Category:Propaganda]]

Categories: Canada, Conservative deceit, Denialism, Energy, Environmentalism, Neologisms, Propaganda