Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Be Careful What You Ask For, Alberta
There's plenty of grumbling out of the oil patch these days, angry muttering about western separation. They're fed up with waiting for a pipeline to tidewater, something they pin on Justin Trudeau even though he's advanced the idea unlike his Tory predecessor, Steve 'Beelzebub' Harper, who did essentially squat.
The problem these would-be separatists have is that an independent Saskberta or Albersask would have even less clout with the real West, British Columbia, than those provinces have right now. No Ottawa, no federal cudgel to menace B.C. No Ottawa, no Canada to pick up the quarter-trillion dollar tab for Athabasca remediation when the Bitumen Barons pack up and steal away in the night.
Remember when Redford absolutely refused to consider paying transit fees to BC. Try that little trick from a foreign country.
ReplyDeleteI guess buying a sludge pipeline for them was not good enough seems now they get another million or so because nobody wants to buy their tar. Perhaps they never heard of saving for a rainy day (or should that be an oily day)?
ReplyDelete.. mainstream media and political animals.. continue to pimp tar sands dilbit as 'Alberta oil' - dead horse Energy East exports to the US Gulf Coast refineries equals 'Ethical Energy Security' for Canadians. It just won't sink in that a vast volatile world market based on benchmark light sweet oil from Texas, Norway, Saudi Arabia.. all accessible by fleets of supertankers - is the control center of 'oil prices'. Getting diluted bitumin to 'tidewater' implies export.. and at prices dictated and fluctuating daily.. hourly. The USA wants to flood the market with fracked oil & are expanding production.. pipelines will flow in the direction they dictate in North America. The Koch Brothers (who already own much of our tar sands production) will direct it at rock bottom prices to their upgraders.. sell the refined products back to us at market prices. This is not hard to understand. Its real
ReplyDeleteAlberta is shrieking 'not fair' - we might seperate.. ergh.. The entire sector of diluted bitumin, fracked gas and fracked oil seems driving to export markets lickedy split.. bring the supertankers to 'tidewater' - build us some pipelines ! ! BC seems frozen.. also seeking easy royalty $$ via rip and strip and export.. Is BC's marine coasts, species, habitat, wild fisheries, tourism seen as so disposable ? Say it aint so !!
"If other Canadians don’t think Alberta should go suck a lemon, they probably soon will " David Climenhaga
ReplyDeletehttps://albertapolitics.ca/2018/11/if-other-canadians-dont-think-alberta-should-go-suck-a-lemon-they-probably-soon-will/
You gotta admit it's pretty funny that Albertans are blaming Junior for their bitumen pipeline problems when he's bending over backwards to please them. He revived the Kinder Morgan pipeline from the grave after the courts killed it; gave Albertans $1.6B in free money; and brought in a freshly-rigged pipeline review process.
ReplyDeleteOf course, Junior isn't doing it for votes. He's doing it for bribes. So I guess it all works out in the end!
But BCers definitely owe Donald Trump an enormous debt of gratitude. The Donald keeps throwing monkey wrenches into Junior's plan to turn Canada into a Chinese bitumen colony via free-trade with China. Love the latest volley: trashing Canada's diplomatic relations with China!
One could say Trump is not a politician: he actually gets things done!
And you haven't said B.C. should separate from Canada either, right Mound?
ReplyDeleteSaskberta or Albersask?! I prefer Albertana or Montaberta.
ReplyDeleteThe lunatic Luddites in charge in Saskatchewan have no qualms about leaving others to hold the bag when their Big Oil financiers run away.
ReplyDeleteThat was supposed to comment as me.
ReplyDeleteThe lunatic Luddites in charge in Saskatchewan have no qualms about leaving others to hold the bag when their Big Oil financiers run away.