QuoteWhat's it going to take?



Will this be another 100-year war?



In 2113, when oilsands extraction is as green as green can be, when gas-powered vehicles have no emissions and aviation fuels leave no carbon in the atmosphere, will they still insist all oil is dirty oil?



Those opposed to fossil fuels, especially the oilsands, have the same attitude as those with deep political convictions. Their belief makes them feel so good, so righteous, that any reality-based challenge makes them even more fanatical.

Tim Moen's account of the pre-conceived attitudes of Neil Young and Daryl Hannah, when he accompanied the rock icon and actress on their "tour" of the oilsands over the long weekend, falls squarely in the cling-at-all-costs category.



What's fascinating about the Fort McMurray filmmaker's blog report is that Moen is as strong an environmentalist as his famous clients. He plays on Neil and Daryl's team! But he happily makes his home, with like-minded friends, in Fort McMurray.



Moen believes in a future without fossil fuels, where all energy will come from the sun and wind and running water and clean nuclear fusion. But the only way to get there, he reasons, is by investing the wealth from oil into new energy sources that will, in the long-term, slowly take over.



Then there are others, including this columnist, who believe in a fossil-fuel powered but pollution-free future. Abundant supplies of oil and gas can be extracted and will burn with next-to-no pollution, giving us thousands more years of environmental sustainability at a fraction of the costs of alternative energy.



Tim lives in Fort McMurray because reason, factual evidence, and his own eyes and ears tell him oilsands extraction is dramatically cleaner than even a decade ago. And he sees that clean-up exponentially accelerating.



"In the 13 years since I arrived there's been huge improvement," he says. "All the new oilsands operations are underground. You can't tell they exist. The (steam and extraction) pipes are beneath the boreal forest.

"The group that wants to develop the oilsands in a socially responsible way live here now. We wouldn't want it any other way. Fort McMurray itself is acutely environmental. The city has zero-waste initiatives, We have greenhouses using the CO2 and methane from landfill to grow vegetables."

Filmmaker Moen was hired by Neil Young's production company to shoot footage of the visit, part of a North American tour by Young and Hannah in their bio-fuelled cars. (Angels touring hell?) Moen had access to the Great Rocker, and they chatted extensively about the good environmental things happening in and around Fort McMurray. About which, he thought, Neil seemed interested.



But as soon as the Great Rocker got back to the USA, to a bio-fuel conference, he was telling all who'd listen how rotten and bad and "Hiroshima"-like the oilsands were.



Which brings us back to the what-will-it-take question, when a cultural icon like Neil Young, great songwriter that he may be, ignores any arguments challenging his preconceived point of view.



There's a legitimate argument that Albertans cannot be trusted in any defence of the oilsands, because we're addicted to the stuff for our standard of living and full employment.



Fair enough. So let's put James Cameron, the famous Hollywood director and producer, on the witness stand.



Cameron toured the oilsands for three days, talked with everybody from the anti-oilsand aboriginal bands, to the premier, to oil company executives.



He came with a sternly anti-oilsands attitude. When he left, he'd moderated. The oilsands, he said, had the potential to either be a great asset for mankind, or a great disaster depending how responsibly they were developed.



Couldn't have said it better myself.



Perhaps the oilsands need a famous Ted Moen, a credible celebrity environmentalist who takes a great interest in oilsands development and sees its environmental glass as three-quarters full, not three-quarters empty. An individual, moreover, who's not on anybody's payroll.



Any takers?



Read Moen's blog report, contrasting Young and Hannah's oilsands' attitude with his own. It's entertaining, articulate and explains our side more effectively than a thousand dry government documents or industry ads.



 



FACTOIDS:



Who: Rock icon Neil Young and actress Daryl Hannah



What: Making a documentary film demonstrating alternatives to fossil fuels



When: Labour Day Weekend



Where: In and around Fort McMurray, Alberta



Why: Mostly to criticize the development of the oilsands on environmental grounds



Included in the film footage: Beautiful bio-fuelled cars driving by the Syncrude and Suncor oil sands sites.



Not included in the film footage: river valley, wetlands and boreal forest scenic shots; reclaimed land; new green technology; industry experts; Fort McMurray's own environmental initiatives.

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