The Alberta Wilderness Association wants oil giant Suncor’s Fort Hills oil sands expansion to be reconsidered, saying there’s no evidence it can mine half the area and leave the other unharmed. Drew Anderson reports for The Narwhal.
In a nutshell:
At issue are the McClelland Lake peatlands and Suncor's untested plan to split the unmined protected areas and mined areas with a wall - a plan that was actually approved more than 20 years ago but never implemented. The Alberta Wilderness Association, citing flawed data, is requesting reconsideration of the permit. Suncor argues that there are no grounds for reconsideration.
Key quote:
Suncor “submits that the Alberta Energy Regulator should decline to exercise its extraordinary power of reconsideration, and requests that the [regulator] dismiss the Alberta Wilderness Association’s request without further process.”
Big picture:
Alberta's oil sands constitute one of the largest crude oil reserves in the world. Suncor wields enormous power in fossil-fuel-friendly Alberta, even helping the Canadian government draft climate change strategy. When it comes to permitting, Suncor is well-financed, well-lawyered and well-connected. The oilsands behemoth routinely brushes off critics and challenges. Could this time be different?
Read the full story in The Narwahl.
Read more about Suncor and the Alberta oilsands:
- Suncor helped write ‘first draft’ of Canadian plan for tackling carbon emissions
- Alberta government dropped net-zero discussion after oil lobbyists intervened
- Oilsands giant Suncor wants to cut a sensitive wetland in two. So far, it has the green light
- ‘When is enough enough?’ Downstream from the Kearl oilsands spill, residents grapple with what comes next
