We do expect Obama to make good on another promise: To deny Keystone XL – the massive, proposed pipeline slated to carry Canadian tar sands through America’s heartland – if it exacerbates the problem of climate change. It does, and President Obama should say no. President Obama delivering on both promises could be a gift to Canada.
While he sips on the fresh brew, flavored with honey straight from the First Lady’s garden on Pennsylvania Avenue, a denial of Keystone XL might give Harper a reason to reflect on the direction in which Canada is heading.
What will Canada’s future be built on?
But if Harper thinks that the only way forward for Canada involves relying on an industry that extracts one of the planet’s dirtiest fuels no matter the cost, he clearly hasn’t taken a minute to think about what’s right in front of him – and if he’s still enjoying his White House brew, it will be literally right in front of him: Beer!
The beer economy employs 2x more people than tar sands
What does beer have to do with Canada’s future? As it turns out, quite a lot.
It might be surprising to some, but Canada’s beer industry is one of its most important economic engines. The “beer economy” (which includes retail sales, transportation and wholesale distribution, as well as the agricultural products needed to make the beer itself) employs more than 163,000 people, or 1 out of every 100 jobs in the country. And a report out late last year suggests that 44 cents of every dollar spent on beer goes to the Canadian government in taxes ($5.8 billion). That makes buying beer in Canada practically a civic duty!
While beer is almost necessary, especially at a a hockey game, tar sands is a Canadian nightmare Canada and the world cannot afford. In addition to being one of the most carbon intensive fossil fuels – 17% more than regular oil – the industry is also tearing up some of Canada’s most precious wildlife habitat and poisoning its waters. You can’t make beer out of toxic water.
We don’t need tar sands. We can still make the choice to move to cleaner transportation fuels and sources of electricity generation, reducing demand and enacting policies to wean us off oil and keep tar sands in the ground.
We’ll see if the U.S. Olympic hockey teams can exact some revenge on the ice in 2018. And if President Obama makes the right decisions now, the only thing that might be coming over the border in 2018 will come in 12 oz bottles – not 36 inch pipes.
Take Action
Tell President Obama to protect wildlife and reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
The Sun has the scoop from Ambassador Doer’s appearance yesterday at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore:
He touted the tens of thousands of jobs [Keystone XL] could create, increased energy security for the US and polling that consistently shows Americans support the $7-billion project.
“I believe all those reasons will allow us to get a common-sense decision,” he said. “I will bet a six-pack that it is going to happen.”
Doer’s cheerleading may be a lot of hot air, but it’s no surprise—Canada, under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has regressed to become one of the worst environmental governments outside the Third World. The tar sands industry in particular enjoys close relationships with the Harper Administration, which has gladly put the oil boom ahead of public health and sustainable environmental practices.
[**UPDATE: My boss points out that if someone else is paying, he would get “some good eco, organic brew to wave it in his face. . . probably $9.99 a six pack at least.” That bumps the bill to $7,992,000 US]
What Do You Think of the Odds?
It’s not the first time the ambassador made waves on this side of the border: around this time last year, he appeared to criticize the U.S. State Department for considering environmental concerns during their assessment of Keystone XL, saying they shouldn’t listen to “noise” like the thousands of Americans who circled the White House to protest the pipeline. Strange he would say that because in his own country the biggest issue of the year is—you guessed it—the “Northern Gateway” pipeline, Canada’s equivalent to Keystone, which has been plagued by delay after delay and an outpouring of public opposition.
Keystone XL may have become a political football but polls show that Americans want action to solve the climate crisis, and we know that tar sands pipelines would be a huge setback for our clean energy future. As for the Ambassador’s claims about jobs and energy security, well, click here if you want the rundown but let’s just say he might want to take a break from the pub because he’s totally, utterly mixed up on the facts.
OK…all beer jokes aside, Keystone XL is still a ticking time bomb. The State Department is about to begin its final analysis of the pipeline, and we still don’t know whether the big kahuna, climate change, will be considered in the determination. We still need your help to make sure that our planet’s climate and wildlife are protected from this incredibly destructive project, so speak up now and make sure we prove Ambassador Doer wrong.
Take action for people and wildlife! Tell the White House to say NO to the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.