Slumping Oil Price Undercuts Stephen Harper

Harper rails at environmental advocates as his oil-centred economic vision runs aground.

stephen harperIt would be “crazy economic policy” to regulate greenhouse gases in the oil and gas sector with petroleum prices dropping, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told Parliament last week. “We will not kill jobs and we will not impose the carbon tax the opposition wants to put on Canadians.”

About as crazy as putting all the nation’s eggs in one basket: Canada becoming a global “energy superpower.”

About as crazy as ignoring the boom-and-bust history of the oil and sector.

About as crazy as assuming people will allow pipelines to snake under their land, carrying bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands to refineries in Texas and tankers on the Pacific coast.

Photo: ‘Stephen Harper‘ by Stephen Harper under the license CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

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