I am so over the Alberta hating. Especially the oil rants (because perhaps some of the redneck rants may be warranted.) I'm especially irritated by people from other provinces bashing Alberta, for so many reasons, not the least of which but easiest to state: where's the national pride and loyalty? We're all one pretty good country with a lot of potential, and infighting never got anybody anywhere.
Now, the arguments. First, there are the people who complain about Alberta being so wealthy and the other provinces not so much. Um, it's not like we purposefully went back in time and buried some dinosaurs and plants in our province. Also, when one province is rich, it's good for the entire country - the entire country's GDP goes up, the employment rate goes up (you know how many people from the eastern provinces work in the oil business? All of them.) I'm talking to you, people complaining how Alberta doesn't share. And I'm sorry, but since when has being successful been a bad thing?
Another argument I hear a lot is the pollution angle, and how Alberta's oil industry is single-
handedly ruining the planet. I may be biased through my employment by the industry, or perhaps I'm more informed, I won't rule either way, but from what I've seen, the oil giants (or at least certainly Shell) are extremely concerned with the environment. A great deal of money goes into developing future technologies, making more efficient engines and fuels, and reducing pollution output. And the people who are frothing at the mouth over tar sands? Um, not such a big deal. I know those birds died and all, but the number one issue is the
tailings, the leftover sand from the extraction process, and they use THAT to contain the water, which they reuse. Yer damn
skippy the reuse it. And each
tailings pond and well are close together, and cover a smaller area than West Ed, and the rest of Northern Alberta is pretty much untouched, so migration routes? Not really so much in trouble. Also, I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts that the people who complain about pollution use cars and airplanes and public transportation and electricity. The market is driven by demand - there wouldn't be any pollution without the consumers, a group most certainly constituted by a vast majority of non-Albertans.
Lastly (unless I think of more) are the people who are all "Alberta is too loose with their resources, because we're gonna run out of oil, and then where are we gonna be?" And I confess, I am sort of a member of this group, but since when does it fall to one province to meet the energy needs of the country? I don't see any other provinces stepping up to the plate. And I'd like to - you don't need access to fossil fuels to develop alternative forms of energy. Canada is supposed to be a pretty smart country (except possibly our prime minister, but I plan to have his job someday, and I'm BRILLIANT), so where are our research facilities? Sure, Alberta is hogging all the money so there's no funding, but couldn't the government use some taxes? They're certainly getting a lot from income tax, as I'm uncomfortably aware of. (Nothing makes me angrier than seeing 20%
ish of my money disappearing over the horizon, never to return.)
I digress.
Well, that's my rant, and I hope I didn't offend anybody
irreparably. Just to make sure, comment with your thoughts,
pleasey cheesey?
