I was up in Ontario this summer and was so pleased at the smiles that came across Canadians’ faces when the topic of Obama came up. Maybe the embarasment of an American president who is better on the environment that your own PM will do the trick!

Reading from “Yo Harper” conservative talking points, Duffy & Mar got all excited about the potential threat of Obama protectionism creeping into US-Canada trade. The show sounded more like a hour long tar sands “Drill Baby Drill” info-commercial.

The Alberta press release read: “As Alberta’s representative, he will work to persuade US political and business decision-makers that Alberta is a secure, reliable and growing supplier of energy, is environmentally responsible in developing its world-scale energy resources, remains business friendly, and supports strengthened Canada-US agricultural ties.”

…What a joke!

Premier Ed Stelmach is quoted in the press release: “As an MLA and member of Cabinet, Gary Mar has proven his ability to represent, defend and promote Alberta’s interests. Those skills will serve all Albertans well in Washington.”

And on November 6, Premier Ed Stelmach was also quoted in the Globe & Mail that Alberta wants a seat at the table during any talks aimed at reaching a climate change deal between the federal government and the United States.

…Yeah right, a little presumptuous?

Hopefully, president-elect Obama will refuse that false argument. Moreover, President-elect Obama will reject Premier Ed Stelmach statement that says Gary Mar is serving Albertans real interests.

…What about climate change? …What about Albertans real interest in the environment? …What about Albertans real interest in water quality?

As a Canadian, I hope the US reduces its reliance on Alberta’s “dirty oil”. Tougher climate-change action is needed asap! The fictitious Alberta “energy security” argument must not override the real threat of climate change and environmental degradation.

It appears that the Ed Stelmach & Gary Mar vision will challenge the threat of climate change with collective failure.

I look forward to the Obama-Biden New Energy for America goal of “Reduce our Greenhouse Gas Emissions 80% by 2050″.

In the end, the oil sands are both a huge financial temptation and a hugely sensitive regional issue. How they end up being treated will have a lot to do with the extent to which national governments are willing to consider overall societal welfare, as opposed to the more volatile interests of specific groups, as well as the degree to which either government is willing to bear political risks in order to achieve their existing mitigation targets. I don’t think it can be realistically argued that current oil sands policy is anything other than selfish and reckless. That is on account of both the near-term ecological damage arising from oil sands extraction and refining, as well as the long-term climatic threats associated with using such dirty fuels.

Harper moved these forward because of the possibility of an Obama win, which would have made it much more difficult for him after.

Not only is Obama going to do something about AGW, but he is going to enlighten many about the seriousness of the situation.

Tar sands are dead, they wont be going anywhere now – kudos Obama.

Canadian economy is now going to tank, thanks to our visionary Harper.

My country embarrasses me, as I wrote about here:

http://www.anythingbutconservative.com/alberta-tar-sands.html

As long as the Alberta Tar Sands are operational, Canada won’t meet any GHG targets. Development there is expected to triple over the next 12 years. And since so much of the dirty, heavy oil is refined in the US, it’s a big problem for Americans, too.

What is funny about Harper is that the media seems intent on giving him a free ride. I laughed when I saw this preposterous news story last week, and yet the Canadian media seemed to play it straight, seemed to think that maybe some sort of North American climate agreement might be possible.

As if.

With the recent elections in Australia and the US, Canada has no allies when it comes to climate change. I hope that Climate Progress — and the other readers and writers here — keep up the pressure.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m starting a web site (one-blue-marble.com) to join the fight against climate change, and we’re going to sell bumper stickers and T-shirts, and hopefully take on a few campaigns to get the message out. The first will be to slow development at the Tar Sands. We won’t pull any punches.

But the thing that drives me crazy is that Harper is pitting the various regions of Canada against each other, and its working. He’s all about Alberta oil, and he’s convinced many that the country’s economic engine is the tar sands. Thousands of people in Atlantic Canada, where I live, travel to the Alberta to work for six weeks (a three thousand mile commute), and then take six weeks off back here. And so many people here are grateful for the opportunity! They think that’s a good thing.

Yet in the meantime, I live in a tiny province — an island but for a slender isthmus — surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. We have less than one million people, and more than 5,000 miles of coastline. It’s ALWAYS blustery around here. Why aren’t we the onshore and offshore wind capital of North America?

Few here seems to get it. Interestingly, in the last federal budget, Harper did throw some energy money our way — to study carbon capture and sequestration.

We need to get rid of him. Keep up the pressure!

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*One quibble… Canadians are thrilled by Barack Obama’s election. Don’t forget that 64 percent of us didn’t vote for Harper, and don’t like the direction that our country is taking. But our first-past-the-post election results have given us a government that many revile.