Canada's green-energy halo can't hide tar-sands horns

Poor Canada. It does so well at so many clean, green renewable things. It’s taken an innovative stance on solar energy, ranks ninth in the world in installed wind-energy capacity, actively encourages green building and is no slouch in the smart-communities development department either. But the nation’s reputation from a sustainability standpoint has been — sorry to say — tarred over by its eager and profitable production of fossil fuels from Alberta’s tar sands.

In the heated world of international climate negotiations, that’s earning Canada a decidedly chilly reception.

In fact, as this article from the BBC suggests, world travelers from the US might no longer want to try and earn a warmer welcome from locals in far-flung regions by telling them they’re from Canada. The country that once, unlike the US, backed the Kyoto Protocol is now hosting invitation-only news conferences at the climate talks in Durban, South Africa, and could earn the dubious distinction, as leading climate scientist James Hansen has said, of creating “game over” in the battle against global warming.

Ultimately, though, doesn’t at least part of the problem rest with the fact that others are still buying what Canada’s selling? Considering the US in particular currently gets 20 percent of its imported oil from its northern neighbor, it’s clear there’s more than one carbon villain benefiting from the vast bituminous deposits of Athabasca.