Canadians tell oil men to clean up their act

COMMENT: An industry-staged mea culpa meant to deflect the much greater opposition to tar sands development than it acknowledges.

Claudia Cattaneo, Financial Post Published: Thursday, January 08, 2009

Fort McMurray AB-Syncrude's Mildred Lake plant north of Fort McMurray. It takes about 4,000 workers to operate this plant, the largest oilsands crude oil production facility in the world. (Photo Chris Schwarz/Edmonton Journal/CanWest News Service.)

Canadians are telling oil sands companies they need to do a better job of protecting the environment, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers admitted on Thursday.

The industry's trade group said data from opinion polling and feedback on an interactive web site set up six months ago found that Canadians believe it's possible to develop the oil sands while protecting the environment. The polling and the feedback also shows that most are concerned about the impact of projects on fresh water and about greenhouse gas emissions, but also that Canadians believe technology is a large part of the solution.

"Canadians are telling us that we need to do better," Bruce March, chief executive of Imperial Oil Ltd., said in a statement.

"We have received a clear message: the economy and energy security benefits of the oil sands cannot come at the expense of the environment. We are encouraged to find Canadians believe, as we do, that responsible development of the oil sands is possible."

Members of CAPP are discussing the results and what they can do to address them, the group said.