Klein slams Gore over 'truly nuts' oilsands

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Former vice-president says extraction method is expensive, inefficient
David Finlayson and Kelly Cryderman, CanWest News Service canada.com
EDMONTON - Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore says the continued development of Alberta's oilsands is "truly nuts," because the process of extracting the oil is expensive and inefficient.The debate over global oil reserves misses the real point, because there is already more than enough oil and coal to render the planet uninhabitable, Gore claims in a wide-ranging interview in Rolling Stone magazine. "Take the tar sands of Western Canada," Gore says."For every barrel of oil they extract there, they have to use enough natural gas to heat a family's home for four days. And they have to tear up four tons of landscape, all for one barrel of oil. It is truly nuts. "But you know, junkies find veins in their toes. It seems reasonable to them because they've lost sight of the rest of their lives." Premier Ralph Klein dismissed Gore's criticism Tuesday, saying the former vice-president is politically "about as far left as you can go." Gore's star is rising again, thanks to his documentary film about global warming called An Inconvenient Truth. Klein, who has recently returned from a trip to Washington, D.C., to promote Alberta and its oil and gas industry, said he has not seen the film but has heard about Gore's comments to the popular U.S. magazine. "We have the tar sands here," Klein said. "The United States needs our oil. I don't know what he (Gore) proposes the world run on. Maybe hot air. "I don't watch movies that much and I don't listen to Al Gore in particular because he's a Democrat, and not only that, he's about as far left as you can go." Gore's assertion that the amount of natural gas needed to produce a barrel of oil would heat a house for four days is essentially correct, said Greg Stringham, vice-president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.But he's talking about $3.50 worth of gas, and at $70 for a barrel of oil that's not a bad deal, he said. "And that's using today's technology. We are developing technology that will use less energy to produce oil."Stringham said it's true oilsands companies remove four tonnes of earth to produce a barrel of oil, but reclamation regulations require them to put it back afterward. Industry representatives said Gore is too quick to dismiss the benefits of developing the oilsands and the efforts being made to mitigate the environmental impact. Stringham said the industry doesn't see economic growth and environmental stewardship as mutually exclusive. Seventy to 90 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions come out of vehicle tail pipes, and that issue needs to be addressed, he said. Suncor spokeswoman Patti Lewis said Gore should tour the oilsands so he can see the "enormous" benefits they produce for Canada and North America. "We're generating a commodity that consumers demand, and one that drives significant job creation and economic growth." In the past, Klein has made disparaging remarks about the science of climate change, especially in his fiery battle against the Kyoto accord in 2002 and 2003. But on Tuesday he acknowledged that climate change is man-made.