Black or White

Why do so many people only see things in black or white?  A recent visit to the Oilsands by James Cameron really made me think more about this.  Lots of comments from Albertans were "Who does he think he is?", "Go home and mind your own business" type of comments.

I hate when people are narrow minded.  Why do people have to be either in the pro-oilsands or the bleeding heart environmentalist camps?  It seems so black or white, with no shades of gray.

I for one don't have a problem with James Cameron or others taking a closer look at our Oil sands.   Yes I know that this sector fuels the Alberta economy, always has and likely always will.  Politicians have always bent over backwards to keep these companies happy so they will stay and fill the provincial coffers. 

Yes, I also drive a vehicle and am a consumer of these products, so it would be hypocritical of me to say shut them down.  However, I am also a citizen of this province and pay taxes and expect the government to also take people concerns into consideration as well. 

People are so worried that they will not have these jobs that they are willing to let these companies do whatever they want.  They can pollute the air and poison our water and we just accept it.  They can use tons of fresh water to extract the precious from the soil and we don't say a word.  So what if we deplete our resources or more people get cancer. 

I wish we could rely on these companies to take a little bit of their profits and come up with ways to do things better that  have less environmental impact.  But as we know, this is usually not the case.  Unfortunately it will take more James Cameron visits, more U.S. and European scrutinization of our environmental record to make things better.  Finally, the first tailings pond has been re-claimed.  It was created in 1967!

So I welcome the magnifying glass.  I believe these companies have top scientists, money and research at their disposal.  Alternative methods of extraction have already been found, but until we set the bar a bit higher, nothing will improve.  There is nothing like a little bad publicity to make companies clean up their act, or to make the government make them clean up their act.  Many oil and gas companies will send their exorbitant profits back to their home countries at the end of the day but those of us who live here will reap what they sow, both good and bad.

So rather than get our panties in a bunch lets always remember that we can do better, and for those people with children, we have to do better!