Good move, both politically and environmentally, on Ignatieff’s part yesterday in announcing he would ban oil tankers from moving through BC’s northern coast waters, if a Liberal government is elected. A proposed ban had wide popular support in BC prior to the BP Gulf of Mexico disaster, and I’m sure that has only increased even more, despite the fact tankers and platforms are 2 separate things.
My title refers to me wanting Ignatieff and the Liberals to go even farther then this; specifically, I’d like to see a ban on drilling of said platforms in the Arctic (of any type; deep-water, shallow-water etc). That area is even more environmentally sensitive then BC’s northern coast is.
UPDATE @ 12:42 pm: On a slightly different but still related topic, I doubt oil executives are going to get much US public sympathy for attacking President Obama’s 6 month moratorium on deep-water drilling. In fact, I’m sure Obama hopes they do more of that.
meanwhile we are about to double the existing oil tanker traffic in and out of Burrard Inlet – and the increase will come from the other snafu that Iggy keeps saying nice milquetoast things about: the tar sands.
Here ya go – what a timely opportunity for Ignatieff to speak with a little clarity on the issue:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2010/06/22/nl-atlantic-refinery-changes-622.html
Why more? You know he will only break your heart when he reneges on the promise.
Curious – why are some coastal waters important enough for this policy, and others not? Is Ignatieff saying that we should have one regulatory standard for BC, another for the Arctic, and Easterners can just take their chances?