In the wake of the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice has joined Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach to beat the drum for the oil sands. Prentice recently portrayed the oil sands as a less environmentally risky alternative to offshore drilling. The Pembina Institute's Danielle Droitsch takes Minister Prentice and Premier Stelmach to task for "using their positions to sell the oil sands" rather than acting "as stewards to province's resources, ensuring responsible development of the oil sands and proper regulation of oil sands operators." She concludes:
The Gulf oil spill is not an opportunity to claim the oil sands are something they're not - safer, cleaner or more secure. The spill should serve as a grave reminder of what can happen if oil is not developed responsibly. Moreover, the spill should set in motion a cleaner, carbon-free energy future, where we don't depend on risky, environmentally damaging fossil fuels at all.