Pembina reacts to new joint oilsands monitoring plan

EDMONTON — Jennifer Grant, director of the Pembina Institute’s oilsands program, made the following statement in response to the new joint Canada-Alberta implementation plan for oilsands monitoring: Read more »

Posted February 3, 2012 by AEN

Beyond Monitoring— Responsible Management Needed for Oilsands Environmental Impacts

Today, forty five years after the first tar sands mines started, the federal government has finally taken steps to introduce credible monitoring for contaminants and habitat degradation from oilsands development. Alberta Wilderness Association believes that long-overdue monitoring of Alberta’s oilsands impacts is a step in the right direction, but monitoring itself will not fix any of the issues which have so bedeviled the industry for the past few years. Read more »

Posted February 3, 2012 by AEN

Pembina reacts to additional review of proposed Keystone XL pipeline

CALGARY — Dan Woynillowicz, spokesperson for the Pembina Institute, made the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of State's announcement regarding additional review of the Keystone XL pipeline: Read more »

Posted November 10, 2011 by AEN

Pembina reacts to launch of Alberta’s new oilsands information portal

CALGARY — Simon Dyer, policy director at the Pembina Institute, made the following statement in response to the launch of the Government of Alberta's new oilsands information portal:

"We welcome measures by the Government of Alberta to improve the accessibility and transparency of some key oilsands performance measures.

 

Read more »

Posted November 10, 2011 by AEN

Eco monitoring plan a non-plan says Sierra Club Canada

The 'environmental monitoring' plan for the Tar Sands announced today by the federal government is actually a non-plan says Sierra Club Canada. Delay, delay, delay would be a more apt assessment of the federal government’s announcement.

Monitoring is fine but the real question is limiting pollution and addressing climate change. Sierra Club Canada has no confidence the federal and Alberta governments will actually do that. There is a long history of allowing the oil companies to do what they want. Read more »

Posted July 21, 2011 by AEN

Pembina reacts to Alberta environmental monitoring panel's report

Jennifer Grant, director of the Pembina Institute's oilsands program, made the following statement in response to the Alberta Environmental Monitoring Panel's report:

"The environmental monitoring panel's recommendations are thorough. We urge the government to move swiftly to implement a new, more robust and transparent monitoring system. 

"More than 40 years after oilsands development started, Albertans have been told by numerous expert panels that environmental monitoring is insufficient. This is a matter of public trust and accountability and the government has a long way to go to restore public confidence that it is protecting the environment. 

"It's important to note, as the panel did, that monitoring is just one component of natural resource management; you actually have to use the data to inform planning, regulatory decision-making and enforcement. You need the full package to get the job done — otherwise it's like having smoke detectors but no firetrucks or firefighters."

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Posted July 6, 2011 by AEN