The ad campaign: “Rethink Alberta,” is paid for by a U.S.-based activist group and attempts to foster a negative view of the Canadian province among American tourists.  The ads frame oil sands exploration in the region as destructive to local communities and the environment.

The truth is Canadian oil producers adhere to some of the most stringent environmental regulations in the world— and the LCFS illusion of “dirtier” Canadian oil is a fabrication of such groups.  Now more than ever, the U.S.-Canadian strategic energy partnership must be preserved.  Tumultuous times in other energy bearing regions of the world should only strengthen the bond between the two neighboring countries.

Rob Renner—Alberta’s environment minister— slammed the misleading ad campaign:

“I think most people, given the opportunity to see both sides of the story… are going to see through what amounts to a significant amount of rhetoric in these anti-Alberta campaigns.”

Canada provides the American public with one out of every six barrels of oil.  As proponents of LCFS continue to focus on limiting the importation of Canadian oil, Americans still need the resource to maintain their modern lifestyles.  More importantly— unity with our friends to the North is a major component of America’s strategic position in the world.

In fact, Alberta’s oil producers are more efficient than ever— and oil production in the province counts for a mere 5% of the country’s total greenhouse emissions.  This is a far cry from the sentiment found in the misleading ad campaign targeting the province.

Americans need affordable energy—and restricting the flow of Canadian oil to America based on mythologies like LCFS end up inflating prices at the pump.  In fact, LCFS proponents hurt the very people they claim to protect:  everyday Americans.

BOSTON, Mass. – The environment minister from the Canadian province of Alberta participated in a regional energy conference in Boston today that, among many important issues, examined the potentially adverse consequences of imposing a Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) on the Northeast, a policy that could greatly reduce the region’s access to secure and affordable energy from Alberta.

“Alberta is committed to reducing the environmental impact of oil sands development, and we have already made great strides.  We are uniquely able to provide safe and secure energy resources that are essential to the northeastern United States and beyond,” said Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner. “We are not asking for special treatment, only fair treatment. When one considers the full life cycle of a barrel of oil, the carbon intensity of Alberta’s oil sands is very much in line with many other sources of crude, including those in the United States.”

An improperly designed LCFS in the Northeast could discriminate against reliable, affordable sources of Canadian fuel and raise the prices of gasoline and diesel, forcing New England states to increase imports from foreign, far-away suppliers, participants discussed today. Massachusetts imported more than 2.8 million barrels of petroleum products from Canada in the month of March alone, according to the Energy Information Administration – supplies that would be put in danger under an LCFS.

“During this time of unprecedented economic uncertainty, instituting a region-wide policy designed to drive up gas and diesel prices and make essential energy commodities such as home heating oil a whole lot more scarce doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” said Michael Whatley, vice president of Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) and the emcee of the forum today. “Maybe the more unfortunate reality of the LCFS, though, is that it won’t do a thing to reduce global concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. But that’s the LCFS: All pain, no gain.”

This afternoon’s regional low carbon fuel forum, hosted by CEA, drew the participation of the environment minister of Alberta, as well as a number of local and regional stakeholders, consumer groups and policy experts to discuss the regional impact of an LCFS, an initiative supported by Gov. Patrick and being pushed by the Boston-based group known as the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM).

Addressing the forum earlier today, Renner provided participants with an overview of the latest technological advances being deployed to develop Alberta’s oil sands in an environmentally sensitive way, highlighting among many other important points that CO2 emissions from the production of oil sands has come down by an average of 39 percent per barrel since 1990.