Making deals with big industry

The tarsands industry in Alberta today is facing much the same international criticism that British Columbia's forestry industry faced in the early 1990s.

But whether Alberta's issue of the tarsands can be solved in the same way as clear-cutting in British Columbia, is hard to say. As much of an negative impact as clear-cutting may have on the environment, it's difficult to argue that the tarsands are affecting the land in the same manner.

But in every case in which industry alters the natural environment, such as the tarsands, the company or companies involved are required by their respective provincial government to have a plan for reclamation in effect prior to starting. The idea being that they will be able to return the land to it's original state or better after they are finished. And even though planted forests do not grow in exactly the same manner as natural growth forests, replanting trees is somewhat easier than cleaning up a mess like the tarsands.

In the early '90s MacMillan Bloedel, a Vancouver based forestry company which was later bought out by Weyerhauser, formed ties with their protestors that later led to a change in their practices, abandoning clear-cutting in favor of selective harvest.

And now, people are wondering whether or not Alberta and the tarsands might find success in befriending their protestors in the same way.

An article from the Globe and Mail outlines the marked history of British Columbia's forestry industry and shows ties between it and Alberta's booming oil and gas industry.

But regardless of how smart British Columbia's forestry seemed to be, they are still just an industry out to make a profit. And settling on protester's demands just isn't something that's seems that profitable. And even today, among other methods used in British Columbia, clear-cutting is still happening. And whether or not STOP (Stop tarsands operations permanently) an Edmonton-based Greenpeace activist group, would feel the same way about making an agreement with the Alberta oil barons they've been working against for so long doesn't sound hopeful. Because ultimately, the tarsands aren't the same kind of industry as forestry in terms of environmental destruction. And the companies involved are still just out to make a profit.