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Gore full of hot air: Klein
Gore bashes oil sands development
By FRANK LANDRY, Staff Writer
Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore is full of hot air for comparing oil sands backers to junkies seeking their next fix, charges Premier Ralph Klein.
“The United States needs our oil. I don’t know what he proposes the world run on, maybe hot air?” Klein snapped.
In an interview to be published next week in Rolling Stone magazine, Gore bashes oil sands development, and says the reliance of fossil fuels is “dysfunctional.”
“Take the tar sands of western Canada. For every barrel of oil they extract there, they have to use enough natural gas to heat a family's home for four days,” Gore is quoted as saying.
“And they have to tear up four tons of landscape, all for one barrel of oil. It is truly nuts.
“But you know, junkies find veins in their toes. It seems reasonable, to them, because they've lost sight of the rest of their lives.”
Gore is promoting An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary on his campaign to fight global warming.
But Klein suggested the comments – which he hadn’t read himself – are nothing more than left-wing rhetoric.
“I’ve heard about the statement,” Klein said.
“I don’t watch movies much, and I don’t listen to Al Gore, in particular, because he’s a Democrat, and not only that, he’s as far left as you can go.”
Klein said he doesn’t believe Gore’s statements will hurt Alberta or the oil industry.
Marlo Raynolds, executive director with the Pembina Institute, said the former vice-president’s figures are pretty close to being bang on.
He said Gore is right to question our reliance on oil.
“It needs to be a real wake up call for all of us,” Raynolds said. “What does our long-term energy outlook look like?”
But Fort McMurray Mayor Melissa Blake said comparing oil sands development to a junkie seeking his next fix is going overboard.
And she noted there are already tight environmental regulations that govern how the reserves can be tapped.
“I think we are doing it as responsibly as we can,” Blake said.
Gore bashes oil sands development
By FRANK LANDRY, Staff Writer
Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore is full of hot air for comparing oil sands backers to junkies seeking their next fix, charges Premier Ralph Klein.
“The United States needs our oil. I don’t know what he proposes the world run on, maybe hot air?” Klein snapped.
In an interview to be published next week in Rolling Stone magazine, Gore bashes oil sands development, and says the reliance of fossil fuels is “dysfunctional.”
“Take the tar sands of western Canada. For every barrel of oil they extract there, they have to use enough natural gas to heat a family's home for four days,” Gore is quoted as saying.
“And they have to tear up four tons of landscape, all for one barrel of oil. It is truly nuts.
“But you know, junkies find veins in their toes. It seems reasonable, to them, because they've lost sight of the rest of their lives.”
Gore is promoting An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary on his campaign to fight global warming.
But Klein suggested the comments – which he hadn’t read himself – are nothing more than left-wing rhetoric.
“I’ve heard about the statement,” Klein said.
“I don’t watch movies much, and I don’t listen to Al Gore, in particular, because he’s a Democrat, and not only that, he’s as far left as you can go.”
Klein said he doesn’t believe Gore’s statements will hurt Alberta or the oil industry.
Marlo Raynolds, executive director with the Pembina Institute, said the former vice-president’s figures are pretty close to being bang on.
He said Gore is right to question our reliance on oil.
“It needs to be a real wake up call for all of us,” Raynolds said. “What does our long-term energy outlook look like?”
But Fort McMurray Mayor Melissa Blake said comparing oil sands development to a junkie seeking his next fix is going overboard.
And she noted there are already tight environmental regulations that govern how the reserves can be tapped.
“I think we are doing it as responsibly as we can,” Blake said.
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