Prime Minister Harper is coming to Washington at a time of heightened concern about how tar sands oil is undermining U.S., Canadian and international efforts to curb global warming pollution.  He is also coming at a time when all eyes are on the President and what the U.S. can take to Copenhagen to show its sincerity in moving from laggard to actor on the international stage.  

The last thing the President needs right now is the tarry, energy intensive oil from Alberta sticking fast to his coattails in the run-up to Copenhagen. The President should distance himself from the Prime Minister's tar sands-at-any-cost policies and should make it clear that neither the U.S. nor the world will countenance expansion of this dirty source of oil.  We hope that the President will re-iterate his vision that the U.S. become a clean energy leader, and secure its place in a 21st century world that requires new thinking and innovation. 

That vision was on display today when the U.S. EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced its proposed standards for reducing oil use and greenhouse gas pollution from cars and trucks.  Our analysis shows that these new vehicle standards will save roughly the same amount that we expect the tar sands to expand over the next ten years, roughly 1.3 million barrels of oil a day.  In other words, measures such as these eliminate the need for tar sands oil. Other measures, such as moving more aggressively on plug-in hybrids and developing low carbon fuels - ideally under a Low Carbon Fuel Standard - would also save millions of barrels of oil use a day and save drivers and the American economy trillions of dollars in the process.

But that vision - of reduced demand for oil - is not what the Harper government or oil companies have in mind. Like the National Riffle Association, which continues to oppose even the most sensible controls on gun purchases and use, they see any effort to reduce our massive consumption of oil as a threat to their enterprise. This worldview is evident in the "EnergyCitizens" town-hall style campaign that the American Petroleum Institute has launched against the climate legislation on the Hill.  Any provision that would require a full lifecycle accounting for carbon - like the federal fuels procurement provision of the 2007 energy bill and California's path breaking Low Carbon Fuel Standard - has been under attack. The national Low Carbon Fuel Standard - originally sponsored by Senator Obama - was stripped out of the House climate bill over the objections of the oil industry due to its expected impact on tar sands expansion.

Meanwhile, the march towards expanded tar sands continues.  The U.S. has recently approved two pipelines for construction and another one, Keystone XL, is in the permitting process. Half a dozen major refineries are being expanded to take the oil from these pipelines, including the first new refinery to be built in thirty years.  Once the industry is finished spending what must nearly top $200 billion, are the ExxonMobils, BPs, and ConocoPhilips really going to walk away?  As ConocoPhilips told us - this is a 30-50 year play and it is coming right at the time when we need to be moving to reduce the carbon in our fuels. 

The President should encourage the Prime Minister to stop throwing his tarry wrench into U.S. climate policy and to start getting his own house in order.  The Federal government has yet to adopt a policy on climate change and its "Turning the Corner" plan has been put on hold. Meanwhile provinces like Ontario and Quebec, which are moving forward with their own greenhouse gas policies, are fearful that Alberta - already responsible for one third of all Canada's emissions - will be given exemptions and that they'll have to make up for Alberta's profligate pollution.

The Prime Minister is coming to sell continued U.S. dependence on tar sands oil, albeit clothed in the rhetoric of a false "energy security" - one that does not take into account the national security risks inherent in rising seas, melting poles, and species extinction.  The President should say "no thanks" to the tar sands and continue the hard work he has started in confronting climate change and making true energy security a reality. 

Photo credit: RAN action at Niagara Falls on eve of Harper's visit, Rainforest Action Network, September 15, 2009  -- More including video posted at http://ran.org/tarsands