Mr. Obama Goes to Canada

At first glance, you wouldn't think that a trip to our friendly northern neighbors would be cause for concern for environmental groups. You'd expect Canadians, with their love of outdoors and the vast wilderness, to be strong advocates for the environment. But, on the eve of Obama's trip to Canada, there's a sticky issue in play and that is: tar sands.

Most Americans south of, say, Minnesota probably haven't heard of tar sands. But the United States imports more than a million barrels per day of tar sands oil. In fact, Canada is the biggest supplier of oil to the U.S. (Take that Venezuela!) Oil from tar sands is pulled from land, from an area the size of Florida, mostly in the Boreal forest in Alberta, leaving a barren stretch of destroyed earth in its wake. George Woodwell, Director Emeritus of the Woods Hole Research Center, described the aftermath of tar sands as looking like a moon crater. Not a pleasant image for what should be one of nature's great sanctuaries.

As Obama prepares for his trip, environmental groups have called on him to reject tar sands with its devastating impact to land, public health and the climate. This clearly runs counter to the president's clean energy vision for America's future.

But, again, this is where things get tricky. In his first weeks in office, President Obama has already delivered more clean energy and environmental solutions than most environmentalists could have dreamed of. He's asked EPA to reconsider the California wavier; he's called for the Department of Energy to increase efficiency standards; and he's helped pack in more renewable, clean energy solution in the stimulus package.

And, so far, Mr. Obama has shown he's on the right side of the tar sands issue. Just yesterday, on the CBC, President Obama called out tar sands for having a "big carbon footprint" and he re-asserted the need for America and Canada "to obtain the energy that we need to grow our economies in a way that is not rapidly accelerating climate change."

In his typically nuanced manner, Mr. Obama has made it clear that he is not going to follow the same see-no-evil, hear-no-evil path that Bush took.

On the flip side, the president is walking a fine line because there is tremendous pressure from the oil industry, especially in Canada, to keep the tap open on this dirty fuel source. And the Canadian government has been a laggard on clean energy, especially when it comes to tar sands - allowing for its expansion and even hinting at granting exemption under greenhouse gas limits.

So we'll have to see how President Obama plays this issue over the next couple of days. My hope is that Obama will stick with the clean energy future vision and veer away from any signals that tar sands is acceptable fuel source.

Yesterday, Mr. Obama visited a solar panel installation at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science at the signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This tells you something about his priorities and, hopefully, about the path he will take on tar sands and other dirty fuels.