'Ethical oil' campaign polishes oilsands image

A campaign to clean up the image of Canada's oilsands by comparing it with crude productionfrom less ethicalregions of the world is getting a pushfrom a website developed by a former Conservative Party staffer.

"The choice that exists is between ethical oil from Canada and conflict oil from politically oppressive countries," says Alykhan Velshi, the creator of ethicaloil.org.

"Conflict oil" from countries such as Iran and Venezuelais ethically tainted by the repressive politics of their regimes, while energy from liberal-democratic Canada is free of that stigma, the website says.

To make that point, a video on the site depicts gay men being hanged in Iran, and contrasts that with a gay pride parade in Canada.

The video also shows a woman being caned in Saudi Arabia, juxtaposed with a shot of Canada's women's hockey team celebrating an Olympic win.

'The choice that exists is between ethical oil from Canada and conflict oil from politically oppressive countries.' Alykhan Velshi, EthicalOil.org

"I think that often when people think about Canada's oilsands they measure it against a standard of perfection that doesn't exist," says Velshi.

EthicalOil.org began as a blog created by Velshi to promote the ideas in Ezra Levant's book Ethical Oil: The Case for Canada's Oil Sands.

Ethics debatable

Federal NDP environment critic Megan Leslie says debating whether Canada's oil is relatively more ethical misses the point. Canada should be working to move beyond fossil fuels toward renewable sources of energy, she says.

Leslie adds that there is a problematically close relationship between the federal Tories and the oil and gas industry.

"It does go back to the cozy relationship between the industry and our government. And I think it's shady at best," she said.

Mike Hudema, an Edmonton-based anti-oilsands campaigner with Greenpeace, also questions the merit of ethical debates on the origins of oil.

"The question that we need to be asking is, 'What is the best way for us to meet our energy needs? What is the best way to move people around?' And when you ask that question, the answer is not a barrel of oil from Saudi Arabia, and it is definitely not a barrel of oil from the tarsands in Alberta," he says.

But Travis Davies, who speaks for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), says pointing out the ethical shortcomings of many of the major foreign energy producers is a legitimate tack.

"You look at Canada as a nation and how we develop resources here, certainly we have a superior regulatory system and a system where benefits go back to the people," he says.