The economy versus the earth. 

While the environmental movement is sweeping the globe, Canada seems to be heading in the opposite direction. Jessica Barry’s post “Canadian Government Speeds Up the Industrial Process” brought to my attention the growing favorability of business over the environment in Canada.

Sadly, I can’t say the nature of Jessica’s blog was very surprising. The suspension of environmental reviews for 3,000 projects comes after a long line of similar decisions.

The Albertan oil sands have become the face of the fight between business and the environment http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/canadian-oil-sands/kunzig-text

I find the misnomer that long-term economic growth will come at the expense of the environment pretty baffling. Reliance on natural resources to fuel an economy will lead to declines in other sectors such as manufacturing and services; industries that will support the economy long after resources run dry. Milking the environment will also lead to sharp drops in Canada’s tourism industry which accounts for about the same percentage of our GDP as agriculture, fishing, and forestry combined.

A Canadian postage stamp  depicting a wind farm. http://www.wind-works.org/photos/stp_Canada2005.html

Finally, investing in the development of environmentally friendly technology and energy will decrease our dependency on fluctuating, unstable resource prices in the long run.

Canada is running out of excuses to put commerce before the environment, and fast running out of time to pull away from the troubles that this will inevitably cause.

Spark: Jessica Barry’s Post and Harper government cancels 3,000 environmental reviews on pipelines and other projects