LETTER

Tar sands –  expansion? 

I am writing to you about the environmental disaster that lies ahead if the Teck project is approved – including the destruction of thousands of hectares of wetlands and old growth, and the failure to meet any of our international climate commitments.

But based on current oil prices and future projections, research shows that the Teck mine makes no economic sense either. Like most tar sands projects, running the Teck mine will cost a lot of dollars ($20.6 billion to be exact). Tar sands production is one of the most expensive forms of oil extraction in the world.

The company won’t be able to make that money back. That’s because the price of oil is well below the $90 a barrel that Teck says they need to make a profit. Long-term projections, including those from the Government of Alberta, don’t even show oil prices anywhere near that coveted $90 price in the coming decades. In the meantime, Teck’s own projections of the economic benefit to Albertans have declined by 67% in the past few years.

We know the majority of Canadians don’t want to see another giant tar sands mine being built in the midst of a climate crisis.

Alexandra F.

Ottawa