If You Believe, Think Again

Environmental activism has turned a corner I doubt will ever regain its former dignity.  Gone are the days when someone could be referred to as environmentally conscience, where people could have intelligent conversations on a topic like industrial pollution, where the goals are to improve processes and educate.  The environmental movement is no longer an intellectual pursuit.  It has now become an Eco-Mental pursuit where many have taken it to emotional levels, equal if not exceeding behaviors found in groups displaying religious fervor.

Just as communities formalized important waste management systems like recycling, people are being subjected to attacks from these Eco-Mentalists disguising themselves as friendly neighbours.  Case in point; a man in Toronto went into a rage over his neighbour not sorting out her pop cans from her regular trash.  In an act of what he must have felt was 'righteous anger' he assaulted the poor woman until the police had to be called into remove him from the premises.  Apparently he felt it was more important to be a friend with the earth than to respect his fellow human.  Evil creatures these humans are, for not sorting properly.  “It's not easy being green.”

But, his actions illustrate a trend where many, but not all, environmentalists are motivated by emotion and not so much intellect.  In what can only be seen as a case of cutting off the nose to spite the face, a coalition of the willing, comprised of ten non-profit organizations have commenced a marketing campaign against all Albertans.  In an effort to stop the development of the oil-sands operations in Alberta, they are calling on all Americans to boycott Alberta Tourism.  This campaign is aimed along roadsides, on billboards and internet traffic in the forms of video and Google advertising.  The campaign which compares the oilsands with the BP gulf oil spill disaster states, “Alberta: The OTHER oil disaster.”

The video campaign shows Alberta as a great place to be with rolling hills, sunsets and beautiful mountains,  all the time flashing juxtaposed images of the Athabasca oil-sands development, oil soaked ducks, and it's tailing ponds. The video tells the uninformed viewer that the ecological disaster of the oil-sands are twice the size of Great Britain.  The final message is clear, with gloomy music, the narrator along with words written state, “Thinking of visiting Alberta.  Think again.  Take the Pledge.”

Accuracy is not the special of-the-day, because emotional campaigns just don't require accuracy.  Case in point; according to the groups video, the oilsands operation is twice the size of Great Britain, which would mean that it engulfs 66% of the province. But like so many movements that are emotionally driven, the people behind it become Zealots, where the political movement is designed to incite the people to rebel against the 'Roman Empire' and expel it from the 'holy land' by force.

The executive director of one of the non-profit organizations, Corporate Ethics International in the press stated, “We felt we needed to be more aggressive in calling the government out.”  In his own words Marx says,  “Our job is to get the people to look past the cover, to unwrap the cover and see what's really inside.”

To stop these attacks these eco-mentalist's made a threefold demand to the Alberta government. “a. Halt the expansion of the Tar Sands.  b. Stop spending millions of dollars on public relations campaigns designed to keep the United States addicted to dirty Tar Sands oil, c. Take meaningful steps to transition its economy away from dirty Tar Sands oil to clean energy alternatives.”  In essence a billion dollar ransom.

Although this action has spread like wildfire around the world through the press and the internet, I doubt it will ever be more than a boil on the rear of Albertans. The facts speak for themselves, and  whether the Eco-mentalist likes it or not, business will continue because according to 2008 figures, Alberta shipped 1.4 million barrels of crude oil a day to the United States as opposed to Saudi Arabia's 1.06 million barrels.  When is comes to Alberta Tourism, 82 per cent of Alberta tourism is made up of other Albertans, 14 per cent are other Canadians and from overseas visitors.  Only four percent were made up of Americans.

This anti-Alberta campaign, may make a small dent in  our tourism, but not enough to sway provincial policy.  The only thing it will do is appeal to those who react on an emotional level and do not look beyond the package to look inside.  Like many zealot movements, you have to 'look past the cover, to unwrap the cover and see what's really inside.' Because these kinds of groups thrive on providing a small piece of the picture all the while claiming that they are representing the whole.  If you believe the Eco-Mentalist, think again.