Alberta Government Is Outraged on Behalf of Greenwashing Oil Companies ⇥ cbc.ca

Joel Dryden, CBC News:

Alberta’s government says it is “actively exploring” the use of every legal option, including a constitutional challenge or the use of the Alberta Sovereignty Act, to push back against federal legislation that will soon become law.

That legislation is Bill C-59, which would require companies to provide evidence to back up their environmental claims. It is currently awaiting royal assent.

As of Thursday, it was also what led the Pathways Alliance, a consortium of Canada’s largest oilsands companies, to remove all its content from its website, social media and other public communications.

The Alberta government and these petrochemical companies are cowards, the lot of them. If a business wants to claim that a drug treats or cures a disease, it needs to have proof of that. If it wants to claim the health benefits of some packaged food product, it needs evidence. If a mechanical process is supposed to meet energy or environmental standards, it must pass relevant tests.

Why should oil companies making absurd claims laundered through a quasi-governmental public relations office and supported by the province get to greenwash their way out of responsibility? All else being equal, most people probably do not care how their energy needs are met. They care about having electricity, transportation, and warmth. There is no shame in being honest about where we are environmentally speaking, where we need to go, and how difficult it will be to get there.