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U.S. group backpedals on 'Rethink Alberta' anti-oilsands cam

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
CALGARY — The Alberta government and energy sector are claiming a rare public relations victory, after the group leading an anti-oilsands campaign said its advertising contained inaccurate information and will be corrected.


Corporate Ethics International, the San Francisco-based environmental organization that launched a billboard and online campaign this week attacking the oilsands and urging Americans not to visit Alberta, admitted its video overstated the size of the resource and its potential ecological damage.


The group blamed the misinformation on an "editing error" in the online video, explaining the mistake was fixed, the video re-posted to its website and that the ad blitz will continue undeterred.


Corporate Ethics stands by the rest of the information in its campaign and won't axe any of its "Rethink Alberta" advertising, despite growing public backlash from Albertans.


"There are quite a few people who've expressed anger. There's also a lot of support," said Kenny Bruno, campaign director for Corporate Ethics. "We don't see this campaign as Americans versus Canadians or versus Albertans. We see that we're all in this together."


Along with the video, billboards in four American cities compared oil-covered birds in the Gulf of Mexico with dead ducks in a Syncrude tailings pond. The ads called the oilsands the "other oil disaster" and urged travellers to boycott the province.


However, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers' interpretation of the correction is that Corporate Ethics "pulled several anti-oil, anti-Canada advertisements placed in U.S. markets."


CAPP spokesman Travis Davies said the public anger that's erupted over the ads shows Albertans won't be swayed by the campaign.


"It's obvious there's certainly more room for accuracy," Davies said about the ads. "Let's have a realistic conversation."


Indeed, both CAPP and the Alberta government claimed a victory in their ongoing fight to counter oilsands misinformation and trumpet the province's environmental credentials.


"Absolutely, it's a bit of a success," said Cam Hantiuk, director of communications for Premier Ed Stelmach. "Anybody who makes a factual error in attacking Albertans should be held to account."


The original Corporate Ethics video declared the oilsands "are destroying an area twice the size of England."


While the video was edited to say half that amount, the information still isn't completely accurate because it refers to the size of oilsands deposits and not the actual amount of land disturbed by open-pit mine development.


Stelmach and CAPP have both noted the actual area being mined is about 600 square kilometres, less than one per cent of what was initially claimed by the ad.


Hantiuk argued the latest environmental campaign is built like a house of cards because it contains erroneous information. "You pull that one card out and the whole house falls," he said.


The Alberta government also disputes other information contained in the video and billboards, including that oilsands production generates three times as many greenhouse gases as conventional crude. It points to studies that show the total life cycle emissions of oilsands development is comparable to other petroleum, when factors like overseas transport, truck hauling and refining are factored in.


The province also rejects the video's claims that "Every day, the tarsands leak nearly three million gallons of poison into the water system." It maintains there has been no detected leak from a tailings pond as of yet, and that environmental regulations demand oilsands operators build the collection pools in a manner that prevents leaks.


However, other environmental groups are standing by Corporate Ethics in its fight against the oilsands, the second-largest proven oil reserves in the world.


Greenpeace Canada, a member of the anti-oilsands coalition along with the U.S.-based group, said the concerns raised by the ad campaign "are important and legitimate."


"The Government of Alberta has continually ignored the devastating effects of the tarsands industry," argued Greenpeace.


The premier did receive some support, however, from his federal Tory cousins, with Treasury Board president Stockwell Day and Environment Minister Jim Prentice defending the province and its oilsands development.



Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/group+backpedals+Rethink+Alberta+anti+oilsands+campaign/3288756/story.html#ixzz0tu7lyUv8
 
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