Massive resources of oil lay under the surface of Alberta, Canada. With the Great White North already the largest foreign supplier of oil to the US, it would make sense for America to ink a deal that would pipe that product right over the border.
Concerns among environmentalists, however, have caused a commotion that has kept a contract between Canada and the States from being signed.
China, meanwhile, has stepped up to the plate and has offered to foot the bill that will allow for Canadian oil to make it all the way to the Far East. Is it the right thing for Canada to send this “Dirty Oil” overseas to a country with little concern for the environment?
Freedomain Radio host Stefan Molyneux says that America will always outsource such a large amount of its oil resources that it will rarely be “clean.” With the Middle East offering up the next largest amount of oil for US consumption, however, anywhere we get our oil will cause concerns, whether environmental ones or those regarding human rights.
“We have to make intelligent decisions about how these resources are going to be gotten,” Molyneux tells RT.
Despite urging in the past that they wouldn’t do business with countries with bad human rights records, Canada is now considering China as its newest client in the oil market. Currently Canada’s biggest buyer is the United States, but all that could change if they ink a deal with officials in Beijing. Is it okay for Canada to flip-flop on their stance and support a nation lacking environmental concern if it’ll boost both countries’ economies?
“I think that in the long run, the economy drives human rights,” says Molyneux. “From a purely economic standpoint,” says Molyneux, China has grown exponentially. “China’s growth has been seven, eight, nine, ten percent for almost 20 years.” With that wealth, he says, they will be able to someday afford the ability to treat both its people and land fairly, so notwithstanding allegations of human rights violations and unjust environmental practices, a contract with Canada could help change China for the better.
Molyneux says that governments around the world are by far the worst polluters in the planet, but with environmental standards being implemented on a nation-by-nation basis, it comes down to what controls a country can afford itself to allow. “If we drive economic growth, we gain things like luxuries of human rights,” says the radio host.
In the meantime, Molyneux says nagging countries over violations at the expense of their economy will only keep nations from bettering themselves. Once countries expand economically to a point where it is possible to implement environmental protection, he says, they’ll do so. Then, he says, luxuries like smokestack scrubbers can become a reality, even in countries that seemingly lack environmental concern today, like China.