A new study published by the CCPA and the Polaris Institute shows how the failure to carefully regulate the bitumen industry is putting Canada on a dangerous economic and environmental trajectory.
The study, by Tony Clarke, Jim Stanford, Diana Gibson, and Brendan Haley,
shows that the current bitumen path is creating the double threat: a “staples trap,” whereby the faster Canada exports its bitumen, the less diversified, productive and resilient the economy becomes;” and a “carbon trap,” which locks Canada into an carbon dependent development path, making the costs of future climate adaptation much more difficult.
The Bitumen Cliff: Lessons and Challenges of Bitumen Mega-Developments for Canada's Economy in an Age of Climate Change presents a wealth of empirical data indicating the negative side effects of unregulated bitumen developments for Canada’s trade, exchange rate, productivity, and income distribution performance and proposes a two-track approach to steer away from the “bitumen cliff."
Click here to download the full report. You can also read more in the following commentaries:
- Heading off the bitumen cliff, Straight Goods News
- The false gods that are Alberta’s oilsands: Walkom, The Toronto Star