EU: Calls Canadian Tar Sands the Filth they are!!!

Oil derived from tar sands will be penalised by the European Union after its executive arm resisted pressure from Canada to exclude the fuel from new pollution standards.


The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, decided to target tar sands on Tuesday after more than a year of review, which saw intense lobbying from Ottawa and the oil industry. It will classify oil derived from tar sands as being nearly a quarter more polluting than conventional crude in new legislation that requires suppliers to reduce transport fuels’ carbon emissions.


In order to import such oil, suppliers will also have to invest in biofuels and other green products to offset the pollution – which could be cost prohibitive.

Although tar sands oil is almost non-existent in Europe, the new restrictions could scupper plans for future exports from Canada and Venezuela.

They could also influence other markets, including the US, as they debate the merits of an abundant new source of energy that critics contend is highly polluting.

The US will decide this year whether to allow the proposed $7bn Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry heavy crude extracted from the oil sands of Alberta to refineries on the US Gulf of Mexico. “That’s why the Canadians are so worried about this. They know it will set a precedent and have financial implications for them,” said Nusa Urbancic, a policy adviser at Transport & Environment, a campaign group.