Oilsands public relations battle heats up
Posted Oct 27, 2010 1:40 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The revelation of more ducks dying in oilsands tailings ponds has put the massive energy development in northern Alberta back under a bad light.
The province is investigating reports of dozens of dead ducks, after they landed on toxic waste pools near Fort McMurray.
Many are calling the tragedy another black eye for not only the industry but the province as well, after millions has been spent on positive pubic relations campaigns.
A marketing professor says the public relations battle over the oilsands will rage on until we find new sources of energy.
Rotman School of Management Marketing Professor David Soberman says nobody should overreact to the latest oilsands dead duck story, and it’s important to keep things in perspective.
“The environmentalists and the general bent of the media is to try to sort of present large companies in a bad light and make them seem worse than they are, at least that’s my perception,” he says.
Soberman says until we find new alternative energy sources, oil is what powers the world and the oilsands are part of that.
He adds there is a cost to energy development and people should be encouraged to see that both government and industry leaders admit there are problems that need to be addressed.
