Alberta taxpayers paying tab for oilsands tour
Posted Oct 19, 2011 8:14 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Three U.S. Republican congressmen were the guests of the provincial government on a recent tour of the oilsands.
The congressmen from South Carolina, Illinois and Ohio are already supporters of the oilsands and the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline project.
Illinois’s John Shimkus says energy security and jobs trump the ongoing environmental assault right now in the United States.
Shimkus says the risk of potential environmental impacts is low.
He adds, Canada has been moving bitumen through a pipeline for decades, and there is a great safety record.
Ohio’s Bob Latta, who also serves on the U.S. Energy and Commerce Committee, says if we’re going to be importing oil, we ought to be getting it from our friends in the north.
The trio not only toured oilsands operations on the ground, but also took an aerial tour of the region.
The cost of the tour pegged at $11-thousand.
A final decision on the pipeline project is expected before the end of the year.
