Controversy awaiting Obama in Canada

Activists want him to oppose use of oil sands

Greenpeace activists unfurled a banner on an Ottawa bridge yesterday, urging President Obama to oppose oil sands (Chris Wattie/ Reuters)

President Obama, who has vowed to spend billions developing cleaner sources of energy, will face a touchy energy issue today in Canada, his first foreign visit as president.

Yesterday, Greenpeace activists scaled a bridge in the Canadian capital of Ottawa and unfurled two large banners facing toward Parliament and urging Obama to take a tough stand on Canada's huge oil sands.

The oil sands represent the largest reserves outside the Middle East, but extracting the heavy crude from the sands releases enormous amounts of greenhouse gases, blamed for global warming. "President Obama and the American public need to know that tar sands produce the dirtiest oil on earth," said Mike Hudema of Greenpeace.

The problem for Obama is that Canada is the largest single supplier of energy to the United States. Canadian oil production last year was 2.75 million barrels a day, of which the oil sands accounted for just under half.

Speaking to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. on Tuesday, Obama declined to characterize crude from the sands as "dirty oil" that should somehow be curtailed.

He did acknowledge that the sands create "a big carbon footprint" and said the United States and Canada should collaborate on ways to capture carbon and then store it to prevent greenhouse gases from being emitted into the atmosphere.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada told CNN yesterday that he shares the concerns about the oil sands and said the country is funding research in how to cut carbon emissions.

Obama also plans to reassure Canada, the largest US trading partner, that he has no interest in disturbing the two countries' economic relationship.

Canadians are nervous because of his campaign pledges to renegotiate the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement and because of the "Buy American" provisions of the $787 billion stimulus plan.

The plan requires that US iron, steel, and other manufactured goods be used for public buildings and other public projects funded by the stimulus, but also says that the United States must comply with existing trade deals, including NAFTA.

When he was scrapping for the Democratic nomination a year ago, Obama raised the notion of withdrawing from NAFTA, which links the United States, Canada, and Mexico, to get better labor and environmental standards.

Now, though, Obama is choosing softer language, and in the CBC interview emphasized the importance, particularly during the recession, to preserve the $1.5 billion in daily trade between the United States and Canada.

In the CNN interview, Harper said that while he is willing to look at ways to make NAFTA better, he opposes reopening the agreement. He also said that Canadian officials will closely monitor how the stimulus plan is put into effect and noted that Canada's version of stimulus did not include "Buy Canadian" rules.

"If there is one thing that could turn a recession into a depression, it is protectionist measures across the world," Harper said. "I'm very encouraged by the fact that President Obama said that he was concerned about that as well."