“By abandoning Kyoto commitments, expanding the tar sands, and failing to take any real action to prevent global warming, Canada is acting more like a rogue state than a bridge-builder,” said Mike Hudema, a Greenpeace campaigner. “Science-based emissions targets have been discarded, and environmental standards undermined as the government expedites the process to approve new projects. It’s clear that the tar sands are a bigger priority for this government than the world’s climate crisis, or Canada’s role on the world stage.”

The Alberta tar sands are a particular problem for global warming in Canada as the country’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. While producing a million barrels of oil per day, the tar sands emit 40 million tonnes of CO2 per year, and this number is expected to double by 2012. Without limiting growth in the tar sands it will be impossible for the Canadian government to make the emissions reductions needed to prevent catastrophic climate change.