Foreign Policy Blogs

Norway's Elections and the Alberta Tar Sands

What’s one got to do with the other?  Fair question.   I wrote about this relationship in May here. Statoil, the Norwegian oil company, has a big stake in the tar sands, and a number of leading Norwegian politicians and their parties want them out.  Many, if not most Norwegians, infinitely to their credit, want to be leaders in environmental protection and responsible energy production.

The venerable Canadian newspaper “The Globe and Mail” had this article last week in which we are told “Five of Norway’s seven political parties say the investment was a mistake. So does the country’s largest newspaper.”  The elections taking place today will determine the fate of Norway’s participation in the tar sands project.  Stay tuned.

For more on the tar sands see the work of Tar Sands Watch.

 

Author

Bill Hewitt

Bill Hewitt has been an environmental activist and professional for nearly 25 years. He was deeply involved in the battle to curtail acid rain, and was also a Sierra Club leader in New York City. He spent 11 years in public affairs for the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation, and worked on environmental issues for two NYC mayoral campaigns and a presidential campaign. He is a writer and editor and is the principal of Hewitt Communications. He has an M.S. in international affairs, has taught political science at Pace University, and has graduate and continuing education classes on climate change, sustainability, and energy and the environment at The Center for Global Affairs at NYU. His book, "A Newer World - Politics, Money, Technology, and What’s Really Being Done to Solve the Climate Crisis," will be out from the University Press of New England in December.



Areas of Focus:
the policy, politics, science and economics of environmental protection, sustainability, energy and climate change

Contact