Doug's Blog

An Open Letter to President-Elect Obama

I would like to begin by introducing myself. My name is Doug Griffiths and I am a politician in the Province of Alberta, which is within Canada.  I am sure you have heard about our province on the campaign trail over these many years and I am sure you realize that we are not all that bad.  Sometimes we get a little big for our britches and talk about being world leaders in everything and shaping the global situation, but in reality we are just 3.5 million people with a whole lot of resources and ingenuity that your nation might be interested in hearing about.

To begin with we are your closest neighbours and one of your biggest suppliers of energy.  Wait, I have to correct that . . . you see, we always talk about oil and gas as though it is a complete end in itself, but in reality the petroleum products we produce are used, not just for energy, but for mats and paints and all types of plastics and makeup and shoes and . . . well, the list is endless.  Now, I know your issue, or at least the issue of many of your constituents, may well be the notion that the oil produced here is 'dirty'.  Quite frankly, sir, you need to know that is not the case. 

You see, much like you do in your nation, we operate to clean up the environment from environment problems that were created before we knew better.  If you float down the Athabasca River you will see that oilsands oil is actually seeping into the river from natural sources, not from human sources, thereby causing river contamination.  As well we have all of that contaminated sand just below the surface and that could effect our very delicate water table and ground aquifers.  So much like we clean up from petroleum spills and old gas station storage tanks of the past, we are simply cleaning up the underground oil contamination left thousands of years ago by nature, and the by-product is something that your nation finds very valuable, very convenient, and very secure.  With our fantastic remediation technologies and advances we are remediating the land to prestine states that have real live roaming buffalo living a healthy natural life in native surroundings.

Now, I know that our nations might disagree with each other over some international situations, but I hope you understand that friends can sometimes disagree.  What is important is that we realize that we face fierce challenges from the rest of the world economically and so it is critical that we not let small trade disputes and issues over some cattle, or some soft wood lumber, or over electricity, or anything else like that escalate into disputes over bigger issues such as oil or natural gas.  Divided we will be open to attacks from all sides from other nations and economic blocks that would love to see North American influence wane in favour of other continental blocks.  Together we can open the borders between us and become a powerful economic block repleat with energy and food security, innovation and education like none other, and environmental stewardship practices that ensure long term prosperity.

I know you have a lot on your plate as you prepare to be sworn in, but I just wanted to say congratulations once again on a marvelous victory.  I know you will lead as you said, with a new spirit of cooperation that ensures long term success and global respect for the nation.