Further to my earlier post, the Canadian government agreed in 1994 to allow the formation of a continental economic zone when it signed NAFTA. Canada and the US agreed on limits which either government could place on exports. Either government can place export restrictions on the grounds of conservation of exhaustible resources, supply shortages, price stabilization, and national security. And both states agreed that their respective states or provinces would be bound by the rules of NAFTA, so that the province of Alberta cannot change the rules now applying.
Canada gave up its earlier right to preserve its energy for its own use (a 25 year reserve), and committed that the US would not be charged more for exported energy than Canadians would be charged (a level playing field for pricing). If Canada experienced an energy shortage, it also agreed not to favor itself, but to send the same proportion of its energy south to the USA even if this means Canadians run short.
So, what is the result of NAFTA? The Americans negotiated rights over Canada’s vast energy resources (including the massive oil sands deposits in Alberta) which give the USA far more rights over its neighbor’s assets than any other country has done in peacetime. In essence, Canada’s oil reserves in Alberta are as much America’s as they would be if they were located a few hundred miles south of the 49th parallel. The Mexicans negotiated a much better deal in 1994, with much more control retained over their energy resources.
This means the US has contractual rights to access the oil sands of Alberta much as it would have if it was indeed in its own backyard. Signed, sealed and delivered, by the Ottawa politicians in 1994.
The thrust of my argument therefore is valid: a major solution to America’s energy crisis lies in massive development of the oil sands in its backyard, Alberta. Some estimates are that these oil sands contain recoverable oil equal to 2/3rds of the deposits in Saudi Arabia. And costs to mine them have been driven down relentlessly, year over year. What a backyard! Can you imagine how much oil would be flowing south to America from its “northern backyard” if a decade ago the President had ordered the development of the Alberta oil sands as a strategic defense initiative, and billions of dollars had been invested in training and construction?
Why America’s Backyard is the Answer for US Energy Needs Part 2
