Bishop Luc Bouchard, of the Diocese of St. Paul, who wrote a pastoral letter critical of Alberta’s oilsands in 2009 which gained provincial attention, stands by his argument despite coming under scientific scrutiny in a book published by Ezra Levant.
The pastoral letter on “The Integrity of Creation and the Athabasca Oil Sands” received a three-page written rebuke from Levant in Ethical Oil: the Case for Canada’s Oil Sands, in 2010.
“It’s hard to be an expert in everything, and while Bishop Bouchard is surely an expert in Catholicism, the same can’t be said about his command of the oil sands facts,” wrote Levant in the book.
Bouchard said he was not aware of Levant’s published response until recently when he was alerted to it by the Journal asking if he wanted to comment on it.
“I knew I had to bring some light on the issue because it’s in my diocese,” Bouchard said of the pastoral letter. “I think things there needed to be said … because I felt there were moral issues related to the protection of the environment, the water, the boreal forest and the air. Up to now, even the governmental studies haven’t contradicted what I’ve said, even though the politicians have another idea on that.”
After reviewing the section of the book addressed to the bishop in Ethical Oil, Bouchard stood by his letter. He said Levant missed the purpose of the letter, which was not a scientific analysis or political document, in a written response to the Journal.
“My pastoral letter was an invitation to the Catholics of the Diocese of St. Paul to morally reflect on the oilsands developments in Fort McMurray in the light of environmental theological principles. Mr. Levant never refers to these principles and never indicates that they may have some value in moral decision making.”
Levant contested two main items of Bouchard’s pastoral letter, which relied on information provided by environmental groups lobbying against the oilsands including the Pembina Institute, Sierra Club and the Polaris Institute, as well as documents from Syncrude Canada and the Government of Alberta.
While Bouchard acknowledges Peace River and Cold Lake areas use in situ production, he cites the Sierra Club website for his view that boreal forest would be removed in an area the size of Florida. Levant points out two per cent of oilsands are mined. The rest is “pumped out of the ground like regular oil – with minimal disturbance to forest life,” Levant writes.
The pro-oilsands website EthicalOil.org notes while oilsands cover 140,000 square km, around the size of Florida, 98 per cent of the resource will be extracted from underground with Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage, which pumps steam underground to soften bitumen before it is brought to the surface. Mined projects are required by law to restore the land to its original state, EthicalOil.org notes.
Another item from the pastoral letter Levant contests is Bouchard’s support for Sierra Club’s prediction (in 2006) that by 2011 oilsands would emit 80 megatons of CO2, more than all of Canada’s passenger cars. Levant disputed the Sierra Club and Bouchard, referring to Environment Canada’s 2007 statistic saying Canadian cars and SUVs accounted for 86 megatons and noted oilsands producers would have had to triple production for Bouchard’s prediction to come true.
“My approach was balanced, respectful, moderate in tone, and used solid sources … I stand by the accuracy of my description of the environmental impact of oil sands development in 2009,” Bouchard wrote in his response to the Journal.
When asked about the argument used by EthicalOil.org comparing oilsands to countries with worse environmental standards and human rights, Bouchard said, “There would be ethical and ethical … If we do things in such a way that it harms others, are we doing the right thing?
“If it caused harm just to one person, that would be already too much.” Replacing Iranian oil with oilsands would be like “replacing something bad with something bad. That’s not the solution.”
The scientific and technological world can find a less destructive way of exploiting the land, he added. “I’ve got great confidence in humanity because I think we can respond and act responsibly.”
In his written response, Bouchard said the ethical argument had not been raised publicly at the time he wrote the letter. Even if he was aware of it, “that would not have lessened my responsibility to speak to the Catholics in my diocese from a theological and ethical point of view about the environmental impact of oilsands development,” wrote Bouchard.
“Levant believes it is a lesser evil to purchase oil from the sand of Fort McMurray than those of Saudi Arabia. My letter was not about choosing the lesser evil but rather about identifying the oil sands being produced in my diocese as a moral issue and then discussing how best to alleviate the environmental damage it was clearly causing. If I were writing the letter today and was aware of Levant’s argument about ethical oil, it would not change the substance or conclusion of my letter.”
Bouchard recently accepted an appointment to the Diocese of Trois-Rivieres in Quebec and will start on March 26.
