Alberta's "Oily Dirt" and carbon capture & storage

Halfwise posts some interesting thoughts on the politics of Alberta's "dirty" oil and subsidies of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology:

... if anyone tries to tell me the Oil Sands represent Dirty Oil I respond "You are mistaken, it is actually Oily Dirt."

... In the provincial budget that was presented on Feb 9, the Conservative government included $100 million for this year's component of the CCS program, (down from $300 million previously planned)...

... the Wildrose Alliance has gone public with a critique of the budget that includes scrapping the CCS initiatives altogether.

... You could argue from ideology as to whether Hoover Dam was a make-work project or not, but the twin realities of its hydro power and Lake Mead's water management benefits are inarguable. CCS on the other hand involves a lot of real work to achieve climate benefits that are literally not measurable, if indeed they exist at all.

... If you were a politician, which side of this issue would come down on? Spend money you don't have? Or risk being tarred with the brush of AGW alarmist criticism?...

Go Wild Rose Alliance!

Oh, and don't miss this post on "Alert Levels Around the Globe". For example:

... The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." ...