The War on Science by Chris Turner

The War on Science author Chris Turner interviewed in The Georgia Straight :

“More than anything, it was when you put all the pieces together, how vivid a picture emerges of a very clear and very malicious agenda,” Turner says in a telephone interview from Calgary. “It is to facilitate rapid resource extraction by dismantling an entire century’s worth of environmental regulations, environmental monitoring, and basic science. I was amazed by the extent of it and how deliberate it is.”

"Harper and his administration have used three methods to diminish environmental stewardship, Turner explains. They’ve reduced the government’s capacity to gather data, and they’ve downsized or eliminated offices that monitor and analyze scientific information. They’ve also seized control of the channels through which science is communicated, and explicitly prevented the publication of research that could interfere with private industry.

Turner recounts how, for example, Fisheries and Oceans Canada was unable to complete a risk assessment for Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline, a failure he describes as a “shocking breach of government responsibility”. Turner questions how government is making decisions on oil pipelines when research bodies are saying they lack the capacity to provide relevant scientific information."

The whole Straight review is really worth your time.

Another good review of the book in NaPo notes that Royal Dutch Shell was recently granted a tarsands expansion despite a poor environmental assessment because "it was in the public interest" :

"And that really is the point we have reached: protecting the environment is no longer deemed to be in the public interest. It takes people like Chris Turner to remind us that questions about environmental policy are not just about protecting the environment: At their heart, they are also about what governments are for. Is the economy (the mantra of the Harper government) supposed to serve the public good, or is the economy a higher good in and of itself?"

Public good? Which public is that?
And whose economy are we really talking about here exactly? 
Harper serves the shareholders of the tar sands. Here they are ....

Forest Ethics back in 2012 : "71% of all tar sands production is owned by non-Canadian shareholders."
 Wonder what it's up to now.

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Sunday update : Chris Turner in the Star : Harper's war on science continues with a vengeance

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