The three amigos set their synchrophasors on stun

The White House : North American Leaders Summit : Energy Deliverables
The short version :
Now that the North American Energy Working Group has established that Canada and Mexico are little more than US resource banks, we're going to need us a new map : the North American Carbon Atlas .

The 21st Century Smart Grid for North America : Now with "information-age technologies, such as microprocessors, communications, advanced computing, and information technologies."
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Sure, the "flaring and venting of natural gas associated with oil production wastes a valuable energy resource and contributes to global warming" but what are the other countries in the world doing about it?
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Industrialized countries in Europe are on track to reduce their overall emissions 20% below 1990 levels by 2012, but we are counting on one day inventing a magical device called carbon capture to reduce our emissions. Failing that, we look forward to safe secure sustainable reliable year round crops of pineapples from Alaska.
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Premiers, governors endorse North American energy super-corridor

"Forget the Persian Gulf: Fort McMurray to Port Arthur, Texas is new powerhouse"

Western premiers and U. S. governors on Sunday hailed their push to develop a cross-border Western Energy Corridor.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, Alberta's Ed Stelmach, and Manitoba's Gary Doer were in Utah for the Western Governors' Association annual conference "to explore a broader energy relationship" with their American counterparts.

Stelmach said the western governors are very supportive of the corridor concept.
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer declared the oilsands--the second-largest proven oil reserves in the world--are critically important to U. S. energy security and a major component for a powerhouse energy corridor.
"The most important energy corridor on the planet is no longer the Persian Gulf. It runs from the oilsands, Fort McMurray to Port Arthur, Texas," Schweitzer said.

"A large part of energy independence is going to be dependent upon developing the oilsands."
Colorado Governor Bill Ritter agreed, saying "it's both western parts of Canada and the United States that can play a role in energy independence."

Wall and Stelmach are scheduled to meet with U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today :

"Chu has also lauded the potential of the oilsands, saying recently it’s an important piece of U.S. energy security.

Happy to oblige, I'm sure.

What's this Western Energy Corridor about again?

An Overview of the Western Energy Corridor Initiative

"The United States faces an unprecedented threat to its economic and national security due to its dependence on foreign oil and gas. Given this threat, the U.S. must secure and steward itsown domestic energy supplies more effectively.
The Office of Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves is proposing a major technical study under the auspices of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Section 369(i) to perform a regional analysis of the development potential of the Western Inland “Energy Corridor”.

~ Thomas Woods, Idaho National Laboratory - the U.S. Energy Department’s main nuclear laboratory

Last spring, the Alberta and US governments signed an agreement to jointly research the use of atomic power for tarsands development. The Alberta Research Council and the U.S. Energy Department’s main nuclear laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, announced they will collaborate on "the potential application of current and future nuclear energy technology".

So to recap :
~The US Dept of Energy funds their main nuclear laboratory, the INL, to come up with the Western Energy Corridor Initiative.
~Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba sign on to it via the Western Governors' Association.
~Alberta and US governments sign an agreement for future nuking of the tarsands via the INL and Alberta Research Council.
~Stelmach and Wall are meeting with the US Dept of Energy Secretary today.

I remember when we were just worrying about the NAFTA Superhighway.
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Binational poll on NAFTA and energy policy

From Environics, a poll of 1,000 Canadians and 1,000 American respondents conducted between January 22 and February 1, 2009 :

" Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, allows corporations to sue member governments for compensation anytime they feel that government policies, such as environmental policies, might reduce their profits.
Do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose or strongly oppose energy companies being able to sue national governments for lost profits as a result of government policies? "

U. S. : SUPPORT 26% ... OPPOSE 71% ... DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 3%

Canada: SUPPORT 23% ... OPPOSE 72% ... DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 5%


That 23% of Canadians support foreign corporations doing an end run around locally elected governments is surprising till you remember the following related fun fact :
Percentage of eligible voters who voted for Steve in the last election : 22%
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