In a public forum last week I was told by staff person of a government agency that:

1. The effect of placing miles of pipelines and roads and thousands of well pads and compressor stations in the tar sands region of Alberta was the ecological equivalent of the effect of a natural forest fire;

2. That providing an estimate of the number of birds lost and expected to be lost from tar sands development was unfair because of the economic importance of the tar sands to Canada;

3. That the reason no landscape level land-use plans had been put in place for the tar sands in order to take into account what pace and scale of development would be required to sustain ecosystems was that government and industry hadn't been given enough time. The same was true, according to this official, as to why the recommendations of CEMA, the key stakeholder group convened by the Alberta government, to set aside some of the still intact Boreal habitat in the Tar Sands had yet to be acted on.

What leadership, responsibility, and trust would be inspired if instead we heard:

Yes, we realize that tar sands development will kill millions of birds and we acknowledge that this is not an acceptable trade-off. Therefore, we are going to move quickly to place more land off-limits to development while we can in order to sustain bird and wildlife populations in the tar sands region. We will also take the opportunity allowed by the current economic slowdown to allow a public discourse by Alberta's citizens on the visions they see for Alberta's grandchildren and great-grandchildren who will have to live in the world created by the actions of today.

Personally, I am more inspired by words and actions that are honest, show respect and care for the well being of families and fellow humans, and demonstrate a vision for a positive future with clean air and water, abundant wildlife, and jobs for generations to come.