Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has defended his government’s decision to ban all drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic for the next five years—for starters—in response to a local mayor’s cries that the bank will cost jobs for communities, even though Big Oil can’t really afford to drill right now. Trudeau referred to scientific data revealing that an oil spill in the Arctic would be much more difficult to deal with than anywhere else, but left a tiny window open for the oil industry. If Big Oil comes up with technology that can guarantee safe drilling in the Arctic, the ban could be reconsidered, he said. It is clearly a window that won’t be opened in the next five years—an unrealistic timeframe for developing 100 percent safe drilling technology. In fact, it’s probably safe to say that there can be no 100 percent spill-proof drilling technology, so […]

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