Greenpeace congratulates President-Elect Obama on landslide victory

Obama has talked tough against importing oil with excessive greenhouse gas emissions and has singled out oil from the tar sands as a primary offender.

"We are encouraged by President Elect Obama's current stance on the tar sands. It is so refreshing to see leaders that are willing to listen both to science and to the cries of people all over the planet calling for climate action," said Greenpeace tar sands campaigner Mike Hudema. "We hope that our leaders in Canada and Alberta will join the call and start taking action to curb tar sands development by ending new approvals and drastically reducing our greenhouse has emissions."

In June of this year, Obama's senior energy adviser Jason Grumet said that it's an "open question" whether or not tar sand oil would be acceptable once the party implemented a plan to shift sharply away from carbon-intensive fuels, and that the technology used in the tar sands would have to change drastically to stay viable in a new market.

Some highlights from his energy policy include:

• An 80 per cent reduction in global warming pollution by 2050 (Obama-Biden New Energy for America Plan).
• Using "executive action" to regulate global warming pollution, if necessary (Bloomberg News).
• A commitment to attend or send a personal representative to the next UN climate talks in Poland this December (YouTube).
• A promise to create five million new green jobs by investing $150 billion in clean energy over the next 10 years (Obama-Biden New Energy for America Plan).

This election comes just days before Premier Stelmach's tour of Europe to re-brand the tar sands and convince investors that tar sand production doesn't come at too high an environmental cost, despite alarming evidence to the contrary.

Hudema says: "As the social, health and environmental costs of the tar sands skyrocket and the price of oil plunges, the tar sands are becoming a less and less attractive option for Albertans and international investors. There is a growing movement to curb dirty oil imports and start building a clean energy future for North America and the world and its time our governments get on board."

For more information, please contact:

Mike Hudema, Tar Sands Campaigner, 780-504-5601