Gas about good oil

Many believe Canada’s tar sands industry to be the world’s most environmentally destructive energy industry.

But not Aleykhan Velshi, a 27-year-old neocon political communications professional, who launched a website aimed at extolling the virtues of Canada’s “ethical oil”. The term has been coined by conservative political activist Ezra Levant.

Click on EthicalOil.org and its new homepage offers a taste of Velshi’s reasoning. Canada plays the good guy and any “conflict oil”-producing nation that is not a “liberal democracy” is the baddie. Countries that produce ethical oil protect the rights of women, workers, indigenous people and other minorities. Conflict oil regimes oppress citizens and operate in secret. Some even support terrorism, the website notes.