Two Fortune 500 firms wash their hands of the tar sands

February 12, 2010

Toronto Star - Mitch Potter

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WASHINGTON-Canada’s controversial tar sands industry took its first retail blow Wednesday as two Fortune 500 companies announced plans to eliminate the high-carbon Alberta fuel from its supply chain.

The U.S.-based firms Whole Foods Market Inc. and Bed, Bath and Beyond Inc. both unveiled new fuel policies designed to wean themselves off “higher-than-normal greenhouse gas footprints” inherent in feedstock from the Alberta tar sands.

The decisions are not expected to seriously hamper the southbound flow of Alberta oil, which represents a fifth of all U.S. energy imports.

But they mark a turning point in environmental activism against synthetic crude from Alberta, as climate campaigners work company by company to discourage consumption of Canadian energy.

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