Economist: Tar Sand going Bust

Excerpts

...employment is slumping: Steve Vetter, a manager at a firm that services the gas industry, says it recently had 50 applicants for one job; two years ago it would have been lucky to get any.

The United States has hitherto been an enthusiastic buyer but the incoming Obama administration, packed with environmentalist hawks, may prove much less so, especially as the Democrats also control Congress. Henry Waxman, a Californian green crusader, has become chairman of the House energy committee. He wrote part of an energy bill passed in 2007 that seemed to ban American government agencies from buying oil produced from the tar sands.

On top of the oil bust, Canada’s other commodity exports, such as lumber, are also suffering collapsing demand. After years of good growth, the economy will shrink this year. Mr Harper says it will take up to five years of “big, comprehensive” government stimulus to dig it out of the deep, black hole it is in.

Economist: Tar Sand going Bust