No water, no tar sand mine.

It would seem that Imperial Oil's all upset that the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans have rescinded a water permit for its $8 billion Kearl tar sands mine near Ft. McMurray. The DFO cited the recent court judgment that ruled that both the federal and provincial governments hadn't explained fully why GHG emissions weren't significant. So the question I have is does Harper and his cabinet know about this? It seems like something they'd have stopped if they knew about it, given the cozy relationship between Conservatives and the oil industry in Alberta.

Now Imperial is apparently fighting this one through the courts so I'm sure the Harper government is hoping the ruling is overturned so they don't have to step in. What will be interesting to see is if Imperial is indeed unable to get the permit reinstated through the courts, what Harper will do. Will he do the green thing and support the decision of one of his ministries or will he cave to the pressure from the oil industry. My guess is that the biologist sent to review the water situation will present a report in a couple of months. The report will then get buried somewhere in Ottawa never to be seen and the Harper government will give the green light to the project without even reading the report. Or am I just being cynical?