Jeremy Dietz energy.environment.business

“Have you been to the oilsands? How did you get there? The camera you used what is it made from? You don’t mention anything about reclamation and the replanting of forest.”
- Chris (User Comment – Rethink Alberta Website)

Editor’s Note: Rethink Alberta has since removed the user-comments section of its website. It remains unclear if this was in response to the negative backlash pointed out below.

It’s starting look like the PR battle over the oil sands may be starting to shift – if ever so slightly. Those of you who follow me in the the social media sphere know that a lot my focus is honed in on the oil sands and their surrounding issues. A great deal of my free time is spent reading up on the oil sands and hearing what others have to say about the controversial resource.

For the most part, the vast majority of the internet’s tweets, blogs and message board comments have focused almost exclusively on the oil sand’s negative repercussions. Most observers would find it hard to deny that it has been a one-sided conversation it the social media arena.
The first indication (at least to me) that this online debate was evolving beyond its lopsidedness was when I scanned through the comments on an NRDC anti-oil sands blog post. I was amazed to find that the vast majority of the people lending their voice to the debate were not NRDC supporters, but were pro-oil sands readers. Furthermore, these comments severely out-numbered those left by the anti-oil sands online community. I was left wondering where this community – this tribe – had come from. A few questions to others in twittersphere confirmed that they had as little an idea as I did.

I initially dismissed the whole incident as an anomaly until I heard about Corporate Ethics‘ new ‘Rethink Alberta’ campaign.  After visiting their site and scanning the user comments, I was once again amazed to see the variety of posted opinions. Many of them focused again on defending the oil sands. Not only that, the pro-oil sands comments (as of this date) seem to outnumber the anti-0il sands comments on a forum designed to bludgeon the province and resource.

So what does this all mean? Well, it appears as if an organic community is starting to mobilize online. A community that doesn’t seem to be sponsored by Big Oil or the Alberta government. And if this trend continues, the #oilsands twitter hash tag and message board comments are about to get a lot more interesting.

It’s starting to look like Big Green may have to begin girding for a fight in a domain that it has so far dominated.