Letter to the Editor
Every day, newspapers around the world publish smears about ethical oil from Canada, its oilsands, and other liberal democracies. You can read rebuttals to the most common of these in the “Myths & Lies” section at the top of this page.
With this Letter to the Editor tool, you can make your voice heard. Write your letter in the box below. When you hit “Submit”, it will be emailed to a newspaper’s Letters editor. In order to maximise your chances of being published, keep your letter shorter than 175 words, and sign it with your real name and email address, your city and country, and a telephone number you can be reached at during the daytime. EthicalOil.org changes the newspaper the letters get sent to every day, so you can submit a new letter every day – but please don’t submit more than one in a day. Some days, the letters will go to the New York Times, others days to the Guardian, and other days to local papers in small or medium-sized towns and cities.
Here are four sample letters to use for inspiration. Feel free to browse the rest of this website for more content ideas. Obviously there is no point duplicating the sample letters below, since no newspaper will publish multiple letters that say exactly the same thing. Instead, use them for inspiration, a starting point for your own personalised letter to the editor.
“SAMPLE LETTER #1: Every day, the United States imports millions of barrels of conflict oil from politically oppressive and environmentally reckless regimes such as Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. There is a better way: Ethical Oil from Canada, its oilsands, and other liberal democracies. Canada is already the number one oil exporter to the United States. Americans can further reduce their dependence on conflict oil if the Obama Administration supports the creation of new pipelines like Keystone XL that will allow more Canadian oil into the United States.”
“SAMPLE LETTER #2: The intellectual dishonesty of critics of Canada’s oilsands is shocking. Rarely do they mention that, of all the countries with significant oil reserves, Canada is one of the few that respects human rights, promotes peace, and upholds the rule of law. I for one would rather fill my gas tank with ethical oil from Canada, its oilsands, and other liberal democracies than conflict oil from women-hating, gay-bashing, terrorist-supporting regimes like Saudi Arabia. The only way for people, businesses, and governments to reduce their dependence on conflict oil is to support ethical oil from Canada, its oilsands, and other liberal democracies. I believe that ethical oil is a choice we all have to make.”
“SAMPLE LETTER #3: Another day, another unbalanced attack on Canada’s oilsands. Try to picture all the Saudi Arabian oil sheiks and princes, pockets stuffed with petrodollars, who are laughing right now. Laughing all the way to the bank.”
“SAMPLE LETTER #4: Critics of the oilsands are attacking Canada, the United States’ closest friend. They are attacking an ethical oil industry that is the largest employer of Aboriginals in Canada. They are attacking an industry that, during the recession, is creating jobs for men and women – not just in Alberta – but across North America. Who benefits from these attacks on the oilsands? Not the environment. In fact, alternatives to Canada’s oilsands such as Venezuela’s heavy crude emit as much if not more CO2 per barrel of oil produced. Those who benefit most are the competitors of Canada’s ethical oil industry, namely, politically oppressive and environmentally reckless conflict oil regimes. Let’s be honest: wouldn’t you rather fill your car’s gas tank with ethical oil from Canada than conflict oil from Saudi Arabia? Ethical oil vs conflict oil: that’s the choice we all have to make.”
