Buffett, Gates, mutant fish frame oil sands debate  

This is a pretty snappy title for a Reuters article - Buffett, Gates, mutant fish frame oil sands debate. Once again, the Simpsons are well ahead of reality - just imagine the plagues of mutant fish that await us if Homer Without The Donut takes the Whitehouse.

In the high-stakes battle between the oil industry and environmentalists over the image of Canada's oil sands, it appears a pair of multibillionaires beats a two-mouthed fish.

The week started out tough for oil sands producers, whose shares had been beaten down as crude prices skidded and projects suffered more cost overruns.

Three environmental groups quit a northern Alberta oil sands development advisory body that also includes government and industry representatives, saying it had lost legitimacy.

Then reports surfaced that children had reeled in a fish with two jaws from a lake downstream from where tens of billions of dollars worth of projects are pumping synthetic oil.

But by midweek, the mood changed. A stealth visit to Canadian Natural Resources' new Horizon oil sands mining project by two of the world's richest men, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, overshadowed all.

The two-mouthed fish created a stir at the Keepers of the Water conference on the weekend at Fort Chipewyan, about 600 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

Aboriginal communities downstream of the oil sands have expressed concerns about how industrial development is affecting the animals that they eat and their drinking water. Elders believe pollution is responsible for high cancer rates and other health problems in the region.

George Poitras of the Mikesew Cree said he quickly froze the fish and later put it on display for 20 minutes at the conference on a bucket of ice.

“It was important for the fish to be displayed at the conference to show people what we have been claiming all along,” Mr. Poitras said.

“People were in disbelief. Here they saw a fish that we suspect is very much linked to tar sands development and contamination of the Athabasca River. Our elders tell us that what happens to the animals and the fish is just a sign of what is going to happen to human life.”