Thank you very much, Mr. Barlow.
When you look at what's been happening in the oil sands and Alberta energy industry, there is a constant push to reduce their environmental impact. That is always additionally good for the bottom line. There has been enormous technology innovation such as SAGD, steam-assisted gravity drainage, which is applicable to 97% of the oil sands land area. That was a technology developed through the Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority several decades ago, and a great example of government assistance to get an industry off the ground and to help innovate and unlock this technology in the first place.
Since then, we're seeing the steam-to-oil ratios for many of these projects continue to decline. Less steam is needed to get the oil out of the ground, and that creates less greenhouse gas emissions. There has also been an incredible push to find other technologies, specifically with solvents. Also, in the oil sands industry, they are using the waste heat to produce electricity, so you actually have some of the greenest barrels of oil in the world coming out of the oil sands in Alberta.
If we're going to do anything in the oil sands industry and you're going to tax it, it's very important that you reinvest that directly back into the industry so that it has the assistance to continue to innovate. We need policies so that the industry knows, as they continue to lower greenhouse gas emissions and lower environmental impacts, that there is going to be a market for their products, and they're going to have the assistance of all governments getting our products to market.
The fact that this committee exists is a great example of how proud we should all be as Canadians about how we produce our oil and gas, how we treat our people—worker safety—and how we respect human rights in this country.