Eleven hundred more ducks died after landing on a toxic waste pond in northern Alberta last year than was originally estimated, a Canadian oil sands official acknowledged earlier this week.

The carcasses of 1,606 ducks were collected from the oily waters, compared to the 500 originally counted, Syncrude Canada chief executive Tom Katinas said.

The deaths of the mallards last April drew widespread attention and prompted Prime Minister Stephen Harper to lament that Canada's international reputation had been tarnished by it.

Here's a video clip from the incident:

Andrew Nikiforuk, writing today in the Globe and Mail, offers this analysis on the Alberta government's abdication of responsibility when it comes to managing its tar sands bounty.

Thanks to Mr. Stelmach's baby-steps approach to carbon pollution, the world's largest energy project will continue to be the country's largest growing source of ice-melting and water-evaporating gases for years to come."

Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach announced a "climate change plan" today that involves tripling oil production and waiting until 2020 before even beginning to curtail CO2 emissions.

"It would be very difficult to bring in real reductions, immediate reductions, without devastating the economy and the quality of life of Albertans," Stelmach told reporters, without explaining why it is necessary to multiply Alberta's current $73 billion US in fossil fuel exports in order to avoid "devastating the economy."

But the most offensive part of Premier Stelmach's political spin is the attempts that he, his Energy minister and his private-sector stalking horses are making to shift responsibility for action onto consumers.

Although the vast majority is convinced, a new survey by Angus Reid Strategies also found that people in various regions hold different attitudes. In Alberta, as example, 69 per cent of respondents said they believed in global warming, while in Quebec, the number soared to 83 per cent.

Fifty-seven per cent of Quebecers, moreover, said they are promoting better behavior toward the environment while only 36 per cent of Albertans said they are doing the same.