A detailed study of dozens of documents pertaining to the Alberta oil sands produced by the Alberta government over the past 40 years shows the government's perspective regarding this vast resource has undergone a major shift. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the Alberta government initiated detailed studies and scientific investigations to better determine oil sands policy. By the mid-1990s documents suggest the government had abandoned that role in favour of promotion and marketing of the oil sands. It is quite clear from government documents produced in the 1970s that most of the economic, environmental, and social impacts associated with rapid expansion of oil sands operations (often referred to as tar sands in the 1970s) were anticipated. Various studies and surveys were also undertaken by the government of the day to determine how to avoid these negative impacts.