OTTAWA - A Conservative cabinet minister has taken a jab at an NDP website spoofing his past comments calling some anti-pipeline groups "radicals."

"While at one level it's sort of amusing, on another level it's frankly quite shocking," Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver told Sun News Network Tuesday.

"It appears that the NDP are really drawing a line in the sand - they're anti-development. They're anti-job creation."

The fighting words were sparked by Radicals4ourcoast.ca, launched by the federal New Democrats last week as a tongue-in-cheek site to "raise awareness" about energy infrastructure giant Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project.

"Does fighting to keep our Pacific coast oil-spill free make you a 'radical'?" the website asks. "That's what Stephen Harper's Conservatives say."

It also lets people pick their "radical tendencies" - from singing in the shower to opting for cloth diapers.

NDP environment critic Megan Leslie said the satirical website highlights a serious issue - that the Conservative government is sounding only one economic note when it comes to energy development.

"It's an unbalanced approach," she said, arguing the government should be promoting a national energy development strategy and pushing for more green energy.

She also rebuffed Oliver's accusations the NDP wants to choke off oilsands development projects - saying the party supports the "sustainable development" of the northern Alberta resource.

"I hardly think by coming out against a pipeline we're handicapping an industry that is so big and so powerful," she said. "They're doing just fine."

Still the New Democrats have come out against two major proposed pipeline projects - Gateway and the Alberta-to-Texas Keystone XL. And NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair has said the resource boom is responsible for Canada's manufacturing woes.

It's raised the eyebrows of pro-oilsands activist Jamie Ellerton.

"Frankly, it sounds like the NDP is trying to suck and blow at the same time," said Ethical Oil's executive director Tuesday.