The crude bitumen contained in the Canadian oil sands is described by Canadian authorities as "petroleum that exists in the semi-solid or solid phase in natural deposits. Bitumen is a thick, sticky form of crude oil, so heavy and viscous (thick) that it will not flow unless heated or diluted with lighter hydrocarbons. At room temperature, it is much like cold molasses"
The tar sands are huge deposits of bitumen, a tar-like substance that's turned into oil through complex and energy-intensive processes that cause widespread environmental damage - polluting the Athabasca River, lacing the air with toxins and turning farmland into wasteland. Large areas of the Boreal Forest are being clearcut to make way for development in the tar sands, the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.
In an open letter to Oprah opposition to the Oil Sands projects have stated. Multinational oil corporations are proceeding at a frenetic pace to expand what is arguably the dirtiest energy project on earth. The tar sands operations are a major and growing source of greenhouse gases, the fastest growing source in Canada. Pristine forests and wetlands are being wiped out, and independent scientific research indicates that the industry is draining and polluting the Athabasca River at the same time. First Nations people living downstream are seeing deformed fish and animals, and experiencing rising rates of rare cancers in their communities. Just recently, our federal government announced that the woodland caribou would be forever lost under proposed tar sands development forecasts and so the recovery strategy is a mass killing of wolves.
While the tar sands are often touted as Canada's economic driver, from a social costs standpoint, Albertans are paying a hefty price. The Alberta government has been cutting essential social services from hospital beds to Aboriginal services, while oil companies rake in record profits. And while the tar sands create jobs in the short term, two out of three jobs are in construction, meaning once the initial work is completed, those jobs disappear.
The next environmental hurdle for the proponents of the Oil Sans project is to build a pipeline to the U.S. which has activists around the world enraged. A recent headline from Washington D.C. stated: The fight over the Keystone XL pipeline has become the marquee environmental bout of the 2012 election season, with serious implications for President Obama's campaign and the future of the North American environmental movement.
At stake is what has quickly become the largest environmental test for Obama before the 2012 election: The president must choose whether or not to grant a Canadian company a permit to build a 1,700-mile pipeline from the Alberta tar sands to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico. Environmentalists warn that the pipeline could cause a BP disaster right in America's heartland, over the largest source of fresh drinking water in the country, the Ogallala Aquifer. The nation's top climatologist, James Hansen, has warned that if the Canadian tar sands are fully developed, it could be "game over" for the climate.
The tar sands are huge deposits of bitumen, a tar-like substance that's turned into oil through complex and energy-intensive processes that cause widespread environmental damage - polluting the Athabasca River, lacing the air with toxins and turning farmland into wasteland. Large areas of the Boreal Forest are being clearcut to make way for development in the tar sands, the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.
In an open letter to Oprah opposition to the Oil Sands projects have stated. Multinational oil corporations are proceeding at a frenetic pace to expand what is arguably the dirtiest energy project on earth. The tar sands operations are a major and growing source of greenhouse gases, the fastest growing source in Canada. Pristine forests and wetlands are being wiped out, and independent scientific research indicates that the industry is draining and polluting the Athabasca River at the same time. First Nations people living downstream are seeing deformed fish and animals, and experiencing rising rates of rare cancers in their communities. Just recently, our federal government announced that the woodland caribou would be forever lost under proposed tar sands development forecasts and so the recovery strategy is a mass killing of wolves.
While the tar sands are often touted as Canada's economic driver, from a social costs standpoint, Albertans are paying a hefty price. The Alberta government has been cutting essential social services from hospital beds to Aboriginal services, while oil companies rake in record profits. And while the tar sands create jobs in the short term, two out of three jobs are in construction, meaning once the initial work is completed, those jobs disappear.
The next environmental hurdle for the proponents of the Oil Sans project is to build a pipeline to the U.S. which has activists around the world enraged. A recent headline from Washington D.C. stated: The fight over the Keystone XL pipeline has become the marquee environmental bout of the 2012 election season, with serious implications for President Obama's campaign and the future of the North American environmental movement.
At stake is what has quickly become the largest environmental test for Obama before the 2012 election: The president must choose whether or not to grant a Canadian company a permit to build a 1,700-mile pipeline from the Alberta tar sands to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico. Environmentalists warn that the pipeline could cause a BP disaster right in America's heartland, over the largest source of fresh drinking water in the country, the Ogallala Aquifer. The nation's top climatologist, James Hansen, has warned that if the Canadian tar sands are fully developed, it could be "game over" for the climate.
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