About Those Tar Sands

There's nothing nice to say about the Alberta tar sands oil project. How can we continue to condone, and demand the oil from, a project that pumps millions of gallons of toxic waste into the water supplies, sickens and kills an alarming percentage of the area's birds and wildlife and people, emits from three to five times the greenhouse gases of conventional oil drilling, burns enough natural gas in it's process to heat millions of homes, and will ultimately strip mine an area of boreal forest the size of Florida to scoop out the tarry sludge? Short answer. We can't.

The project is still gaining steam though with big players like BP and Royal Dutch Shell expanding their presence in it with major funding by the Royal Bank of Scotland among other investment firms. SoS Clinton's endorsement of the Alberta Clipper pipeline gives the green light to pump the crude to US refineries. First Nations and environmental groups are continuing to fight, and have filed a lawsuit through Earthjustice to put a stop to it. Opponents of the tar sands aren't going to roll over without a fight, and this promises to be a big one.

You can find more facts about the tar sands here at ForestEthics. They also link to actions that are being taken. Earthjustice issued a press release about the lawsuit, and the Indigenous Environmental Network is posting about action they are taking to put a stop to the madness. Read 'em and do what you can to help.