Now if the natural gas and land depletion aren’t enough to get you thinking; the water consumption is heinous. It takes two to four barrels of water to produce one barrel of bitumen (which is what they are really after). The used tailings are then stored, unusable, in tailings lakes, which have potential negative effects on the health of the environment and the population surrounding the contaminated area.
Oil Sands Facts
Climate Change
· Alberta’s greenhouse gas regulation does not require real reductions in emissions from oil sands operations.
· Oil sands production is much more greenhouse gas–intensive than conventional oil production.
· Oil sands are the fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.
· Continued increases in greenhouse gas emissions show that Canada’s commitment to address climate change falls far short of what’s needed.
· Large-scale carbon capture and storage for oil sands emissions is currently a distant and uncertain prospect.
· Companies are allowed to switch to burning dirtier fuels as a source of energy for oil sands extraction — further increasing greenhouse gas emissions from the oil sands.
Water Impacts
· Oil sands mining uses two to four barrels of water for every barrel of bitumen produced.
· Oil sands companies are not required to stop withdrawing water from the Athabasca River, even if flows are so low that fisheries and habitats are at serious risk.
· Capping toxic tailings waste in end pit lakes with water is an unproven and risky concept.
· For over 40 years, oil sands mining companies voluntarily managed tailings on their own, in the absence of concrete government regulations.
· Tailings lakes seep toxic waste. It is uncertain exactly what is seeping, how much is seeping and what ecosystem components are affected.
· Tailings lakes house compounds known to be acutely toxic to aquatic organisms.
· Reclamation of tailings lakes has not yet been demonstrated.
Boreal Forest Impacts
· Alberta’s oil sands underlie one-fifth of the province, and development is already planned for more than 79,000 square kilometers.
· The Athabasca Boreal Forest will not be restored to its native state following mine closure.
· Oil sands mining reclamation standards are weak and lack transparency; only one square kilometer of land has been certified as reclaimed to date.
· The security bonds that are supposed to protect Canadians from costly environmental liabilities may be inadequate.
Perhaps Alaska’s natural gas store will help America achieve oil independence. But it is going to take strong regulations to stop the spread of “the most destructive project on earth.”
Photo Coutesy of Suncor Energy
Map Courtesy of Enbridge Pipelines
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All is not what it seems to be. A new docking of very large LNG tankers for discharge on the east coast puts LNG into the Midwest and southern states far cheaper and is probably more dependable than is a pipeline from Alaska.
The Boreal forests as we know them are doomed. Climate change investigations which started seriously about 10 years ago determined early on the Boreal forests were among the earliest losses we will identify. This, with or without the help of industry.
Add to this the thaw of the tundra in the arctic. This will release more CO2 into the atmosphere than all the fossil fuels being burned. It will be a major dump. One has to question if we can survive at all.
"A new docking of very large LNG tankers for discharge on the east coast puts LNG into the Midwest and southern states far cheaper and is probably more dependable than is a pipeline from Alaska"
I would love to see your back-up/spreadsheets. As director of a large international energy concern, we have invested millions of dollars in research, engineering studies and trading strategies that show the contrary.
Let me say this, you at least attempt to sound sane in your story, which is a step up from most environmentalists. But you lost me when you quoted Jim Hansen. That guy is a bigger liar than Al Gore. And that is saying something.
Like Gore, whatever Hansen says, just think the exact opposite is true, and you will be correct every single time.
As for Alaska's "pristine" lands, have you ever SEEN ANWAR? I'm talking about where we should be drilling for oil? This area is best described as a hell hole! It's barely inhabitable tundra in the long winter, and a mosquito infested swamp in the summer.
ANWAR is the size of the state of South Carolina. The part where the oil (and a lot of natural gas too) is about the size of DFW airport. (Or LAX)
If the environmental zealots, the warmmongers would settle down and shut up, we have plenty of CLEAN ways to get oil to supply America's needs for the next couple of hundred years. IN AMERICA!
And make no mistake about it, we will always use oil for much of our energy, as well as it's many other uses.
The sand tar is a red herring, and just another way to try to do whatever it is the loons are trying to do. At this point it's hard to even tell what their goals are any more. Other than trying to destroy America and our way of life.
We have oil and natural gas all over America. More oil than all of the middle east, and more natural gas than all of the world's oil supplies.
If we were smart, instead of chasing ridiculous non-productive technology, we'd have converted a considerable amount of our cars and trucks to run compressed natural gas. The technology to do this is only 100 years old! And it is better now that we have the latest computer engine management systems.
I salute Governor Palin. She's one of the few out there that gets it. She's pro-American and pro-progress! Totally the opposite from the so-called "president" we have now!