Alberta Tar Sands Reminds Of US Coal Mining Destruction

The Alberta Tar Sands reminds me very much of MTR – Mountaintop Removal Mining.  The illustrious Boreal Forest is being clear cut and turned into a disgusting strip mine.  Waterways and the general water table is being contaminated.  CO2 is being pumped into the atmosphere at alarming rates.  The entire ecosystem of this once pristine landscape is being extinguished all in the name of oil  – and greed.  As they state in the pod, the Boreal Forest is becoming a dumping ground of the United States.  US independence from foreign oil runs right through the province of Alberta.

According to DeSmogBlog, “At least 90% of the fresh water used in the oil sands ends up in ends up in tailing ponds so toxic that propane cannons are used to keep ducks from landing in them. Producing a barrel of oil from the oil sands produces three times more greenhouse gas emissions than a barrel of conventional oil.” 

Watch the pod.  What do you think?  Is this energy indepence?  At what cost?

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