Refining oil from tar sands has been a relevant topic being profiled throughout workshops and panels here at Power Shift ’09. More of the United States’ oil imports come from Canada (2 million barrels a day) than Saudi Arabia (1.3 million), according to the Energy Information Administration. Canada’s oil industry is fueled by the Alberta Tar Sands, accounting for 47% of produced oil in Canada. The oil sands cover an area the size of Florida and are an environmental disaster that is impacting people across the country.
This video is but a snapshot of the tar sands and the issues they entail:
For more information from all areas, or to join up with organizations working on solutions to the tar sands, check out the following links:
Government of Alberta – Our Business: Oil Sands
Tree Hugger: Oil Sands Via Google Earth
Tar Sands Watch: Polaris Institute’s Energy Program
Obama2Canada: Tar Sands Don’t Fit in a New Energy Economy
Indigenous Environmental Network
Oil Sands Truth: Shut Down the Tar Sands
Please feel free to add more useful links by commenting below.
This sounds like another replay of history. I recall the effort on James Bay 2 and how folks in the US thought they would get all of their power from Canadian hydro. The Cree were successful in stopping James Bay 2.