Alberta Tar Sands: Tar Sands Kill! - ecoSanity.org

On Tuesday, September 25th, shortly after the Premier of Alberta, Ed Stelmach, began his "Alberta: Canada's engine of growth" luncheon speech at the Sheraton Centre in downtown Toronto, a suited ecoSanity.org volunteer rose in protest with a cloth banner that read GET SANE in bold, black letters on white and repeated the following statement until he was willingly removed:

"Mr Stelmach, right now, the people of the most impoverished nations are suffering and dying because of environmentally negligent ventures like the Alberta tar sands. Canadians and the world need a clean, sustainable energy economy, not a pillaging, murderous one. Stop sacrificing my generation. Renewable energy now. Deadly tar sands NEVER!"

The tar sands are located under untouched boreal forest that covers nearly 1/4 of Alberta. Trees are cut down, the surface is strip-mined and the underlying mixture is heated with steam to make it flow.

Oil from the tar sands produces 5 x more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional oil and is the fastest growing greenhouse gas emitter in Canada (Alberta emits 40% of our nation's total, but with only 10% of our population)

Huge amounts of water and dirty energy are required to create the steam needed to extract the oil

The surrounding air and water is polluted with a variety of toxic chemicals

70% of the crude oil is exported to the U.S.

ECOSANITY.ORG'S DEMANDS OF PREMIER, ED STELMACH, AND THE GOV'T OF ALBERTA:

We could propose things like: an immediate moratorium on new tar sands projects; cap air emissions from new upgraders; restrict water usage; level, then reverse, runaway development and initiate aggressive government regulation, but the reality is:

"At present, the planet's atmosphere is on course to heat up to unsurvivable temperatures within the lifetimes of today's children" - Glenn MacIntosh, "Founder's Imperative", www.ecoSanity.org, http://ecoSanity.org/us/foundersimperative

Alberta tar sands development and humanity cannot co-exist because tar sands development KILLS.

The planet won't wait for us to save it, ourselves or those we love.

WE MUST ALL -- ACT -- NOW.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• AlbertaTarSands
• EdStelmach
• PremierOfAlberta
• TheEmpireClubOfCanada
• StephenHarper
• Glenn
• MacIntosh
• ecoSanity.org

[attorp]

Is there any doubt in anyone's mind that once the oil companies have sucked every last dollar out of the tar sands, they will leave the Canadian public with the biggest toxic mess on the planet? Think about it. Contamination from a leaking oil tank on a standard city lot can cost hundreds of thousands to clean up. Just imagine the cost for hundreds of square kilometres...even if possible, the cleanup costs would far outweigh all profits realized over the whole life of the project.

[TheSlimViper]

An economy can be based on anything. It could be based on human blood. 500 years down the road people could look at that and go "um, maybe that's not a good idea, we'll end up making ourselves virtually extinct if we keep this up" and change it. Of course changing it would cause a ton of occupation loss and economical recalibration.

Does that make it any less necessary or urgent? Fuck no.

There's no treehugging faggotry here, its just common sense. Clinging to old shit helps no one.

[boorme]

Wow

[sarcee1960]

@stud090 My math's fine. It's yours that is the problem. As you seem to think that .02%, .2% and 2% all represent the same amount of a given land area, you may want to go back and finish high school. BTW I already work for an oil company. But thanks anyway, have fun with the voices in your head.

[stud090]

@sarcee1960hahahaha now theres the language i would expect from someone who cant write .02 as a percent! Enough of you! go get a diploma then get a job in the oilfield and make 170,000/yr. Surely, when working with numbers that big u may pick up on a little math here and there!

[sarcee1960]

@stud090 Not sure what you're laughing at, except maybe you have problems tracking a conversation. Only .02% of all disturbed land has been officially certified by the government as reclaimed. That's what I said. Apparently you are having a different conversation with the voices in your head. And yes, you said bitumen wasn't used to roof houses. Too late to backtrack now. Seems like you've been sipping from the toxic tailing ponds. Dumb fuck.

[stud090]

@sarcee1960 bahahaha really???your right about 1 thing u get a diff. number, multiply 100 by .02 u get 2 as in 2% then 100 by .2 u get 20 as in 20% then 100 by 2 u get200!!! Maybe u meant .02 of 1%, but although u gave me the best laugh ive had in forever im not goin to fight wit u about something yer calculator can easily tell u! I didnt claim u couldnt shouldnt or cant roof yer house wit bitumen i said feel free too! Finally im not anti-enviro just a guy making a living in the oilfield!

[sarcee1960]

@stud090 Congratulations, you've proven that you failed basic math, geography and chemistry all in one post! First, try multiplying say, the number 100 by .02%, then 100 by .2%, then 100 by 2%. You will get a different total for each. Amazing, huh? Next, Google the Labrea Tar Pits. Finally, bitumen roofs have been around since the late 1970s. My uncle used to mix the roofing tar. It's a modified bitumen, with other compounds. But thanks for proving that anti-environmentalists are idiots.

[stud090]

@sarcee1960 .02% would be the same as 2% wouldnt it genius? .02=2% .2%=20%. Why is there tar in some pit in LA? Ya got me y? And thank you for acknowledgeing that tar isnt bitumen, and no nobody roofs there house wit bitumen! But i suppose if u cant do simple math logic is prolly very difficult for u!

[sarcee1960]

@stud090 It's .02% dumb ass. And that amount is absolutely pathetic, considering they've been moonscaping for decades. If tar is a man made product, why is it found in the Labrea Tar Pits in Los Angeles? (Yes, tar is technically different from bitumen, but not much). Bitumen can be used to roof houses. I even have some bitumen in my computer case.

[stud090]

@sarcee1960 yer the fukin moron!!!! loojk up the amount of land that has been harvested in comparison to projected harvestastion. You will find that 2% isnt that bad, not that good but not that bad. Secondly it's oil not tar dummy. Tar is a man made product, if u want to roof your house with bitumen feel free!!!