Stop the Oil Sands
Aug. 30th, 2009 07:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
susanreadsAnother thing I've been reading about recently:
Ever hear of "unconventional oil"? It's like regular oil, only worse. As conventional oil supplies start to run out, the oil industry gets more interested in anywhere else it can get the same fix, and at the moment the big development frontier is in the oil sands (or tar sands; it's the same thing) of Alberta, Canada. This is a mixture of sand (or clay) and bitumen, and getting the oil out of it takes several times the energy input of conventional oil, plus huge amounts of other chemicals and water. The toxic waste products, held in massive tailings ponds, kill migratory birds that land on them and do lots of other environmental damage. The extraction industry also destroys whatever was on the surface (eg: boreal forest), like open-cast mining does.
This is an environmental justice issue for First Nations Canadians, whose hunting and fishing rights are effectively removed by the toxic effects on wildlife. The Beaver Lake Cree Nation are mounting a legal challenge, represented by Woodward and Company; see also Tar Sands Watch for other First Nations involvement.
Greenpeace Canada are campaigning against the oil sands industry, and have links to take action if you're Canadian. Campaigns in Britain are being run by People and Planet, focussing on the (ir)responsibility of the banking sector which is financing the industry, and Ethical Consumer, with a boycott of brands owned by the major companies involved. You can check whether your MP has signed the relevant Early Day Motions: EDM 880, Royal Bank of Scotland and Climate Change, concentrates on RBS which is majority-owned by the British Government after the bailout, and EDM 1250, Reporting on Carbon Liabilities, asks for the financial sector in general to be made to report on the environmental and therefore financial risks involved.
Ever hear of "unconventional oil"? It's like regular oil, only worse. As conventional oil supplies start to run out, the oil industry gets more interested in anywhere else it can get the same fix, and at the moment the big development frontier is in the oil sands (or tar sands; it's the same thing) of Alberta, Canada. This is a mixture of sand (or clay) and bitumen, and getting the oil out of it takes several times the energy input of conventional oil, plus huge amounts of other chemicals and water. The toxic waste products, held in massive tailings ponds, kill migratory birds that land on them and do lots of other environmental damage. The extraction industry also destroys whatever was on the surface (eg: boreal forest), like open-cast mining does.
This is an environmental justice issue for First Nations Canadians, whose hunting and fishing rights are effectively removed by the toxic effects on wildlife. The Beaver Lake Cree Nation are mounting a legal challenge, represented by Woodward and Company; see also Tar Sands Watch for other First Nations involvement.
Greenpeace Canada are campaigning against the oil sands industry, and have links to take action if you're Canadian. Campaigns in Britain are being run by People and Planet, focussing on the (ir)responsibility of the banking sector which is financing the industry, and Ethical Consumer, with a boycott of brands owned by the major companies involved. You can check whether your MP has signed the relevant Early Day Motions: EDM 880, Royal Bank of Scotland and Climate Change, concentrates on RBS which is majority-owned by the British Government after the bailout, and EDM 1250, Reporting on Carbon Liabilities, asks for the financial sector in general to be made to report on the environmental and therefore financial risks involved.
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