Don’t Switch to Tar Sands and Other Dirty Fuels
by Bruce Nilles and Kate Colarulli
As we’ve watched the Gulf Coast clean up from the massive BP oil disaster, besides BP picking up its own PR mission to improve its image, we’ve also noticed another disturbing PR campaign: The coal industry and the tar sands industry are both starting to use this disaster to tout the supposed “cleanliness” of their respective energy sources.
There are more and more “clean” coal ads appearing alongside oil cleanup articles, and the tar sands (also known as oil sands) industry has already made the outrageous claim that it is “safer” than offshore drilling. One executive said “that while there can be failures with conventional oil and oil sands projects, the damage would be much smaller and more modest than with offshore spills.”
This could not be farther from the truth, of course. One could compare the tar sands industry in Canada to a massive and permanent oil spill on land. When the tar sands industry destroys the environment from the get-go, who needs a spill?
Here’s a fact for you: The Canadian tar sands operations are intending to expand to the size of Florida (and have already destroyed 200 square miles).
The mining and production of oil from tar sands creates three times the carbon emissions as that of conventional oil. As if its global warming pollution were not bad enough, tar sands mining also results in the destruction of the Canadian boreal forest, a vital carbon reservoir for 11 percent of the world’s carbon and a global nesting ground for 166 million birds. In other words, not only does tar sands development create vast quantities of new carbon emissions, it destroys the Earth’s natural ability to capture carbon through the forest.
Think BP’s bad behavior only crops up in oil? Think again — BP is actively involved in the tar sands industry and has recently been cited for cutting corners on a tar sands project that would have impacted the drinking water for the 8 million people residing in the Chicago area.
In October, BP was caught trying to undercount the pollution that would result from a proposed expansion of its Whiting refinery in order to process tar sands. The tar sands expansion would increase the refinery’s discharges of ammonia into Lake Michigan by 54 percent and its discharges of suspended solids — the byproducts of making gasoline — by 35 percent. Surely the people of Chicago would thank BP for adding byproducts of making gasoline to their drinking water.
If that incident doesn’t scare you, one of BP’s tar sands operations, ironically named Sunrise, is situated above Canada’s biggest freshwater aquifer. Rick Boucher, vice president of the Metis Nation of Alberta, Region One, fears that “it’s just a matter of time before an accident causes injury or death, and pollution of this massive underground freshwater system.”
Instead of taking every precaution to protect this water resource, last month BP’s management successfully beat down “a resolution that would have required the company to report on the environmental, financial and reputational risks of developing Canadian tar sands projects.” The tar sands have been called “the greatest environmental crime in history,” yet BP is steadily increasing its involvement.
This BP oil disaster should be a turning point in our energy policy here in the U.S. We should not keep relying on dirty energy sources like coal, oil and tar sands. We have available technologies such as electric vehicles, solar and wind power that would allow us to get off oil. It’s time to make the switch.
There is no room in America’s future for coal, oil and tar sands — don’t let the BP oil disaster help chain our country to more dirty energy.
© 2010 Madison.com
” There is no room in America’s future for coal, oil and tar sands — don’t let the BP oil disaster help chain our country to more dirty energy.” (from the article)
I agree 100% with you. I will also include nuclear in your list of dirty energy sources being passed off as clean and green. I have seen those adds you have talked about for “clean coal”. Knowing that others were being deceived into thinking coal or nuclear could be made clean gets me angry. This issue is one of the major issues facing our generation and the way we handle ourselves on this issue will determine what kind of future our children and grandchildren will have. The environment is why I joined the Green Party because we are the stronger party on this issue.
While watching the latest news about the BP Oil spill, a frightening thought came to mind: what if we can’t stop the oil? I mean, what happens if after all the measures to cap the pipe fail, (i.e., “Top Hat”, “Small Hat” and “Top Kill”). What then? An accident this problematic is new territory for BP. The oil pipeline is nearly a mile down on the ocean floor, accessible only by robots. Add on top of that the extreme pressure at which the oil is flowing out of the pipeline and there you have it: the perfect storm.
Moreover, scientists also claim that they’ve found an enormous plume of oil floating just under the surface of the ocean measuring approximately 10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick. (I’m no math genius, but I bet one of you reading this could figure out just how many barrels of oil that is…)
There are new estimates that the amount of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico is anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 barrels of oil a day: that’s a far cry from BP’s estimated 5,000 barrels a day. If BP’s estimates are correct, the total amount of oil now in the Gulf would be approximately 150,000 barrels (or 6,300,000 gallons). That’s barely enough to fill 286 swimming pools: sixteen feet, by thirty-two feet, by eight and a half feet deep. That wouldn’t cover an area the size of New York City, let alone an area the size of Delaware. Obviously, the spill is much larger than we are being led to believe. If the leak can’t be stopped, in a year’s time, we’ll have roughly 18,250,000 barrels of oil (or 766,500,000 gallons) in our oceans, killing our marine and animal wildlife. Such a calamity would be environmentally and economically disastrous. Pray that BP and our government work fast to end this catastrophe.
http://www.calculateme.com/Volume/Barrels(Petroleum)/ToGallons.htm
http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2010/05/17/latest-news-from-the-oil-spill-in-the-gulf-of-mexico-is-grim/
http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/dailyloaf/2010/05/20/scientist-says-oil-spill-is-leaking-100000-barrels-of-oil-a-day-not-bps-estimate-of-5000/
The Destructionist,
Thank you for leaving your excellent comment on my blog. I agree with you 100% about praying to God. I am praying that God will give the men who are working to try and stop this disaster the wisdom to know what has to be done. I cry thinking about what is happening to God’s creation. I love the ocean and all the marine life one finds living near the water. I used to spend time in Cape Cod and love Massachusetts. I was thinking what if the oil makes it up to Cape Cod what would happen. Would we be able to eat the wonderful New England seafood?
I weep when I think that the oil is slowly moving into the gulf stream that is taking it to the Florida Keys and then up the Atlantic and the East Coast up through FL, GA, SC and upward North to VA, NJ, NY etc. Like the blob in this horror movie I watched as a kid, the oil is getting bigger and bigger and bigger and nothing seems to be able to stop the oil from continuing to flow its river of destruction.
I hope you will post again.
Best Wishes
Chrisy