Alberta Oil Sands – Irresponsible & Dirty Oil
The more that I learn about the Oil Sands in Northern Alberta Canada, the more I realize how stupid it is to extract this oil… While the appeal of its exploitation is obvious and easy, it is time that we make some smarter and tougher decisions. We need to make more responsible choices for our planet and future generations. We need to invest in renewable and clean energy sources, and not subsidize this pool of the dirtiest oil on the planet.
Photo by Peter Essick – National Geographic
Why is the Canadian government subsidizing Oil companies and their development of the tar sands? Oil companies are some of the most profitable companies in the world! They don’t need tax payers’ hard earned money to make even more money by exploiting the bitumen deep underground!!
Consider what is done for every single barrel of synthetic oil that is extracted, according to National Geographic (it’s crazy how much damage is done for 1 barrel of oil!!):
- the forest is cut down;
- an average of two tons of peat and soil are removed
- then two tons of the sands themselves are extracted
- Several barrels of water are heated to extract the bitumen from the sand (requiring the energy to heat the water)
- Afterward, contaminated water is discharged into tailing ponds (which now cover a total of 50 square miles) Last year hundreds of ducks mistook a tailing pond for a real lake and ended up dead. The Canadian government has since charged the company responsible, Syncrude.
- Huge amounts of pollution are released into the air, the ponds and likely downriver from the area.
The extraction process is energy intensive and therefore, yields less energy output for the energy put in. In fact, some of the deeper oil sands yield one half the energy output per energy inputted compared to traditional oil extraction. It also creates a large carbon footprint itself, let alone the oil that is piped out to refineries in Canada and the US and later ends up in your gas tank.
So, do we want to live in a world that is overheating, polluted, and continually dominated by large oil companies that tear apart our beautiful spaces, cut down our trees and leave toxic ponds and pollution behind – all for the sole purpose of increasing their profits while they fuel our vehicles that could, instead be powered in cleaner, renewable ways? I for one, do not. And I would like to see those subsidies going to renewable energy companies!
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