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    The Truth About Tar Sands

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    Gulf Restoration Network
    The document summarizes the environmental threats from tar sands development in Saskatchewan and Alberta. It notes that tar sands production results in 5 times the greenhouse gas emissions of conventional oil production. It also uses large amounts of water and has contaminated waterways, affecting wildlife and Indigenous communities. Acid rain from tar sands production is affecting lakes and forests in Saskatchewan. The extraction process also damages landscapes and disrupts wildlife. Indigenous rights are being ignored. Saskatchewan will see little economic benefit and royalty rates for companies are low. A coalition has formed calling for a moratorium on development until environmental and health impacts are assessed.

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    The Truth About Tar Sands

    Uploaded by

    Gulf Restoration Network
    48 views2 pages
    The document summarizes the environmental threats from tar sands development in Saskatchewan and Alberta. It notes that tar sands production results in 5 times the greenhouse gas emissions of conventional oil production. It also uses large amounts of water and has contaminated waterways, affecting wildlife and Indigenous communities. Acid rain from tar sands production is affecting lakes and forests in Saskatchewan. The extraction process also damages landscapes and disrupts wildlife. Indigenous rights are being ignored. Saskatchewan will see little economic benefit and royalty rates for companies are low. A coalition has formed calling for a moratorium on development until environmental and health impacts are assessed.

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    THE TRUTH ABOUT TAR SANDS

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    The document summarizes the environmental threats from tar sands development in Saskatchewan and Alberta. It notes that tar sands production results in 5 times the greenhouse gas emissions of conventional oil production. It also uses large amounts of water and has contaminated waterways, affecting wildlife and Indigenous communities. Acid rain from tar sands production is affecting lakes and forests in Saskatchewan. The extraction process also damages landscapes and disrupts wildlife. Indigenous rights are being ignored. Saskatchewan will see little economic benefit and royalty rates for companies are low. A coalition has formed calling for a moratorium on development until environmental and health impacts are assessed.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    48 views2 pages

    The Truth About Tar Sands

    Uploaded by

    Gulf Restoration Network
    The document summarizes the environmental threats from tar sands development in Saskatchewan and Alberta. It notes that tar sands production results in 5 times the greenhouse gas emissions of conventional oil production. It also uses large amounts of water and has contaminated waterways, affecting wildlife and Indigenous communities. Acid rain from tar sands production is affecting lakes and forests in Saskatchewan. The extraction process also damages landscapes and disrupts wildlife. Indigenous rights are being ignored. Saskatchewan will see little economic benefit and royalty rates for companies are low. A coalition has formed calling for a moratorium on development until environmental and health impacts are assessed.

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    THE TRUTH ABOUT TAR SANDS

    Here is a copy of the handbills that will be distributed this thursday Noon in Regina, Scarth Street mall as part
    of one of many ongoing information sharing projects…

    April is Earth Month, a time to think about the damage we are doing to the earth systems that give us life.

    In Saskatchewan, the environment is facing a big new threat from tar sands (also called oil sands) development
    in the province and in Alberta. Tar sands oil is one of the dirtiest sources of energy in the world. The processes
    used to extract the tarry oil, known as bitumen, are causing an ecological and a human catastrophe.

    ! Greenhouse gas emissions from tar sands production are 5 times those of conventional oil
    production. The Alberta oil sands are the single biggest contributor to the growth of Canada’s
    greenhouse gas emissions. In Saskatchewan, oil sands exploration is already well underway, with
    production slated to start in 2009. Saskatchewan will not be able to meet its commitment to cut
    greenhouse gas emissions by 32% by 2020 if it continues with its oil sands development.
    ! It takes 2 – 4.5 barrels of fresh water to produce 1 barrel of tar sands oil. Tar sands development
    is the source of the fastest growing water loss and contamination in Canada. Much of the water is lost to
    the water cycle forever as it is too toxic to be recoverable. In Alberta, water spewing from tar sands
    production has infected fish and wildlife, causing sickness among First Nations communities
    downstream.
    ! Acid rain from Alberta oil sands production is already affecting Saskatchewan’s lakes.
    According to the Environmental Defence Fund, 70% of the  sulphur that enters Alberta’s airshed as a
    result of oil sands production ends up in Saskatchewan. Acid rain has an adverse effect on lakes, rivers,
    forests, soils, buildings, and human health.
    ! Tar sands extraction processes blight the landscape and have huge effects on human and animal
    life over a very large area. In Saskatchewan, the bitumen is too deep to be surface mined, as it is in
    many locations in Alberta. Instead, what is known as the in situ extraction method will be used: the
    injection of steam and other solvents down a well to make the bitumen flow. For each well-site that is
    built, a substantial area of forest has to be  cleared. The process also requires a huge infrastructure of
    pipes that crisscross the landscape, interfering with wildlife and human activity.
    ! First Nations rights are being ignored by governments and oil companies in the race for oil
    sands development. Oilsand Quest, incorporated in Colorado, is the leading oil sands company in
    Saskatchewan, with land-lease holdings of over 500,000 acres in the province’s northwest. An Oilsands
    Quest representative recently stated in a CBC interview that the company does not have to recognize
    Dene hunting rights in the area as hunters have no licenced right. First Nations traditional lands in both
    Alberta and Saskatchewan are being destroyed for tar sands exploration and extraction.
    ! Aside from environmental and public health degradation, the people of Saskatchewan will
    derive very little from oil sands development. Saskatchewan royalty rates are among the lowest in the
    world. In a recent interview, Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd stated that the government has no
    intention of raising them. Most of the oil companies in Saskatchewan are subsidiaries of American
    corporations. Most of the oil will be exported to the US in the form of crude oil.

    Sources: CBC, Leader Post, Globe and Mail, tarsandswatch.org, oilsandsquest.com

    Earlier in April, a number of First Nations and non-Aboriginal organizations came together to form a coalition
    called Keepers of the Water, Saskatchewan. Keepers of the Water is calling for a moratorium on oil sands
    development in Alberta and Saskatchewan until an environmental and health impact assessment has been
    conducted and a legal framework to protect environmental and human health has been implemented.
    FREE eBook on Oil Spills: Not One Drop

    http://www.scribd.com/doc/31483843/Not-One-Drop

    Big Oil’s Dirty Secrets


    http://bigoil101.insanejournal.com

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