The tar sands are one of the most dangerous and dirty sources of energy on the planet. The destructive impact of extracting oil from the tar sands is being felt across the province. The people of Alberta are already suffering from environmental and social problems caused by the tar sands. Old growth forests are ripped from the ground and discarded to make way for giant earthmovers to dig up the landscape, an important habitat to wildlife. If all of the proposed leases for tar sands development are granted, the tar sands will encompass an area the size of Florida.
The tar sands are the single largest source of increases in greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, and one of the main reasons we are not meeting our international obligations under the Kyoto treaty to reduce emissions. By 2020, they will produce double the greenhouse gas emissions of all the cars and trucks currently in Canada.
Buried below the Boreal Forest of northern Alberta is a source of oil known as the tar sands. Deposits of tar sands are spread out over 138 000 km2 of land (an area the size of Florida) and including 4.3 million hectares of the Boreal Forest. Until recently, it was too expensive and complicated to extract the tar sands to produce oil, but over the past few years increases in oil prices and technological changes have made it possible, and profitable. Companies are now producing over a million barrels of oil per day from the tar sands, and this number is constantly increasing. But the explosive growth of these projects has huge environmental costs, damaging land, air, water, forests, and the climate. Greenpeace is calling on oil companies and the government to stop the tar sands, for the sake of people and the planet.
It is totally irresponsible for the Alberta government to push for more development in the face of the dire consequences of global warming. If politicians were really concerned about the health of their constituents and the environment, they would be weaning the province off oil and developing clean, renewable energy such as solar, geothermal, and wind power. The solutions exist; what is lacking is the political will.
But this is not a matter of concern just for the people of Alberta. The tonnes of greenhouse gases emitted during the production of tar sands oil do not stay in the province, but are flushed into the atmosphere shared by all living creatures. The tar sands are an environmental crime being perpetrated against the entire planet.
Please do what you can to stop it.
Take Action
If you live in Alberta, send a letter to the Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach asking him to shut down the tar sands and stop polluting the atmosphere:
Stop the Tar Sands, Mr. Stelmach!If you live in other parts of Canada, write to Prime Minister Harper demanding that he end all access to the accelerated capital cost allowance tax break to any tar sands projects immediately, and ensure that hard emissions reductions targets are enforced in the industry:
Stop the Tar Sands Mr. Harper!
