Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada.

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Extracting oil from the tar sands of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada

This Lens covers the subject of extracting oil from tar sands and the impact on the local and global environment. I would welcome comment and if anybody would like to send images or to contribute, please contact me.

Canada has failed to meet the reduction under the Koyoto Protocol. In 2007, Canada's emissions were 34% above it's target. Extraction from the tar sands play a major part. If you care about Climate Change, please vote for this Lens and contact your elected representative to make them aware how you feel. Join the debate below, and make your views known.

Athabasca Oil Sands article 

The Athabasca Oil Sands (also known colloquially as the Athabasca Tar Sands, although there is no actual tar) are large deposits of bitumen, or extremely heavy crude oil, located in northeastern Alberta, Canada - roughly centered around the boomtown of Fort McMurray. These oil sands, hosted in the McMurray Formation, consist of a mixture of crude bitumen (a semi-solid form of crude oil), silica sand, clay minerals, and water. The Athabasca deposit is the largest reservoir of crude bitumen in the world and the largest of three major oil sands deposits in Alberta, along with the nearby Peace River and Cold Lake deposits. Together, these oil sand deposits lie under of sparsely populated boreal forest and muskeg (peat bogs) and contain about of bitumen in-place, comparable in magnitude to the world's total proven reserves of conventional petroleum.

With modern unconventional oil production technology, at least 10% of these deposits, or about were considered to be economically recoverable at 2006 prices, making Canada's total oil reserves the second largest in the world, after Saudi Arabia's. The Athabasca deposit is the only large oil sands reservoir in the world which is suitable for large-scale surface mining, although most of it can only be produced using more recently developed in-situ technology.

Let's start with a video 

Effects of the Tar Sands: Fort Mackay, Alberta

Clips from an interview with Celina Harpe, an elder in the Cree community of Fort Mackay, about 40km downstream from Suncor and Syncrude plants on the Athabasca River. She describes the increase in cancer, the lowering of the water levels on the river, and the disappearance of wildlife in the area. http://www.oilsandstruth.org http://www.dominionpaper.ca/ http://www.msguided.org

Runtime: 567
8296 views
123 Comments:

curated content from YouTube

Alberta Tar Sands debate (only if you care) 

Climate Change affects you as well

When politicians make decisions against the common good, you have to question why? What made them make the decision? which is so harmful to the local population and damages and destroys the environment. Here is your chance to make comments and hopefully have the decision to continue exploiting the Tar Sands stopped.

Canada, under the present government, is very anti social and against Climate Change controls. In 2006 it it abandoning its targets under the Kyoto protocol. A Climate change index, shows Canada 59 out of 60.

Why has a country with so much to offer, and a history of careful management decided to support the development of the Tar Sands. What did Shell say or do that made the political decision possible? A 2c temperature rise will affect Canada greatly.

Your chance to debate this very important topic, and remember to tell your elected politician how you feel.


Can normal people overturn the decision to continue expanding Tar extraction?

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No, politicians run the country for themselves not for us.

Yes, if we care enough and have the passion to make changes to the government.

Service says:

I have stopped buying Shell and BP products in protest against the destruction of major parts of Alberta

 

Climate Change Ideas worth considering 

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The Prince Charles YouTube video 

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This should make you think 

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At the moment I am collecting information 

There is a lot of information about Fort McMurray and the tar sands. I am indebted to the English newspaper the Guardian Weekly for publishing an
excellent article in their 19th October 2007 issue.

If you would like to help, please let me know.

There are more articles on Climate Change here.

Using the Squidoo Bookmarklet, I have found this additional information which is very useful.  

One Hundred Months. If you think we have time, you should read this first.
Time is slipping away
Personal Carbon Credits
Personal Carbon Credits, how this could work, with links to published articles.

Your feedback is welcome 

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My book selection 

An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It by Al Gore

An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It by Al Gore

An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of more...0 points

Squidoo update 

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