Time's Running Out to Stop the Keystone Tar Sands Pipeline -- Take Action Now |
by Tara Lohan | |
04 June 2011 | |
The disastrous mining of tar sands in Alberta has wreaked havoc on the environment and communities in northern Canada, not to mention its massive emissions of CO2. Of course the hopelessly oil-addicted US wants in on the action, too.
A proposed pipeline, Keystone XL, will pump the dirty oil through six US states, risking the drinking water of over 2 million people. The Sierra Club reported that, "They estimated that it would ONLY leak once every seven to eleven years. But they neglected to include the pipeline's pumping stations, which have already sustained 11 reported spills in the last year!" This isn't a potential threat -- it's already impacting communities and we're running out of time to stop it. The public comment period for the pipeline ends on June 6. The decision to green light this project is in the hands of Secretary Clinton. As Robert Greenwald explained in the Guardian recently: The proposed Keystone XL pipeline deals with what is called "dirty oil" tar sands. Tar sands production carbon dioxide emissions are three times higher that those of conventional oil. The amount of oil Keystone XL would carry is equal to the pollution level of adding six million new cars to our roads. Tar sands mining operations involve a vast drilling infrastructure, open pit mines, and toxic wasteland ponds up to three miles wide. The extraction process involves strip-mining and drilling that injects steam into the ground to melt the tar-like crude oil from the sand and requires a massive amount of energy and water.You can take action on this right now by signing the petition below. Change.org|Start an Online Petition » .
Tara Lohan is Senior Editor at AlterNet.org. This article originally appeared at AlterNet.org.
I signed the petition. I was an oil industry analyst in the 1970s and '80s before going after oil pollution as a career, and I wish I could say I've helped fight the tar sands schemes. Only indirectly, unfortunately. But I'll put Tara Lohan's alert on our Culture Change website. * * * * * Further reading:
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