there's no hiding from tar sands oil
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8/3/2019 There's No Hiding From Tar Sands Oil
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Must Reads: BP's New License to Drill | Newt En dorser: OWS is a Muslim Brotherhood Plot! | Eur ope's Real Problem | House Panel to Vote on "Internet Censorship"
—By Tim McDonnell | Thu Dec . 15 , 201 1 1 2:20 PM PST
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An oil refinery in Edmonton, Alberta
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→ Energy, Environment , Health, International
There's No Hiding From Tar Sands Oil Keystone XL pipeline or no, A merica is awash with the dirty oil from C anada. Here' s our interactive
map revealing the refineries near you.
Recent debate over the Keystone XL oil
pipeline has turned a spotlight on Canada's
controversial and oil-rich tar sands, which
would be the source of crude oil flowing
through the pipe to the Gulf of Mexico. Tar
sands oil has faced stiff criticism from
environmental groups, which say that it's far
dirtier than its Middle Eastern counterpart
despite claims from the Canadian government
and industry groups that they keep a close
eye on environmental impact.
But long bef ore the Keystone XL became a cause célèbre, tar sands oil was already ubiquitous
in America: It goes to fuel our cars and corporations' trucking fleets, and it's used in the
production of products from aluminum cans to asphalt. Starting last year, San Francisco-
based environmental advocacy group Forest Ethics launched a campaign to encourage
American companies to boycott tar sands oil and, specifically, the refineries that process it
(below).
Using data from the federal Energy Information
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The 1 Percent, Revealed
The superrich ha ve drawn a clear
line in the sand be tween
themselves and everybody else.
How did we get here? — By
Barbara Ehrenreich and John
Ehrenreich
There's No Hiding From Tar
Sands Oil
Keystone XL pipeline or no,
America is awash with the dirty oil
from Canada. Here's our
interactive m ap revealing the
refineries ne ar you. —Tim
McDonnell
Jersey Score: Inside Mitt
Romney’s Million-Dollar
Dinner
The private confab had m usic by
Springsteen a nd Bon Jovi,
cheerleading by Ch ris Christie,
and praise from a Romney donor
—for Obama's health care policy.
—
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up to 70 percent higher than other crude oil sources.
Moreover, environmental groups have raised concerns about negative health impacts in
the neighborhoods surrounding refineries that process tar sands oil and even at the extraction
sites themselves: A few years ago, MoJo reporter Josh Harkinson described seeing his small
airplane reflected in "a shimmering reservoir of oil waste" near Alberta's Athabasca River. Tar
sands oil is much heavier than conventional oil and, to ease transportation to refineries via
pipeline, it must be watered down at the extraction site with a natural gas byproduct that is
later burned off in the refining process. At the same time, sulfur (with which tar sands oil is
notoriously loaded) and a slew of heavy metals are extracted and either sold off or released
into the environment. A December 2010 Sierra Club report linked tar sands refineries emissions
to prenatal brain damage, asthma, and emphysema, and it also suggested a disproportionate
placement of tar sands refineries in low-income minority neighborhoods.
"We do believe that tar sands refineries are dirtier and more dangerous" than other refineries,
Sanger said.
In any case, there's little disagreement that avoiding tar sands oil is a sticky situation for
American consumers. MacLean even scoffed at the basic premise of the Forest Ethics push to
cut tar sands oil from supply lines: "I think that's technically impossible." Still, Sanger said,
pressure from consumers on big t rucking c ompanies like UPS and FedEx—and the retailers who
rely on them—could help rein in our dependence on the tar sands. Convincing truckers to drop
tar sands oil could in turn convince refineries to drop it too. "Let's contain it," he said. "Let'snot let this problem get outside the regions where it already is."
Tim McDonnell is an editorial fellow at Mother Jones. For more of his stories, click here.
Follow him on Twitter or send him an email at tmcdonnell [at] motherjones [dot] com. Get
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Meet t he Ta r Sands PR Wizard
Ezra Levant spins tar sands crude as “ethical oil”—with the same tricks he used in his tobacco lobbyist days.
Tar Sands Promoters Tur n t o Oprah Fans for Support
North Am erica's Tar Sands: The New Middle East
It’s either a "yes" or a "no" for the climate-killing Keystone XL oil pipeline—and Obama gets to make the call.
First Ta r Sands Mine Approved In US
Energy Is Ugly: Tar Sands Edition
Oil imported from Canada's tar sands has twice the environmental cost of normal crude. Did we mention that they're our
biggest supplier?
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America the beautiful….tar sands, coal soot, crude, fracking
fluids, pipe and power lines with breathtaking views of refineries….damn! why
am I not feeling better? must be aftereffects of that acid rain we had years
ago…where’s my plastic coffee cup
Marcus_from_the_North an d 2 more liked this Like
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Cheer up. BP got drilling permits!
1 person liked this. Like
Isn't a better strategy to reduce America's use of energy through conservation and education
efforts? While tar sands oil is dirtier than o ther oil, it isn't like oil is ever going to be clean and if one
company doesn't buy it, someone else w ill. The best way to influence the market is to drive the
cost for gasoline down, since oil sands extraction is relatively expensive compared to other options
at this time.
Of course in ten to twenty years, most oil sources will be in hard-to-reach places w ith larger
environmental impacts. The overall goal should be to reduce fossil fuel use, not to ta rget a type of
fossil fuel which is essentially interchangeable in use with other fossil fuels.
Marcus_from_the_North an d 2 more liked this Like
I worked for both of the o il refineries right outside of the Twin Cities.. Pine Bend[ ("Koch Oil")yes
the same dufus kids tha t inherited billions from daddy] in Rosemount MN. and Marathon Oil (Super
America) in St. Paul Park MN.. The refinery is Rosemount, MN is designed to crack sulfur from sour
crude oil.. The place stinks like shit and all of the trees w ithin a 5 mile radius of the p lace are
stunted in growth.. The refinery in St. Paul Park, MN. is a decrepit piece of shit that is human death
trap.. Not only do they manufacture hydrofluoric acid that is piped to the 3M plant right down the
freeway, but the place is also ready to burst into a ball of Hellfire.. Shithole, shithole, shithole!!! I
was out there when a lighting strike blew up a holding tank and killed a guy but I also saw some
unfortunate fool get his leg snapped like a twig from a refinement vessel shock absorber...
Like
We need an "all-of-the-above" effort to supply our energy needs, provide much-needed jobs, and
assure our national security. Don't listen to tree-huggers, AlGorites, Hollywood humming-birds, &
latte-liberals who float in the Zone. This is about rea l people. Get that Keystone XL pipeline up &
running.
Like
So piping Canadian oil to Houston Texas to be sold in the Chinese marketplace is a greatsolution for job recovery??? Like I usually do to all of your post Stoney I am going to pull the
"bullshit" card on you...
Like
the oil belongs to the Goverment and the oil payment should go to the Goverment and not to those
backward racist in the South, The oil companys should be confascated by the Goverment and
owned by the people. This is enough, those Southern rubes are killing Mother Earth.
Like
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