Naught for All

I don't have time to write about it now, but you should read this article:

Canada pays for U.S. oil thirst

Each barrel of oil requires two to five barrels of water, carves up four tons of earth, uses enough natural gas to heat a home for one to five days, and adds to the greenhouse gases slowly cooking the planet, according to the industry's own calculations.
[...]

Our government ran a program last year that suggested every Canadian should decrease their personal CO₂ emissions by one tonne per year, but they remain silent in the face of this ongoing rape. Sure, I'll walk everywhere and pay close attention to everything that I buy. These corporations, on the other hand, should go ahead and make the investors filthy rich by razing the carbon-sequestering boreal forest and pissing away natural gas supplies, environmental quality and human health. They admit that they are moving too fast and failing to properly address the myriad problems. Seventeen years ahead of schedule? That means that the exploitation is seventeen years ahead of the sustainable land use and waste management solutions, as I take it. I find that appalling. Next time you read about Alberta's 'red-hot' economy, think about the 'poison-black' tailings pools that no one knows how to address.

Well, I didn't mean to write anything, but I couldn't help it. Anyway, I have a friend who has visited the tar sands and taken a lot of great pictures (well, great pictures of something awful). I'll get in touch with her and post a few soon.