What does one need to know about the Alberta tar sands? A ridiculous amount of heavy crude oil is located around Fort McMurray, North of Edmonton. Athabasca is a river that runs through it and is obviously loaded with traces of oil that were noticeable to people centuries ago. It was only a matter of time before North America realized getting oil from its neighbors up north made a lot more sense that carrying it in boats from the Middle East.
Although this is certainly helping Canada economically, I see nothing but bad news coming out of this in the long term. As it is, few animals can survive in that area and many that do are riddled with tumors and diseases. Commercial planes are actually forbidden from directly flying over the tar sands as the sight of it would surely shock the passengers. Although most people I know are aware of the existence of the tar sands, few (including myself) know a whole lot of details since keeping a population ill-informed of such exploits seems to be the trend.
Millions of barrels a day are transported to the United States and that is why Keystone XL is building a pipeline that would easily carry oil from Northern Alberta all the way to Texas. Despite the fact that First Nations and environmentalists are against its construction, phase one has already begun. My feeling is that nothing, aside from an apocalyptic event, will stop the completion of the pipeline. Information is out there. Documentaries have been made. Petitions can be signed. Whether any of this makes a difference remains to be seen...
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