Americans, along with some Asian countries’, oil consumption since the beginning of the Iraq war has increased. Americans are a very accepting people. We cluck in sympathy for the oil extraction countries destruction of their people’s lives, land and water resources for “our” oil. We also think nothing of driving to rallies against the war with banners blazing ‘NO BLOOD FOR OIL”. Never seemingly making the connection between our oil additive lifestyles, the wars and environmental calamities it engenders.
As the martyred Black Muslim leader, Malcolm X, noted many years ago and just recently repeated by The Reverend Jeremiah Wright: “The Chicken Have Come Home to Roost”.
Well, maybe not the chickens but oil to cook the chickens. How so?
Canada, our neighbor to the North, has great plans to supply our addiction. This time at considerable cost to their environment and ours as well. The plan is to clear-cut Canada’s Alberta’s pristine boreal forest. Then mine the land for the potential 1.7 trillion barrel of crude oil extracted from tar sands. But the cost of separating the crude from the sandy tar is high. The process emits 40% more CO2 than traditional oil production and as many as five barrels of water are scarified for every one barrel of oil. (All statistical information garnered from Global Exchange Spring/Summer 2008 Newsletter.)
Well, again American should not worry, since we don’t live in Canada. Or should we?
Yes, we should since Canada is the number one supplier of U.S. oil, fueling 30% of our addiction. This most dirty of oil extraction (tar sands) will ultimately reach the U.S. market with major oil companies ready to retool its U.S. refineries to burn dirtier crude. This oil will be refined in Texas, Montana, Oklahoma, Washington, and Illinois. Expansions of refineries are being planned in Michigan, Illinois, and Kentucky. California will not escape as we have the notorious Richmond refinery at our doorstep. According to Global Exchange bringing the heavy crude oil into the Great Lakes region will jeopardize the health of the fragile Great Lakes ecosystems and the people relying on its water resources. Of course, so-called people of color will be disproportionately affected. But aren’t these the same kind of people we now sympathize with from our foreign sources of oil and then promptly forget as we fill up at the pump?
If we want to avert a disaster about to happen, we can do two things: drive less and take action by getting in touch with Global Exchange at www.globalexchange.org
January 11, 2009
