There are a lot of good arguments for opposing oil-sands development and the Keystone XL pipeline. But just today two more very excellent ones emerged. One involves science. The other involves George W. Bush.
If you want to get smart about this stuff, you can cite these facts, as reported by ClimateWire:
Scientists from the University of Alberta found that 10 operational oil sands mining projects would destroy enough peatlands to release 11.4 million to 47.3 million metric tons of stored carbon into the atmosphere. That release is the equivalent of seven years’ worth of emissions from the oil sands mining region.
In other words, it’s not just that oil from tar sands is tougher to get out of the ground and more energy intensive to process. It also destroys peatlands, which store carbon from the atmosphere. By disturbing these lands for mining, oil companies are releasing oodles of carbon into the atmosphere that was otherwise safely sequestered in the ground.
But if you don’t want to get technical about it, just tell tar-sands lovers this: George W. Bush said that building the Keystone XL pipeline is a “no-brainer.”
I mean, the guy knows no-brainers, but still: Has he ever come up with a good idea? No. Case: closed.
