In the last 2 years Canada has moved from one of the greenest nations to one of the main opponents of every thing to do with a sustainable environment for humans.
It seems the riches of the tar sands oil and drilling in the arctic is the only thing they live for. With the change to a conservative government the country said fuck it all, lets wallow in wealth until the shit hits the fan.
One of the first things they did was fire all scientist and close the offices of about 120 experts on ocean temperature & level, arctic ice, tundra permafrost, fish and polar bear studies, air pollution, climate change. Gone, one fell swoop, gone. Live stupid, live for money, build a wall between what you do and the results. The information Curtain.
Next the pipelines, through the northeast US, another down to Houston. Already there are many, the public doesn't know of until last week another Canadian pipe broke and flooded Arkansas with stinking low grade oil, we have one running within 5 miles of my farm in Kansas to a refinery in McPherson. This oil is the filthiest of the dirtiest. Not all oils are equal, this is very toxic and very expensive in cash and pollutants to refine. Canada has a hoard of lobbyist buying your Congress and President to approve more pipelines and more tanker trains, more, yes, there are more after this, and the pipe is coming from India, not made in the US. Oh, technically it's not oil, it's bitamen, so it's not an oil spill, and some of the fines and obligations don't apply because it is not oil, another fact hidden behind the information curtain.
Now, this week, they became the only nation to back out of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. Strange indeed since the most productive area, from the great lakes to the rockies across the southern part of Canada is in severe drought. This area largely survives on glacier melt filling the rivers which feed irrigation. Go to Banff and see the sign posts where the glaciers were each year. The loss in area is hugh, the loss in thickness is even greater. Peru, Brazil, all of Southeast Asia, parts of Europe and New Zealand all rely on glacier fed agriculture. About 1 in 4 on earth eat because of glaciers.
I truly believe, soon in Banff, the sign posts and photos of glaciers will disappear. Oh Canada, tear down that curtain.
Darrel,
ReplyDeleteI know where your heart and mind is with this - But, I approve of energy exploration - If it can be done safely. The Chukchi Sea NE of Alaska is a classic example.
Yes, with humans involved - We are always going to have a Torrey Canyon or Exxon Valdez - or a pipeline rupture in Arkansas; Darrel. that is a fact. Look at nuclear energy and the horror stories about that! Shit, northern Honshu in Japan may never recover from the niclear mess that earthquake and following tsunami caused.
What we need is to find some common ground between the tree-huggers and the Sarah Palins -
Drill, Baby drill.
Is that possible?
No.
Bests!
Sarge
Ron;
DeleteSo far "safely" is not a very strong term if you go by recent events. Recent average pipeline breaks in the US is 250 a year. Last week there were 3 others besides the one in the news. Then there are refinery spills, train and truck wrecks, and the big one, spills around the wells and drilling operations. By the way, there are no spills recorded during drilling operations. They are exempt. Let the shit run into the creek, it's not a spill.
Last summer Shell tried to get two rigs into Chukchi Sea, one never made it, it never met safety standards, the other delayed for 2 months by weather pulled out a few days into drilling in order to get into international waters on tax day, (so much for good citizen) it broke lose and ran aground in Alaska waters. There were also a couple of small oil spills while drilling. Oil in icy stormy waters cannot be collected. Additionally, BP the gulf oil spill was due to faulty blow out valve. This device for arctic waters was redesigned, only a prototype made so far, it was tested last summer and crushed beyond use, absolute failure.
Sarah and the oil boys don't have to compromise, they are getting everything they want. Currently, inspite of what they cry, drilling is at an all time high. There are few rigs not at work on or offshore. They have government subsidies otherwise the real cost of gas would be $8 to $12 a gallon. We don't need more exploration when we are starting to export oil. You know, some day we might need it, wouldn't it be a good idea to leave it in the ground for an emergency? (Wanting to get rich is not an emergency.)
clarification.... The spill exemption is for on-shore drilling, not off-shore.
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