The Tar Sands project is sheer insanity

[nadinbrzezinski]

No, it should not be approved Alas it will. Money trumps global INDIVIDUAL interests.

We shoudl be investing heavily in green technology... not on making sure climate change accelerates. To say the least I am disgusted...

And yes, I have sent letters... and plan to protest, but I expect this to have zero effect. This is how powerless we are any longer.

[FarCenter]

1. Tar sands won't accelerate climate change

If anything, it will offset declines in oil production in conventional fields.

Global oil production has been in the vicinity of 85 million barrels/day for several years. Old fields are being depleted as fast as new production can be brought on.

Expect oil production to be flat to declining and crude oil prices to increase dramatically choking off economic growth.

There may be some acceleration in climate change as more coal is used in place of very expensive crude oil.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Scientists who have been protesting in front of the WH

disagree with you. Sorry if I prefer to take my cue from a NASA expert on climactic change.

[sudopod]

3. :/

:/

[SecularMotion]

4. Greenhouse gas emissions will increase

"It projects that Canada will double its current tar sands production over the next decade to more than 1.8 million barrels a day. That rate will mean cutting down some 740,000 acres of boreal forest — a natural carbon reservoir. Extracting oil from tar sands is also much more complicated than pumping conventional crude oil out of the ground. It requires steam-heating the sands to produce a petroleum slurry, then further dilution.

One result of this process, the ministry says, is that greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector as a whole will rise by nearly one-third from 2005 to 2020 — even as other sectors are reducing emissions. Canada still hopes to meet the overall target it agreed to at Copenhagen in 2009 — a 17 percent reduction from 2005 levels by 2020. If it falls short, as seems likely, tar sands extraction will bear much of the blame. "

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/22/opinion/tar-sands-and-the-carbon-numbers.html

[FarCenter]

5. They will increase in Canada, but not in North America

The increased production in Canada is not enough to offset the declines in production in the US and Mexico.

Production of liquid hydrocarbons has to be analysed on a global basis. There are only a few countries that can increase production, e.g. Canada, Venezuela, Brazil, and Iraq. The rest have already reached or are at their maximum levels of production.

IPCC uses optimistic estimates of economically recoverable crude oil reserves. In fact, crude oil production is flat and will decline rapidly after two decades.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. I am sure glad Canada is in somebody else's biosphere...

:sarcasm:

Yes I will take my lead from experts in climate change.

[FarCenter]

9. All countries are in the same biosphere

Which is why a coordinated global plan makes sense and local obstructionism does not.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. And why this project makes zero sense

[Enrique]

8. "in Canada, but not in North America"

Michele Bachmann, is that you?

[dana_b]

12. lol

you caught that too. :thumbsup:

[Lorien]

15. Lol!

:thumbsup:

[joeybee12]

7. Mr. Koch, you couldn't be more wrong...

I suggest you read up about what scientists and those people who know something about this have to say.

[FarCenter]

11. I have read a great deal

What have I said that is wrong?

Naive appeals to authority are bogus as arguments.

[Lorien]

16. Answer: everything

stop now before you embarrass yourself any further, please.

[Motown_Johnny]

13. But how do we stop Canada from exploiting their own natural resource?

Admittedly, the pipeline is encouraging them. None the less they were mining these sands anyways.



Are we supposed to boycott hockey ?

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. You answered your own qusetion

the pipeline should be rejected. As to Canada... part of the reason to do this is... processing these sands is that far more expensive, it would not be worth pursuing if we were not involved.

[Motown_Johnny]

18. China would still buy the oil, it is a global market and we are not the only consumer

just the largest one

[amborin]

17. it is unconscionable