NOV 03

Elizabeth Kolbert first described "the wild growth of this industry that has turned an area the size of Florida into a close approximation of Mordor" in the New Yorker a year ago.

It is not as if the land was being used productively before the oil extraction commenced. The land is nowhere near settlements or cities so there is hardly any impact on humans. Does it matter if a few million mosquitoes have to find a new home? I don't think so.

An area the size of Florida is a drop in the bucket in Canada. I know it's hard for Americans to fathom, but the majority of the nation is uninhabitable. Not North Dakota uninhabitable, but frozen swamp uninhabitable. Quebec has put an equal amount of land underwater to run its hydro dams.

This Canadian is fine with it.

I see the points about how the land is not used by humans, and it is sad that in order for their to be oil production, there has to be abuse on the environment.

All I can say is that I almost hope gas prices go up again so that the lean towards more efficient vehicles and better public transportation continues so that we have less of an impact on the environment.

Thank you for the great post!

An area the size of Florida being turned into Mordor does not only affect a few mosquitoes like a couple posters would have us believe.

It has already effected animal populations, first nation’s people and the entire Athabasca river system.

Massive reservoirs of toxic water, leftover from separating the oil from the sand, are contained by dykes built out of tar sand. These unstable dykes sit right on the edge of the Athabasca River and are only one natural disaster away from breaking and causing a colossal environmental disaster. In fact, despite no major breaks in the dykes chemicals have already been shown to be leaching into the river system.

Noise makers are setup around these massive tailing ponds to scare birds away as anything that lands on the toxic sludge will die. In a recent well documented incident 500 ducks were killed when the flock landed on one of the many ponds. Weather had prevented the deployment of noise makers so the birds died. This incident was only revealed because of a brave whistleblower risked their job to let people know, so there have no-doubt been many other incidents given the enormous scale of these open toxic waste pits.

This Canadian is not fine with it.

AC- I totally agree. To assume that an area the size of Florida in ANY province of Canada would not have an affect on the rest of the province's ecological habitat is naive. I have also seen the many documented reports of aboriginal people's living in northern parts of the province who are suffering from various environmental and toxic deseases.
for how much Albertans and BC'ers go on about their beautiful western provinces- the oil sands are a HUGE black spot and slowly but surely tarnishing their "precious" wildlife and ecology. too bad Alberta voted for a conservative and non-eco friendly government.

The heart bleeders sure are out in force over their beloved toxic wilderness.

The Good Lord put the oil in the sands for man's own use. He didn't put it there for the caribou, birds and other lesser forms of life. It is man's God given right to extract that energy and make use of it.

Through oil extraction royalties, the government is able to construct schools, hospitals and churches which benefit all.

When will the reactionary greenies stop their selfish whingeing?

LOL- God's given right????
as sooon as religion and religious overtones are brought to this discussion we've moved from scientific discussion to theocratic debate- not one that has a place in our DEMOCRATIC country.

hahahaha. god given right.....

Haha. This is funny, the crazy whacked out ecolibs crawling out of the woodwork, not that reasonable and necessary environmental care isn't necessary in developments of this kind. I used to think the crazed left was more endemic to Canada than to the US but now I wonder.

My cat's breath smells like cat food...

This issue should really be looked at in the context of time. These projects are ongoing and have not reached the reclamation stage yet. Of course it's going to look like a barren landscape it's a big freakin’ hole in the ground! Even the most eco-friendly building project will look like something out of a war zone before it's finished.

The plan is to reclaim the areas with native plant species after the extraction process is completed. There have been consultations with the local band members on how this is to be accomplished and these consultations have drawn from the extensive knowledge of these indigenous people as to what vegetation species should be replanted so that the land will have the best possible chance of returning to the state it was in before they started.

The large toxic ponds… well there’s your legitimate concern. These have a huge potential for an environmental disaster if they are not dealt with properly.

The plan is to reclaim the areas with native plant species after the extraction process is completed. There have have been consultations with the local band members on how this is to be accomplished and these consultations have drawn from the extensive knowledge of these indigenous people as to what vegetation species should be replanted so as to ensure the best return to what the land like was before they started.

Whoops left that last paragraph in there by accident.

yeah, we all know that the oil sands are totally brutal for the environment. Also, the government subsidies that pour into them is in the billions of dollars and would appall Canadians if they knew what kind of destruction their tax dollars were paying for, all for the trickle down advantage for the economy of Alberta.

But seriously can we stop comparing shit to Mordor already? It's getting old...