Canada and Australia - Comparing Environmental Policies in 16 Countries - page 137

Most discussions of air pollution soon point the finger at the neighbor
to the south. For example, Windsor, Ontario, suffers from smog that blows
across the Detroit River. More generally, pollution from the US Midwest
afflicts most of eastern Canada. Indeed, it afflicts the eastern United
States. One avenue for complaints is under the 1991 Canada-Air Quality
Agreement regarding the study and control of transborder air pollutants.
Another avenue is the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA)
Commission on Environmental Cooperation.
In northern Alberta, the environment is damaged by mining the tar sands
along the Athabasca River. In total, 82,000 acres of forest and wetland have
been disturbed and only 13,000 acres have been restored. Tar sands, more
politely known as oil sands, are essentially asphalt—petroleum tar mixed
with sand that can only be exploited by digging and heating. Two tons of
sand yield one barrel of oil. Collectively, however, the quantity is stupen-
dous. Potentially, the region holds 1.6 trillion barrels of oil, compared to
260 billion barrels in Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, only 300 billion barrels
can be recovered economically with current prices and technology. But
both of these can change in future years. A price of $20 per barrel or more
makes the projects profitable, and in 2013 the price was $100 a barrel.
In order to get deeper deposits, engineers are experimenting with inject-
ing steam and air. Both of these require a lot of energy. Present methods of
strip mining also require a lot of energy. The oil sands use around 1 billion
cubic feet of natural gas per day, around 40% of Alberta's total usage. In the
future it can come from the MacKenzie River Delta 800 miles to the north.
All this will release a lot of carbon into the atmosphere, making it hard for
Canada to meet its quota under the Kyoto Protocol.
Environmental groups oppose developing the tar sands. It will damage
the delicate northern forests and wetlands, which are breeding grounds
for millions of birds, and where bogs filter water. The huge volume of
water needed for the process threatens the Athabasca River. The emis-
sions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide will increase levels of acid rain
and destroy lake fish. The Pembina Institute has complained that “We're
using natural gas, which is the cleanest fossil fuel, to wash sand and make
a dirtier fuel. It's like using caviar to make fake crabmeat.” Responding
to the government of Alberta's proposed Mineable Oil Sands Strategy,
the director of the Sierra Club of Canada said, “The real purpose of the
Strategy appears to be to create a regulation-free zone to give the com-
panies the freest hand to increase oil production from the tar sands as
quickly as possible.” 3