Tar Sands
With the price of oil continuing to hover around $100 dollars a barrel -- the world's thirst for oil is driving exploration into sources that previously were too dirty, too difficult, or too expensive -- A perfect example of this are the Canadian tar sands.
'Tar sands' are a mixture of bitumen, sand and clay. Bitumen is a very heavy crude oil that does not flow on its own, and must be mined on the surface. Our desire for oil is pushing Canada to dig up acres of tar sands and use immense amounts of energy to distill out the oil.
Speaking about how tar sand exploration is destroying the Athabasca region and leading to increased global warming is Dave Martin, a Tar Sands campaigner for Greenpeace Canada. Clayton Thomas Mueller, organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network, speaks about the people affected by the massive tar pit. Ian Urquhart, Professor of Political Science at the University of Alberta is researching the sticky local, national, and international politics surrounding the Athabascan tar sands.
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Photo of the Athabasca tar sands courtesy of katakanadian via Flickr.
Music in this edition of Earthbeat includes "Santos" and "Tall Grass" by the jam band Tar Beach.