Our sister organization, National Wildlife Federation is actively involved in fighting the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline which will transport one of the dirtiest energy sources in the world from the area in Canada it's extraction is destroying through the Great Plains.  In addition to the locked-in dependence on dirty tar sands this pipeline will create, the pipeline itself brings the chances of a Gulf-Coast type oil-spill to the backyard of thousands of property owners across the Plains states.

Read a brand new report from the National Wildlife Federation on the impacts of tar sands and the Keystone XL Pipeline here.

Pipeline Dreams

Right now TransCanada, a large distributor of tar sands and other energy sources, is applying for a permit from the State Department to approve an international pipeline that will transport dirty tar sands from Canada down through the Gulf Coast.

TransCanada has also applied for a permit issued by the Department of Transportation to utilize thinner pipe materials and higher pressures in remote areas (ignoring the increased risks of the more corrosive bitumen they're shipping), and is bringing the possibility of environmentally destructive oil spills to places like the Ogalalla Aquifer.

Tar Sands - Dirty Fuel, Dead Ducks.

So what exactly is so bad about tar sands? Well, they just happen to be one of the most environmentally destructive fossil fuel resources to extract and refine.

In order to proccess the heavy crude oil, 2.5 to 4 volumes of water are needed for an equal volume of synthetic crude.  While most of it is recycled, much of it ends up sitting in open "tailing ponds" mixed with toxic bitumen.  In fact, one extraction company in Alberta, Canada is currently facing criminal charges for allowing 1,600 ducks to die in one of their tailing ponds.

Destroying the Boreal Forest

In addition the huge pressure on water resources, all of the extractable oil lies underneath the boreal forest in Canada, also known as North America's Bird Nursery.  While many of the birds located in the forest are songbirds, it is also an important breeding ground for the Lesser and Greater Scaup, a duck species which has faced serious population declines since the 1980's.

Global Warming Pollution

The production of synethtic crude from tar sands production creates three times as much CO2 emissions as production of traditional forms of oil.  The effects of global warming on hunting and fishing across North America are already well documented.

Not In Your Backyard...Yet.

Is the threat of global warming emissions not enough to move you?  Not worried about a thinnly walled pipeline transporting a corrosive and toxic material through the bread basket of the United States? A quick look at this map shows what is at stake if we continue down the path of encouraging tar sands development.  Thesre are deposits all across the country, with the first area slated for development being the Green River basin in Utah.