North American scientists call for end to tar sands mining

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

North American scientists call for end to tar sands mining

Suzanne Goldenberg
Wednesday 10 June 2015 18.14 BST

More than 100 leading US and Canadian scientists called for a halt on future mining of the tar sands, saying extraction of the carbon-heavy fuel was incompatible with fighting climate change.

In a letter published on Wednesday, the researchers said tar sands crude should be relegated to a fuel of last resort, because it causes so much more carbon pollution than conventional oil.

The letter, released two days after G7 countries committed to get off fossil fuels by the end of the century, added to growing international pressure on the Canadian government, which has championed the tar sands and is failing to meet its earlier climate goals.

“If Canada wants to participate constructively in the global effort to stop climate change, we should first stop expanding the oil sands. More growth simply shows Canada has gone rogue,” Thomas Homer-Dixon, professor of governance innovation at the University of Waterloo, said in a statement.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/10/tar-sands-mining-ban-scientists

[madokie]

1. I had to wait for an oil train to pass yesterday

and it had 100 cars. my back of napkin figures is that is somewhere around 2.83 millions gallons of tar sands oil passing by me.

[The2ndWheel]

2. If everyone holds their breath waiting on this one

We'll fix the climate issues.

[deafskeptic]

3. I think I'll hold my breath until we all get fried by climate change before we begin fixing it. :P