10/2 Tar Sands Hannah

This week, Ms. McWilliams assigned us a reading about tar sands. This is thick, refined oil deep in the ground. Many countries desire this oil, but it as not easily transported, like conventional crude oil. Currently, there is a debacle of Exxon Mobile and the American Petroleum Institute versus the citizens of South Portland. These citizens are fighting for a protection ordinance against the tar sands exportation. They are rallying for support, and ask each of us to consider the cons to this idea.

To protect their city, the citizens have created a pamphlet of pros and cons for this establishment. A pro included the millions made in profit, while their cons included the environmental impact that would proceed the exportations. Most of their cons hit home with the citizens, by asking them to protect their beautiful city.

One of their main concerns is the waterfront. This would be the area most impacted. According to the article, Exxon already has a permit to establish the exportation, but the fight is not over. The advocates express their concern with the pollution within the air. There were very powerful and intellectual arguments being brought to life in these pamphlets. One was the concern of benzine, thought to be associated with the cause of cancer, and the other chemicals that would be emitted into the air.

A quote that stood out to me is excerpted from the little book from oilsandsrealitycheck.org. It states that, "carbon emissions from the production and processing of oil sands have more than doubled in the last decade and are on track to double again." This statement was appalling to me. It made me realize that if the emissions are raising at such a rapid pace, why should we extract more chemicals and pollute the air more than we already have? This scared me enough to believe that we should NOT allow the exportation and extraction of the tar sands.