First of all congratulations to the new administration. I truly love the things that I see happening.
Thank you guys for the work on the Endangered Species act last week.
The open forum ideas that President Obama talked about in his books are starting to happen - this email is proof of that - thanks from all of us.
I listened to the Audacity of Hope on a trip from Southern California to the Grand Canyon across to my home in GA, then down to FL and to my new place in Colorado last year. I saw a lot through my window. I ate BQ in Memphis, went to the bottom of the canyon, ate oysters in Gulf Shores, and cut hay in GA. It was pretty inspiring to listen to those ideas and also somewhat scary to let yourself believe that things might change at that time and worry that you will be disappointed. Guys you have to understand that we have become unaccustomed to believing that our politicians will keep their promises. We don't expect miracles and most people are smarter than the ruling class have given them credit for in the past, they understand that the legislative process is one of compromise, but we do require that you understand that you work for the people and you are moving in the direction of your vision - that I see happening.
I just started a new green energy company in CO called Inventechnologies. I am a mechanical engineer and I started this business on a total shoe string just because I wanted to help the planet. I am still having a hard time wading through the process of where if anywhere I can get even the smallest amount of funding to help me get started - there seems to be a lot of bureaucracy out there and very little real help for small start ups. I would love to talk to someone in the energy office there about that aspect of stimulus.
I have a few ideas as well. I like many other engineers owe student loans to the government and also possess technical skills to help with the energy crisis. Is there a way to work off some of our student debt through green energy work for you guys?
I have a suspicion that a lot of the ideas we are seeking as to the energy crisis have already been discovered and shelved as a research project in university somewhere. If we could look at the idea of looking into some of this untapped wealth of knowledge or how to get it to market it would really help.
The government needs to follow the constitution of the united states and quit eroding our only guiding light through this process. I am totally appalled that we were able to be stripped of our rights as we were in the last administration. WE have got to restore the people confidence in the constitution and the governments understanding that they WILL follow this document.
The Alberta Oil Sands project is now the largest industrial project in the world according to National Geographic . This process is working on an oil supply that will be gone in fifteen years. The process produces four times more CO2 than traditional drilling. This project has to be stopped and stopped very quickly if we are serious about the tree in the boreal and global warming. We have to work with Canada to shut this down.
One more point I want to make - my coffee is getting cold and you are probably getting tired of reading by now, is that we need to try to protect the arctic as much as we can. That is not an ecosystem that will be able to withstand change. Mapping the arctic floor for drilling is pretty scary. We need to work with other nations to form and alliance to preserve that area because I am afraid scientifically maybe it may keep the earth in balance more than we think.
Congratulations,
Dwayne Wood
Friday, May 8, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
STOP THE OIL SANDS
Alberta’s Tar Sands: One of the Most Destructive Projects on Earth
One of the Most Destructive Projects on Earth
Located beneath 4.3 million hectares of boreal forest, an area the size of Florida, the tar sands are the dirtiest source of oil in the world. Few Canadians know what is happening in northern Alberta. While many may know about Alberta’s immense oil reserves in the tar sands (2nd only to Saudi Arabia) few know the environmental and social devastation that is taking place.The tar sands could destroy over 149,000 square kilometres or Boreal forest an area the size of Florida. By 2020 they are expected to emit more than 141 million tonnes of greenhouse gases – more than double that currently produced by all the cars and trucks in Canada and Alberta is now home to the world’s largest dam and it is built to hold the toxic waste from just one Tar Sands operation.The tar sands of Alberta are now the world’s largest industrial operation. Because of their sheer scale, all Canadians have become hostage to their development. Instead of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Canada is quickly increasing them and fully half of that emissions growth is projected to come from the Tar Sands.This is just beginning. The Alberta government has already given approvals that will double the size of existing operations, and has been talking with the US government to grow the Tar Sands five-fold in a “short time span” looking to move from 1 million barrels of oil per day to over 5 million The Tar Sands are now the biggest capital project anywhere on Earth and the biggest energy undertaking anywhere.With the Tar Sands, Canada has become the world’s dirty energy superpower.
A few quick facts:• The Tar Sands can single handedly prevent Canada from meeting it’s international obligations under the Kyoto protocol. By 2020 the tar sands are expected to release over 141 megatonnes of GHG – twice that produced by all the cars and trucks in Canada.• An area the size of the state of Florida (149,000 km2) can be leased to oil sands development in the future.• It takes 3-5 barrels of fresh water to get a single barrel of oil from the tar sands. 350 million cubic metres is the volume of water currently allocated to the tar sands, the equivalent to the water required by a city of two million people.• Cumulatively, the environmental impact of the tar sands has made Alberta the industrial air pollution capital of Canada, with one billion kilograms of emissions in 2003.• 600 million cubic feet of Natural gas is used every day – that’s enough to heat more than three million Canadian homes.• First Nation communities downstream of tar sands operation have been experiencing unprecedented rates of bile and colon cancer, lupus and other diseased that they believe are attributable to tar sands.• 70% of the crude oil being extracted from the tar sands is exported directly to the United States mostly for use in transportation.
Across the country, individual Canadians are taking action to fight climate change. Most provincial governments – other than Alberta – have begun to meaningfully respond. But every step forward is undermined by ever larger greenhouse gas emissions from the Tar Sands. If we care about our planet or our future we need to STOP THE TARSANDS.
One of the Most Destructive Projects on Earth
Located beneath 4.3 million hectares of boreal forest, an area the size of Florida, the tar sands are the dirtiest source of oil in the world. Few Canadians know what is happening in northern Alberta. While many may know about Alberta’s immense oil reserves in the tar sands (2nd only to Saudi Arabia) few know the environmental and social devastation that is taking place.The tar sands could destroy over 149,000 square kilometres or Boreal forest an area the size of Florida. By 2020 they are expected to emit more than 141 million tonnes of greenhouse gases – more than double that currently produced by all the cars and trucks in Canada and Alberta is now home to the world’s largest dam and it is built to hold the toxic waste from just one Tar Sands operation.The tar sands of Alberta are now the world’s largest industrial operation. Because of their sheer scale, all Canadians have become hostage to their development. Instead of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Canada is quickly increasing them and fully half of that emissions growth is projected to come from the Tar Sands.This is just beginning. The Alberta government has already given approvals that will double the size of existing operations, and has been talking with the US government to grow the Tar Sands five-fold in a “short time span” looking to move from 1 million barrels of oil per day to over 5 million The Tar Sands are now the biggest capital project anywhere on Earth and the biggest energy undertaking anywhere.With the Tar Sands, Canada has become the world’s dirty energy superpower.
A few quick facts:• The Tar Sands can single handedly prevent Canada from meeting it’s international obligations under the Kyoto protocol. By 2020 the tar sands are expected to release over 141 megatonnes of GHG – twice that produced by all the cars and trucks in Canada.• An area the size of the state of Florida (149,000 km2) can be leased to oil sands development in the future.• It takes 3-5 barrels of fresh water to get a single barrel of oil from the tar sands. 350 million cubic metres is the volume of water currently allocated to the tar sands, the equivalent to the water required by a city of two million people.• Cumulatively, the environmental impact of the tar sands has made Alberta the industrial air pollution capital of Canada, with one billion kilograms of emissions in 2003.• 600 million cubic feet of Natural gas is used every day – that’s enough to heat more than three million Canadian homes.• First Nation communities downstream of tar sands operation have been experiencing unprecedented rates of bile and colon cancer, lupus and other diseased that they believe are attributable to tar sands.• 70% of the crude oil being extracted from the tar sands is exported directly to the United States mostly for use in transportation.
Across the country, individual Canadians are taking action to fight climate change. Most provincial governments – other than Alberta – have begun to meaningfully respond. But every step forward is undermined by ever larger greenhouse gas emissions from the Tar Sands. If we care about our planet or our future we need to STOP THE TARSANDS.
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