Canada's oil sands development an economic boon, but leaves a mess - AFP

Source: Agence France-Presse

Canada's oil sands development an economic boon, but leaves a mess

by Guillaume Lavallee
Sat Jun 23, 12:59 PM ET

FORT MCMURRAY, Canada (AFP) - The development
of Canada's oil sands is laying waste to its great
northern forest and western plains, say critics who
point to skyrocketing greenhouse gas emissions,
diverted rivers and razed backwoods.

And the devastation can only get worse, they say,
as energy companies pump billions of dollars into
new projects to triple local oil production to some
3.0 million barrels per day within the next decade.

The Athabasca, Peace River and Cold Lake Oil Sands,
at an estimated 173 billion barrels, rank second
behind Saudi Arabia in petroleum resources.

But due to high extraction costs, the deposits were
long neglected except by local companies.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070623/sc_afp/canadaoilenvironment_070623165153

From the article:

Alberta law requires oil companies to restore excavated lands, but out of some 44,000 square kilometers (17,000 square miles) leased to them since 1967, "not a single square meter (foot) of land has been reclaimed," Dyer lamented.

Now why is the Canadian govt disregarding the law? If a law is on the books why isn't it enforced? (oh, I forgot about our borders and immigration laws that are flaunted daily)

The USA should have poured the trillion dollars that it frittered away in Iraq along with the lives of tens of thousands of GIs killed, traumatized and wounded into providing us energy independence through R & D (not to big oil though), incentives to conserve, and alternate less poluting fuels.