The King’s Green Pad

Recently, global warming denialists have been becoming increasingly strident. These people have been increasingly vocal in slandering Al Gore, James Hanson and anyone else who supports the science of global warming. They have also been making increasingly loud claims that the world has been cooling since 1998, as if they were afraid that they were in danger of not being heard before the warming resumed. In short, they seem to be afraid of what may happen if people do not get their message that greenhouse gases do not alter climate. But what are they afraid of?

The answer to the question, “What bad things may happen if we reduce greenhouse gas emissions?” has been answered by environmental groups. These environmental groups have been very vocal in the opposition to the use of tar sands. The truth is that shutting down the tar sands will not save the planet. The emissions released in mining and processing the tar sands only accounts for 10 % of the well to wheel emissions of the cars whose tanks we fill. Even if pure isooctane could be pumped out of the ground, the benefits of using such a fuel, rather than the tar sands, would be less than that of using a more economical car. If people were to stop using oil from the tar sands, but otherwise not alter their habits, the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere would hardly slow down. It should also be noted that middle eastern countries flare enough natural gas to provide all of the electrical needs of Germany and France. And it should also be noted that many people advocate the use of locally grown produce in order to reduce the environmental impact of transporting this produce. Does it make sense to transport oil overseas when we have oil right here? And what about the risk of oil spills? Shutting down the tar sands is clearly not the answer to the climate crisis.

Perhaps the environmental groups believe that if we shut down the tar sands, shortages of gas would force people to reduce consumption of fossil fuels. More likely, such shortages would cause people to say such things as “CO2 is plant food;” “An ice age was predicted in the 1970′s;” “It’s freakin’ cold;” “Global warming ended in 2012.”

Yes, we do need to clean up the tar sands. Industry must be notified that we have run out of patience for them to solve the tailings issue, rather than waiting for industry to start mining the sites of the tailings ponds.

People may have also that the Stelmach government’s plans to reduce the greenhouse intensity of the tar sands by 50% will result in an overall greenhouse reduction of only 14%. In order for this to be true, the emissions from Alberta’s customers would have to go up by 72%

Alberta does have to do its part in combating global warming. However, people must realize that industry only produces products for consumers. People who do not realize this are the denialists’ best friends.

This post was written by James P. Yushchyshyn, a part-time science student at The King’s University College in Edmonton, AB.