• Nobel laureates to Obama, Harper: Stop oilsands expansion.
    17 replies, posted
[h2]U.S version[/h2] [release]Nine winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama, have written a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama asking him not to approve a pipeline that would ship oilsands crude from Alberta to Texas. "We urge you to say 'no' to the plan proposed by the Canadian-based company TransCanada to build the Keystone XL, and to turn your attention back to supporting renewable sources of energy and clean transportation solutions," said the letter, which was released Wednesday. Obama himself won the Peace Prize in 2009 and former vice-president Al Gore shared the award in 2007. The letter sprang from the U.S.-based environmental organization Natural Resources Defense Council contacting an Ottawa-based group that represents the seven living female winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. "NRDC and the tarsands coalition people had asked us if we could help," said Rachel Vincent of the Nobel Women's Initiative. "We thought, 'What can we do? We can send a letter to Obama and express our strong solidarity with those people who are rejecting the pipeline.' Then we reached out to other Nobel Peace laureates, who enthusiastically embraced the letter." Along with Tutu and the Dalai Lama, the signatories are: Mairead Maguire, Betty Williams, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Jose Ramos-Horta, Jody Williams and Shirin Ebadi. The laureates are from Ireland, Argentina, South Africa, Tibet, Guatemala, East Timor, the United States and Iran.[/release] [url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/09/07/nobel-peace-prize-winners_n_952248.html]Source[/url] [h2]Canadian Version[/h2] [release]OTTAWA — Eight Nobel peace laureates on Wednesday urged Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in an open letter to halt the expansion of the Alberta oilsands. "Further exploitation of the tar sands will dramatically increase the amount of greenhouse gas emissions being produced in North America," said the letter, signed by South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Iran's Shirin Ebadi, Jodi Williams of the United States, and others. "It will also ultimately make turning the clock back on climate change impossible." And so, "we are calling on you to use your power to halt the expansion of the tar sands, and ensure that Canada moves towards a clean energy future," they said to Harper. Acting to curb greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change, they added, is a "profoundly moral decision, one that deserves to be placed alongside any other major struggle in human history." The letter comes two days after federal police arrested 117 protesters for storming Canada's parliament to protest Ottawa's support for a $7 billion pipeline to bring oil from Canada's oilsands to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The Keystone XL pipeline proposed by TransCanada would begin in Alberta in western Canada and pass through the U.S. states of Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma before ending up at refineries in Texas. A number of environmental and citizen groups are fighting against the 2,700-kilometre pipeline because exploiting the unconventional oilsands of Alberta requires energy that produces a large volume of greenhouse gasses. The eight Nobel laureates also wrote to U.S. President Barack Obama three weeks ago asking him to reject a permit for the proposed pipeline, which is to be decided by year's end after further reviews and hearings. Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver has defended the oilsands and the pipeline, saying the Keystone XL pipeline would generate over 140,000 Canadian jobs and $600 billion in economic activity over the ensuing 25 years. "Our government will continue to promote Canada, and the oil sands, as a stable and secure source of energy to the world, and will defend Canadian jobs and interests," Oliver said.[/release] [url=http://www.timescolonist.com/business/Nobel+laureates+Harper+Stop+oilsands+expansion/5471120/story.html]Source[/url] I gotta [img]http://www.facepunch.com/fp/ratings/tick.png[/img] with them, the pipe line is idiotic.
How nobel of them.
Nobel laureates have an opinion? We must listen to it! [quote]Nine winners of the[B] Nobel Peace Prize[/B][/quote] Oh, nevermind, I presumed it was scientists who knew what they were talking about. [editline]29th September 2011[/editline] Why not demand that they implement greenhouse gas capture and sequestration technology? [editline]29th September 2011[/editline] Or use your considerable skills as peace prize winners to demand increased funding for fusion research.
I hope this is good enough an excuse for Obama to decline it. I'm sure he has a good amount of political pressure on him to approve the pipeline.
After Obama's Solyndra mess I don't think this would be good going into an election year.
Nice thought, but oil sands mean domestic production, domestic jobs, and less leverage for the Saudis to hold over us. As far as Washington is concerned, the environment can go fuck itself. Cheaper to burn every last drop of oil than the chase alternatives.
[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;32526336]Nice thought, but oil sands mean domestic production, domestic jobs, and less leverage for the Saudis to hold over us. As far as Washington is concerned, the environment can go fuck itself. Cheaper to burn every last drop of oil than the chase alternatives.[/QUOTE] We are chasing alternatives. It's the fact that most alternatives aren't really that efficient or easy to implement.
I believe it is better to install the pipeline, then reduce our dependence on overseas oil and use the money that is saved on funding alternative and renewable fuel sources.
[QUOTE=5killer;32526892]I believe it is better to install the pipeline, then reduce our dependence on overseas oil and use the money that is saved on funding alternative and renewable fuel sources.[/QUOTE] We could probably put the Middle East in an armlock by starting up our own oil fields again and removing their biggest customer.
My uncle is an engineer building those pipelines. I feel bad cuz i dont think it's good... but then my uncle would be out a job. At least he's an engineer which is a needed job.
Build it anyways for the short term use whilst a more efficient alternative is worked on.
The US has trillions in debt, the US would do anything to improve it's economy...
I'm not a fan of the oil sands either, [url=http://business.financialpost.com/2011/09/26/ex-greenpace-leader-bats-for-oil-sands/]but a former Greenpeace leader says they're actually handling it rather cleanly.[/url] [release]“I’ve seen the land reclamation progress at oil sands sites,” Dr. Moore said in the CAPP statement. “It’s a necessary, staggeringly complex process and evidence shows the land will be reclaimed as thriving ecosystems after oil sands are developed to help meet the world’s growing energy needs.”[/release] Maybe he was paid off, I have no idea, but I'm just postin'.
What are oil sands anyway?
[QUOTE=A B.A. Survivor;32527065]We could probably put the Middle East in an armlock by starting up our own oil fields again and removing their biggest customer.[/QUOTE] Then they'd just sell the oil to the 50+ other countries that fucking love the stuff. I'm sure Europe especially would love petrol at $3 a gallon.
[QUOTE=Zero-Point;32533662]Then they'd just sell the oil to the 50+ other countries that fucking love the stuff. I'm sure Europe especially would love petrol at $3 a gallon.[/QUOTE] Yeah, so? America should worry more about America right now. Sorry, but I really hate that my country spreads itself around the world only to be despised by everyone.
[QUOTE=A B.A. Survivor;32533731]Yeah, so? America should worry more about America right now. Sorry, but I really hate that my country spreads itself around the world only to be despised by everyone.[/QUOTE] What I meant is the way you said that it's as if you see it as "HA! Lost your best-paying customer! Whatcha gonna do now, United Arab Emirates? Huh? HUH?!" when they have plenty of other customers ready and willing to shell out the dosh for some oil. Especially China, who seem to be going for broke on trying to have the dirtiest air in the world at the rate they're going.
[QUOTE=A B.A. Survivor;32533508]What are oil sands anyway?[/QUOTE] In Alberta there is a lot of sand with oil in it. Basically they dig up huge swatches of land, extract the oil, put the sand back. Problem with this is the sheer size of it. It's not like a well where you drill in a specific spot, to get the oil out of these sands you have to tear up the entire countryside.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.