You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Science & Technology
Oil sands threaten our survival, Al Gore warns
2009-11-25
Extracting oil from Alberta's tar sands jeopardizes the survival of our species, says Al Gore.

"Gas from the tar sands gives a Prius the same carbon footprint as a Hummer," the former U.S. vice-president told the Star in an interview prior to a Toronto speaking engagement scheduled for Tuesday evening.

"I know that doesn't make me popular in Alberta," said the jet-hopping environmental activist, best known for the movie and book An Inconvenient Truth. "But it's simply a fact. A lot of money is at stake, but a lot of lives and the future of human civilization are also at stake."
He's trying to close down each and every energy source, isn't he ...
If Gore's warnings are heeded, expect housing prices to fall fast and far in Fort McMurray, the northern Alberta boomtown where single-family dwellings sold for a reported average of $629,582 in October thanks to the Athabasca tar sands megaproject.

If not, then you might as well pack your bags for Armageddon, because that is where Gore believes the planet is headed unless humankind radically shifts from carbon-based fuels. Time is short, he warns, and political will in the United States and elsewhere is lagging far behind what's needed.

The U.S. Senate has yet to pass a bill setting tough limits on carbon emissions, for example, something that should have been done by now, according to a prediction Gore makes in his newly released book, a blueprint for planetary salvation titled Our Choice.
Posted by:Fred

#19  The problem with the Prius is the batteries. The nickel ore is mined in Sudbury, oh, about 200 miles north of where Gore was speaking. The ore gets shipped to Europe, where it is refined into nickel hydrate. The hydrate is shipped to China, where it is fabricated into batteries. (Ya thinks anyone else would deal with the heavy metal pollution? Me neither.) The batteries are sent to Japan, where the car is assembled. It is then shipped back to North America.

That is the footprint.

Posted by: Skunky Glins****   2009-11-25 21:33  

#18  You are correct, Mullah Richard & chemist, but Hummers don't produce enough "smug" to make the driver feel good when pulling into Whole Paycheck.
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie   2009-11-25 16:07  

#17  Al should be taken to the public square, stripped and flogged with a porcupine.

Jeez, Frank. It will take weeks to get the scuz off the poor porcupine. Some "Friend of Wildlife" you are.
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2009-11-25 12:43  

#16  Mankind will never be safe until we eliminate that deadly poison, CO2, from our atmosphere. Of course, green plants will be unhappy with this, but what have they ever done for us?
Posted by: SteveS   2009-11-25 12:42  

#15  But Frank, think of the poor guy swinging the porcupine! What did he do to deserve such punishment?
Posted by: Glenmore   2009-11-25 11:48  

#14  Al should be taken to the public square, stripped and flogged with a porcupine.
Posted by: Frank G   2009-11-25 11:28  

#13  Further to comment #8, I seem to recall a study that claimed that when one takes the 'envoronmental' cost from dust back to dust for a Prius and a Hummer, and keeping in mind that Hummers last longer, a Prius has ~3X the environmental impact per kilometer driven of that of the evil Hummer.
Posted by: Chemist   2009-11-25 11:23  

#12  ZOMG! The Riddle of the Oil Sands is sure to be a best seller.
Posted by: Perry Stanford White   2009-11-25 10:17  

#11  That's not very earth friendly Glenmore. It's got chemicals you can't even pronounce. So, Ima thinkin of opening a giant magnifying glass company to eradicate this latest threat to Mother Earth.
Posted by: ed   2009-11-25 10:02  

#10  Antpogenic Global Warming ought to exist too. Ants eat stuff and exhale CO2, and bacteria eat the ant pooh and give off methane. And there are a LOT of ants! We need to act now! (Get your Orthene here, 20% off, if you call by midnight. Death Panels for ants - hmmmm.)
Posted by: Glenmore   2009-11-25 09:58  

#9  Anthropogenic Global Warming exists. What is unknown is how significant it is: could be tiny, could be huge, but we're not allowed to look. What is known is that none of the proposals will have any effect on it except to transfer money from one set of pockets to another.
Posted by: Glenmore   2009-11-25 09:53  

#8  "Gas from the tar sands gives a Prius the same carbon footprint as a Hummer"

Actually the Prius' polluting nature is more attributable to the manufacture and 'recycling' of the car's batteries than whatever petrofuel it uses from whatever source. In short, the Hummer is healthier for the environment overall (plus you can carry more 'stuff' in one trip - again saving fuel).
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2009-11-25 09:41  

#7  Free translation service

"Our Survival" means "my rent-seeking investments".

Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2009-11-25 09:00  

#6  This from a man who couldn't even be bothered to turn off his outdoor flood lights during Earth Hour.
The kicker, though, were the dozen or so floodlights grandly highlighting several trees and illuminating the driveway entrance of GoreÂ’s mansion.

It's not like coal is used to generate 60% of Tennessee's electricity or that his mansion uses 20X the electricity of the average Tennessee family. Oops, it is and he does.
Posted by: ed   2009-11-25 08:40  

#5  Al's still pretending that Anthropogenic Global Warming exists?

"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"
Posted by: Parabellum   2009-11-25 08:35  

#4  Time is short, he warns, and political will in the United States and elsewhere is lagging far behind what's needed.

Especially since a bunch of documents were hacked and revealed it all to be a Hoax - just like Mr. Gore.

The mask is torn.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2009-11-25 08:34  

#3  Al....go away.
Posted by: Angleton9   2009-11-25 08:31  

#2  Don't buy oil from those nasty Canadians, buy it from Al's good buddies in Saudi Arabia (wonder how much the Saudi's paid him).
Posted by: DMFD   2009-11-25 06:49  

#1  It definitely threatens the billions that he's planning to make of "green tech". (not to mention all the bribes grants, consultation fees, lobbyist salaries, etc... that US elites receiving from Soodies.)
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2009-11-25 04:54  

00:00