The tar sands areas in Canada are about the size of Florida.

1. The tar sands areas in Canada are about the size of Florida.

2. First, forests must be cleared. In this case the trees were stacked and burned.

3. Secondly, strip mining begins. Strip mines in the Canadian oil sands are the largest in the world.

5. The small trucks are 4 ton service trucks.

6. Following the strip mining, the tar sands are sent to the refinery for processing.

7. Emissions

8. Water from nearby rivers is tainted with heavy metals and oil once its used to produce steam. The steam separates the tar from the sand.

9. There is no known way to decontaminate this water. Some of the holding ponds are 30 sq miles.

10. The earthen dam on the left is over 300 feet high. The river immediately adjacent runs to the Artic.

11. From 2000 feet, as far as you can see it’s the same story, a strip mine, a processing plant and a holding pond. Currently this area produces 1 million bbls/day, it 5 years it will be 5 million bbls/day, 20% of our oil supply.

12. While Canada has the tar sands, the U.S. has vast amounts of oil shale. The majority of oil shale is in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. The Bureau of Land Management is actively exploring options for tapping this resource.