Carbon Footprint in the Sands Online

Carbon Footprint in the Sands Online

Tar sands development in Alberta Canada is environmentally devastating. It takes twice the energy to process tar sands, and indigenous people downstream are experiencing alarmingly high cancer rates. TransCanada, a pipeline construction/operation company has recently finished construction of a pipeline that crosses several U.S. states. Currently, an extension of that pipeline is under consideration at the Dept. of State. Several controversial issues surround the pipeline. Thinner steel-walled pipe was used and permission has been granted to run the highly abrasive, hazardous material at a significantly higher psi than traditional oil pipelines. Eminent domain and condemnation threats were used to seize private property. The story details the plight of landowners and Dakota Rural Action in their fight to stop the pipeline.