Cons about Alberta oil sands

Natural side

Cons:

-The waste materials are killing local birds, animals and increasing cancer rates among local people

-Oil sands mining is licensed to use twice the amount of fresh water that the entire city of Calgary uses in a year.

- At least 90% of the fresh water used in the oil sands ends up in ends up in tailing ponds so toxic that propane cannons are used to keep ducks from landing in them.

- Processing the oil sands uses enough natural gas in a day to heat 3 million homes in Canada.

- The toxic tailing ponds are considered one of the largest human-made structures in the world.

-The ponds span 50 square kilometers and can be seen from space.

-Producing a barrel of oil from the oil sands produces three times more greenhouse gas emissions than a barrel of conventional oil.

-The oil sands operations are the fastest growing source of heat-trapping greenhouse gas in Canada.

-By 2020 the oil sands will release twice the amount produced currently by all the cars and trucks in Canada.