Canada's Dirty Oil Source

Canada possesses the world's second largest reserves of oil and natural gas; therefore it is of no surprise that Canada is the United States' largest exporter of oil, with 22% of the total; Mexico is a distant second at 11-12%. But unlike most exported petroleum, Canadian crude oil is dirty as the sources of this energy are tar sands; containing mixtures of clay, sand, and bitumen. Therefore, the crude oil must be melted before it can be extracted, which, ironically, requires 20% of Canada's natural gas. The complex process produces 82% more greenhouse-gas emission than does the average refined barrel. The environmental issues have proved a concern for America which consequently forbid government agencies from buying tar-sand oil in 2007. Moreover, efforts to press Canada into cleaning up the business would face stiff resistance from America’s energy lobby, since many operators in the sands are based in the United States. Alternative include finding a new source of energy or reducing Canadian imports of oil. Reducing imports will, however, not solve the problem, because once this occurs, China will be more than happy to step in an take them. This can been seen as more and more Chinese firms invest heavily in the sands.

-Gilberto Perez