FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Flagstaff, Arizona—On Wednesday, June 10, 2015, more than 100 prominent scientists from across North America, including climate scientists, economists, geophysicists, and biologists, released a consensus statement entitled “Ten Reasons for a Moratorium” that shows why Canada and the United States should postpone new tar sands development – known as “oil sands” in Canada. The rapid expansion of tar sands production in Alberta, Canada’s energy-rich province, has focused global attention on greenhouse gas emissions in North America and stoked debate over the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in the U.S.
The United States has its own massive deposits of tar sands and oil shale (distinct from shale oil) that rival those north of the border. Located in the Colorado River Basin, the development of these deposits would require significant water allocations from the Colorado River and its main tributaries.
Government-mandated development
Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, enacted during the Bush Administration, federal agencies are currently mandated to develop U.S. oil shale and tar sands deposits. As a result, the Bureau of Land Management has allocated over 810,000 acres of federal public land for oil shale and tar sands development, and has implemented a robust technology development program on federal public lands.
Threats to water resources
“Developing the United States’ tar sands deposits would result in much more carbon pollution per barrel of oil than for conventional oil, while consuming large amounts of Colorado River Basin water,” said Tom Sisk, a coauthor of the scientists’ consensus statement. “Development of unconventional fuels in the arid West could further threaten already limited water resources, impact vulnerable ecosystems, and make regional efforts to adapt to climate warming much more difficult,” he said.
“The seriousness of ongoing climate warming, globally, and the perpetuation of policies that increase greenhouse gas emissions, led this group of independent researchers to call for a moratorium on new oil sands development,” Sisk added. “Many of us had reached conclusions about the oil sands based on our research, but once we began talking to researchers in different fields we recognized the need to speak publicly, now, with a unified voice.”
Climate effects
Others were quick to see the implications of the scientists’ consensus statement. “From both a climate and a water resource perspective, the Colorado River Basin simply cannot tolerate the development of oil shale and tars sands deposits,” said Anne Mariah Tapp, Energy Director for the Grand Canyon Trust. “The Obama Administration’s climate actions should include a moratorium on the development of the United States’ tar sands and oil shale deposits.”
