The Terrible Toll of Tar Sands Mining on Canada’s Native People

The sands pump out more than 3 million barrels of oil per day, helping make Canada the world’s fourth-largest oil producer and the top exporter of crude to the United States. Their economic benefits are significant: Oil is the nation’s top export, and the mining and energy sector as a whole accounts for nearly a quarter of Alberta’s provincial economy. But the companies’ energy-hungry extraction has also made the oil and gas sector Canada’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. And despite the extreme environmental costs, and the growing need for countries to shift away from fossil fuels, the mines continue to expand, digging up nearly 500 Olympic swimming pools-worth of earth every day.

Jean L’Hommecourt visits a river near the Fort McKay First Nation’s village about an hour’s drive north of Alberta's Fort McMurray.Michael Kodas/Inside Climate News

READ: The Terrible Toll of Tar Sands Mining on Canada’s Native People – Mother Jones

Great Moments in Science-Trusting: Doping your breakfast toast with asbestos particles. pic.twitter.com/H57t1eMbbE
— The Secret Sun Speaks (@SecretSunBlog) December 3, 2021

And this:

When a Maryland homeowner realized her home was infested with snakes, she desperately tried to get them out but instead set her home on fire.

While using smoke from coals to lure the snakes out of her property, Montgomery County Fire said the owner caused a fire that resulted in about $1 million in damage to the home.

ICYMI - Update Big Woods Rd, house fire 11/23; CAUSE, accidental, homeowner using smoke to manage snake infestation, it is believed heat source (coals) too close to combustibles; AREA of ORIGIN, basement, walls/floor; DAMAGE, >$1M; no human injures; status of snakes undetermined https://t.co/65OVYAzj4G pic.twitter.com/xSFYi4ElmT

— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) December 3, 2021

and last thing: I made this book video just to see if I could! Next Book: What Just Happened!