Rejected Teck

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Email
Reading Time: 2 min

Canada is home to one of the last real wilderness. With the vast majority of the population living across the southern border, the rest is seemingly pristine mountain ranges, unimaginable lakes and kilometres of boreal forests. Yet since the 60s this nature has been exploited. Vast areas of forest have been completely razed and reduced to contaminated soil and toxic tailings (small lakes). However, this soil contains a tarry bitumen mixed with sand, which can be processed into petroleum—making it the world’s third largest proven oil reserve at 170bn barrels.

Rejected Teck

Fort McCurray Oil Sands in Alberta

The Canadian government has long been a strong supporter of Alberta’s economic rise as an oil-rich region, promoting the expansion of the sands and expanding controversial pipelines. The most recent project a $15bn open mine: “Frontier Mine” of 72,000 acres by Teck Resources (a Canadian mining giant) drew outrage from environmentalists, activists and indigenous leaders and NGOs, prompting the #rejectteck campaign.

This past Sunday evening (February 23rd) the company revoked its plans, claiming that its decision was due to “a changing global market”, as oil prices are currently low and tar sand extraction costs are very high. Despite the “economic” deciding factor this is still a big win for the environment—the mine would have released 4 megatons of CO2 into the atmosphere. Could this global shift be a prelude to a better and cleaner future?Rejected Teck

The oil sands are the world’s largest industrial project

Rejected TeckJane Fonda and Joaquin Phoenix against Teck

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Email

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to our newsletter

A two minute read that connects you to the week’s key environmental stories.

You may also like