Arkansas tar sands oil spill

Will Exxon clean all these tar sands oil spills like BP “cleaned up” the Gulf? Meanwhile, a solar spill is called a nice day.

June 2013, pipeline ruptured in Alberta: 250,000 gallons spilled into the Red Deer River.

27 March 2013, train derailment in Minnesota: 15,000 gallons spilled.

“Only about 1,000 gallons has been recovered,” said Dan Olson, spokesman for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. “The remaining oil on the ground has thickened into a heavy tar-like consistency.”

30 March 2013, pipleline rupture, Mayflower, Arkansas: “thousands of gallons” spilled.

Kimberly Brasington, an Exxon spokeswoman, confirmed the oil from the ruptured Pegasus pipeline originated in Canada. The oil is “Wabasca Heavy Crude from Western Canada,” she said in an e-mail Sunday. Canadian group CrudeMonitor describes Wabasca as a blend of heavy oil production from the Athabasca region.

Aerial footage of the Arkansas crude seeping through woods, waterways, streets, and yards:


Video by Lee Camp, Moment of Clarity

Graphic by Jim Harris:

Paul Koring wrote for The Globe and Mail 31 March 3013, Exxon oil spill in Arkansas seeps into Keystone debate,

Canada’s Energy Minister, Joe Oliver, said he didn’t think the Arkansas spill would have a big impact on the Keystone debate.

“Americans understand that incidents are not caused by the origin of oil transported through a pipe,” he said, adding the Canadian government “strongly supports the Keystone XL pipeline because it would advance our mutual interest in attaining North American energy security and create jobs in both countries.”

Well, he’s right the origin of the oil isn’t the basic problem. The problem is using more fossil fuels when we have right now a much cleaner and more distributed path to energy independence for Canada, the U.S., and the world: wind and solar power. If New Jersey and Toronto can do it (more later), any place in the world can do it. And the U.S. installed 76% more new solar power in 2012 than in 2011, continuing solar deployment like compound interest. Nothing else shows that kind of growth rate: not oil, not gas, not nuclear. Only wind and solar power grow like money in the bank and power on your roof.

Doubling down on disaster is not the answer. Sun, wind, and water are the answer to power the world.

-jsq