quote Originally posted by dratts: I actually do understand that we can't burn crude in our cars, even if we're running a diesel.

Right. Which is the REASON why we'd export gas, not oil...because someone else needs refined fuels.

quote Originally posted by Patrick: And I thank you for your concern about northern Alberta. Seriously. However, I would trust the environmental standar entire lifeds set here in Canada regarding oil exploration/drilling/etc a heck of a lot more than any regulations that might be set in a place such as... oh, how about Nigeria (just as on tsking a Pipere example). And then the oil still needs to be shipped via supertanker half way around the planet.

Patrick...on this issue share your concerns....I hieave spent my entire life around the great lakes, and I have been to both coasts....I have been on, over and under (I used to dive) all 5 of them....I fell in love with Erie because she is shallow and the most violent thing in your life ya will ever deal with...Ya think tornadoes dont happen in Canada?---try taking a Piper Seneca up close to a lake Erie waterspout then landing a still-wet airplane...LMAO at the good times life has to offer...but you are right on the pipeline ....

I am thinking, if we give them free oil, then they will give us Texas and Oklahoma girls.....and NOTHING in life is better than that.

[This message has been edited by MidEngineManiac (edited 04-04-2012).]

I'm afraid of drilling in the gulf too. I would just as soon keep it as a reserve until we are forced to use it. I know about OPEC. That's why drill baby drill and fuel efficient cars don't work to hold down the price. It's supply and demand and the Mideast controls the supply like a spigot that can control prices. I know that we NEED oil now. Our entire system would collapse if there were no oil and it will take time to come up with an alternative that might be more expensive as well. I grew up in Idahos silver valley. Most of the big mines and smelters have closed down and left us with one of the biggest superfund toxic waste sites. As a child I tried to rescue many swans that got lead poisoning in the slough by our house. I think that the slough, the river and the lakes that are fed by the river may be polluted forever. We have warning signs along Coeur d'alene lake, one of the five most beautiful lakes in the world. We can't drink the water. I don't know that much about open pit mining. Is it any thing like the coal mining where they remove mountain tops and then recover them when they're through? There are obviously hard choices to be made. I too wish that fossil fuels were unlimited and cheap and non polluting. sites.

quote Originally posted by Mickey_Moose: Really??? Do you really think that? OPEC controls the oil and hence the price, the Saudi's control OPEC, if they start losing coin, they cut production. This is history... If they were serious about reducing the price of oil, they would ramp up their production as they have said they could do many, many times now - but haven't for some reason. BTW: I wish to know how one determines Canada's oil is dirty? Does one have a taste test or something? All this only became an issue when some ducks die when they landed on a tailing pond. Could it have been prevented - probably yes had they got out sooner with the deterrents. 100 ducks were lost, but this pales when one compares the number of bird lost due to wind farms. How many animals were lost with the recent BP oil spill on your southern shores? BTW as soon as you come up with a real alternative energy source that is as efficient and cost effective as oil, I will be all over it. Solar cells for example cost more to produce than what they output and the byproducts produced by their production are far from better than oil. But you never hear about this. It takes far more energy to produce hydrogen for fuel cell use than they produce, nuclear energy produces a nasty waste that has a very long life span that is hardly good for the environment as well, shall I continue?

[This message has been edited by dratts (edited 04-04-2012).]

...just wanted to add, that cars are only a small section of our lives that use oil. So rushing out to buy that Prius is not helping the much when just about everything else that we consume is made from oil - even the items that don't use oil, use it is in manufacture.

I agree completely. We are totally dependent on oil for our current lifestyles. I'm not concerned for myself. I don't have that many years left. I've seen a lot of changes in my lifetime and they come ever faster. It's not always clear what course we need to chart for the future and unfortunately special interests sometimes are only concerned with their immediate profit rather than the good of the world. Sometimes, not all the time. It's kind of hard to keep track of the right way to go.