Obama Faces Tar-Sands Oil Quandary in First Head-of-State Meeting in Canada

Tar sands excavation in Alberta, Canada (image: enbridge-expansion.com)

President Obama will meet with a foreign head of state for the first time this week when he sits down with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa. The two leaders will discuss many issues, one of which will be energy resources. On that subject, president Obama faces a tough choice: where does he stand on the importation of Canadian oil extracted from the tar sands of Alberta?

Tar-sands oil (discussed in a November 2008 HEAT Zone post) is a major Canadian export and one of America’s favorite imports. According to Bloomberg.com, Canada sends 60 percent of its tar-sands oil to U.S. refineries. At first glance, these tar sands appear to be the perfect cure to America’s addiction to oil imported from unstable or unfriendly nations, especially since the oil sands reserves are the largest oil reserves in the world after Saudi Arabia’s conventional reserves. So what is stopping Obama from signing on to receive more oil from our helpful and friendly neighbors of the North? Environmental concerns.

While the supply of tar sands is abundant in Canada, the process of making crude oil from the tar sands is incredibly inefficient and contributes heavily to greenhouse gas emissions. According to a study by the Rand Corporation, crude oil created from tar sands sends 20% more greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere over its entire “life cycle” than does oil created from conventional sources. Separating the oil from sand, clay, and minerals requires massive amounts of water and heat, making it an expensive and energy-devouring process. Excavation of the tar sands makes a devastating environmental impact as it includes cutting down trees, digging enormous holes in the ground, and forming oil-slicked ponds that have killed dozens of birds.

Environmentalists are urging President Obama to follow the example of California, where proposed emissions restrictions would effectively ban the use of tar-sands oil in favor of cleaner fuels. Oil industry giants such as Shell, which owns a major stake in existing tar sands projects, as well as the Canadian government would like to see Obama make a special exception to emissions rules for tar-sands oil in the name of energy security.

And so unfolds yet another challenge for the still-new President Obama: how will he balance the dual goals of cutting dependence on Middle Eastern oil and reducing the emission of greenhouse gases? Any agreements or statements on Canadian tar-sands oil that come out of his meeting in Canada this week will give a clear indication.