We are a diverse group of scientists from across North America...
Oil Sands Moratorium
Decisions about the development of the vast oil sands* deposits in Alberta and elsewhere in North America are among the biggest we face as Canadians and Americans. Their consequences for our national economies and shared environment will last decades to centuries. These decisions transcend the boundaries of scientific disciplines in ways that challenge accurate summary in media and debate.
We, a diverse group of scientists from both countries, began talking to each other because concerns about the oil sands reach far beyond our individual fields of research. Based on evidence raised across our many disciplines, we offer a unified voice calling for a moratorium on new oil sands projects.
No new oil sands or related infrastructure projects should proceed unless consistent with an implemented plan to rapidly reduce carbon pollution, safeguard biodiversity, protect human health, and respect treaty rights.
We support our call for a moratorium with the following ten facts, each grounded in science, which we believe should be at the center of the public debate about further development of the oil sands, a carbon-intensive source of non-renewable energy.
Download 10 Reasons PDF
*Oil sands, tar sands, and bituminous sands are terms used interchangeably to describe a kind of unconventional deposit from which bitumen, a highly viscous form of petroleum, is mined from sand, clay, and sandstone.