BS Meter: Hard Right vs. Hard Left regarding Athabasca Oil Sands

Didn’t really know much about the “Athabasca Oil Sands.”  Can’t necessarily say I know a lot now either.  So I ran across this http://www.leftistmedia.com artical, http://www.leftistmedia.com/obama-gives-the-unions-a-slap-down-over-pipeline/

Perhaps the most telling quote:

The problem is that tree hugging dirt worshipping obstructionists have convinced President Obama that the Ogallala Aquifer is much more important then the 200,000 construction and manufacturing jobs and generate more then 585 million in new taxes for states and communities.

(Hint:  Go look up the word “aquifer” in a dictionary)  So I googled and dipped my toe into the first hard-left looking article I could snag, http://kellylowenstein.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/andrew-nikiforuks-outrage-about-the-tar-sands-of-alberta/

And the line of reasoning went a little more like this:

The particular type of oil drilling involves digging deep into the tar sands and then separating the bitumen from the rest of the material that is extracted.    This is the equivalent to an environmental triple whammy, in that the land is destroyed and tremendous amounts of natural gas and water are required for the cleaning process.   The environmental consequences are just part of the problem, though…

At this point, my BS meter is beginning to tilt in a specific direction.  Shhhhhh, I won’t spoil the ending and tell which direction yet.  I wanted to see exactly what the “Athabasca Oil Sands” looked like, so I went to google, typed “Athabasca Oil Sands” in quotes, searched, and then clicked the google “images” button at the top:  Google Images.

We used to get our oil this way:

The Uncivilized Way

But we’ve gotten more efficient.  Now advanced technology allows us to do it this way:

Advanced Technology is Super Cool

But who am I kiddin’?  This is AMERICA.  You REALLY don’t want to read about EITHER side of this shit do you??   Work was hard today!  Just gimme my iPhone uplink, my hulu, and I’m golden, right??  Sorry about that.   Carry on.  This wasn’t directed at you anyway.  You’ve only got the baby Hummer.  (Oh dear God, I’m having flashes…today I literally saw some kid that looked like he was 12 driving mommy and daddy’s baby Hummer down a state highway in Georgia…Welcome to America.  Sing it with me, “And I’m Proud to be an American where at least I…know I can give my kid the keys to my Hummer so he can impress his little girlfriend….  Sing it LOUD.  Sing it PROUD.  THIS is your America.  This is precisely your America.)