Tar Sands Oil and the Keystone XL Pipeline

This talk will shed light on the U.S. energy situation as a whole, highlighting tar sands oil and the Keystone XL Pipeline.  It will also touch another hot topic, that of fracking.

Tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada is currently been extracted and shipped to the U.S. Midwest, including Minnesota, through pipelines.  Canadian companies would like to build more of such pipelines, including the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would carry Canadian tar sands oil to Texas.  The Southern portion of this pipeline is now being built.  The Obama administration postponed the Northern portion (which would link the Canadian tar sand oil fields through the U.S. heartland and join the Southern segment) until a more complete environmental review is conducted.

Tar sands oil extraction uses a lot of water and energy and is a very environmentally-destructive method of obtaining oil.  The Keystone XL Pipeline will send tar sands oil to Texas for refinement into jet fuel and diesel fuel, which will be exported, and not used domestically.  This will lead to less gasoline and therefore higher gas prices for us in the Midwest.



Louis Asher Biographical Summary:
Over the last 25 years Louis has had a very strong interest in the area of renewable energy and has greatly researched that area. Louis is a retired Researcher/Statistician and instructor.  He worked at 3M Co. for 39 years and was known as a very practical, motivating and extremely entertaining/fun instructor.  He now volunteers in organizations that deal with habitat conservation, climate change and renewable energy.