President Trump’s threat to levy a 10 percent tariff on oil imports from Canada is prompting serious jitters in Alberta, where much of Canada’s oil is produced. It’s also generating  predictions of a 15 cents to 25 cents rise in gasoline prices, especially in the Great Lakes states and New England, where much of the Canadian fuel is refined. 

But here at Circle of Blue, we’re interested in more than the modest projected increase in gas prices. We are watching how the tariff could influence operations in the Alberta oil fields, especially in the supply of water and the production of climate change gases.

Few independent public interest news organizations have reported as intensively on oil production from the tar sands of Alberta, and its consequences for water and the environment, as Circle of Blue. 

Canada is the largest source of oil imported to the U.S., roughly 4 million barrels a day, 20 percent of all the oil consumed daily in America. Almost every barrel is mined from the tar sands of northern Alberta. The process of extracting, heating, refining, and preparing oil for pipeline transport to the U.S. has turned northern Alberta into one of the most ecologically-damaged and polluted places on Earth. 

Alberta’s tar sands oil production also is Canada’s largest source of climate change gases, which impede the country’s goal of reducing carbon emissions.

Now the tariff threat, and the real-world facts about environmental damage and public health dangers, are converging to raise new questions about the industry’s long-term survival.