Here are a few of the most commonly asked questions about the tar sands. For more questions and more in-depth answers, please click here.

What is the difference between “oil sands” and “tar sands”?

The difference is only the name.  In the 1970s, the oil industry wanted to make the tar sands sound cleaner, so they created a campaign to rename them “oil sands” and focus on the fact that oil would be derived from them.

What is the difference between oil from the tar sands and conventional oil?

Conventional oil is liquid and flows easily enough to be pumped to the surface without any human intervention.  Oil from the tar sands has to be heated with steam in order to be fluid and this requires the use of immense amounts of power and water.

Doesn’t Alberta already have laws about greenhouse gas emissions?

Alberta is the only province in Canada that has legislated emissions targets, but these are intensity targets rather than hard caps.  This means that emissions as a percentage of economic activity will be reduced, but the actual amount of emissions will be allowed to increase.