Environment Forum
Global environmental challenges
Retailers reject oil sands — a good move?
Two big U.S. retail chains have turned their back on Canada’s oil sands, a move that was both hailed and derided, split as you might expect along environmental lines.
Whole Foods and Bed Bath and Beyond this week said they were boycotting the Canadian oil sands and they would actively seek alternatives to oil sands fuel for their delivery trucks to reduce their carbon footprints.
The oil sands are the largest source of oil outside of Saudi Arabia, and most of the 1.2 million barrels a day of oil sands-derived crude gets shipped to the United States.
Unlike conventional oil and gas, production of oil sands is more carbon intensive because it requires the use of hot water and chemicals to glean the the sticky black bitumen from the frozen sands. The used water then collects in toxic ponds.
