KFAI's Indian Uprising, August 24, 2008 from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. CDT #279

Daryl Sager (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe), Energy Justice Program Associate, Fresh Energy, Inc.

Fresh Energy of St. Paul, Minnesota is an organization leading the transition to a clean, efficient and fair energy system. Its goals are: Healthy Economies, Healthy People, Healthy Environment and Energy Independence. Fresh Energy focus areas are: Clean Electricity, Energy Efficiency, Transportation Policy, Global Warming Solutions and Energy Justice. www.fresh-energy.org

"Fresh Energy is the only nonprofit in Minnesota whose sole focus is a clean, just energy future for the Upper Midwest. Often, the economically disadvantaged are the most adversely affected by energy decisions. The Energy Justice program at Fresh Energy works to pass policies that help build the capacity of low-income individuals to have a strong voice in those decisions."

Tom Goldtooth (Dine’/Dakota), Director, Indigenous Environmental Network, Bemidji, Minnesota

IEN (nonprofit) is a network of grass-roots Indigenous Peoples empowering Indigenous Nations and communities towards sustainable livelihoods, demanding environmental justice and maintaining the Sacred Fire of cultural traditions. IEN is dependent on private foundations and individual donations but does not solicit for federal grants. www.ienearth.org

One immediate concern, says Goldtooth, is the proposed 36-inch diameter tar sand oil pipeline cutting through northern Minnesota running almost 1,000 miles, from Alberta, Canada, to Superior, Wisconsin, dubbed the Alberta Clipper.

"The Real Price of Tar Sands Oil - Enbridge, a Canadian company, seeks to build a pipeline to carry synthetic crude oil from Alberta, Canada, into southern Illinois. Of the many problems with this project, the greatest one stems from the energy approach driving its construction: bitumen extraction from Alberta's tar sands.

Tar sands oil is produced through a destructive process that has deplorable consequences. Extraction and processing of just one barrel of synthetic crude oil from bitumen requires up to five barrels of fresh water and 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas. The gasoline yield from that single barrel is only enough to fill a Chevrolet Avalanche's tank three-quarters full.

The environmental impact is severe. In 2007, greenhouse gas emissions from tar sands plants were roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of 27 million American passenger vehicles. High levels of carcinogens in fish, water and sediment have been found downstream from tar sands areas.

Meanwhile, annual production of tar sands oil from Alberta is expected to at least triple by 2015, fueled principally by U.S. demand.

While no one enjoys reliance on OPEC oil, the alternative of a pending environmental catastrophe is intolerable." – Brian P. Granahan, Staff Attorney, Environment Illinois Research and Education Center (washingtonpost.com, Jan. 2008).