Scientists say the boreal forest in Alberta, Canada is one of the world鈥檚 most important. It鈥檚 home to hundreds of bird and animal species鈥攊ncluding more than a few that are endangered鈥攁nd soaks up carbon twice as efficiently as tropical rainforests.
On top of that, just under the surface lies a mostly untapped supply of bitumen, what freelance writer Barry Yeoman describes in the March-April 2010 article 鈥溾 as 鈥渁 gooey hydrocarbon product that can be industrially 鈥榰pgraded鈥 into synthetic crude oil.鈥 To some in the U.S. who want to wean off of oil from the Middle East, Canada鈥檚 supply seems like a blessing, a North American solution to what many consider the biggest challenge of our day.
But environmentalists jump in, pointing out the strong possibility that this energy source isn鈥檛 worth the havoc it will wreak on the boreal. In the , Yeoman this oil-vs-nature battle. Plus, what you can do to help.