Canada’s oil sands a blessing and a burden

The scene of the exploitation of the developed world’s biggest oil resource is like some dystopian fantasy. Vast pits are carved out of the forest, where machines toil day and night taking hundred-tonne bites out of the earth. Mist rises from sluggish lakes of polluted water and great columns of steam rise into the air. The process of turning Canada into an energy superpower is an awe-inspiring, but disturbing, sight.

In recent months there has been a renewed surge of interest in the oil sands by international companies. But campaigners are raising the alarm about the environmental damage being caused.

FTD