Oil sands

The oil sands of Alberta are frequently cited as a way of putting off peak oil. This photo should give you a good idea of what the mining of oil sands does to the environment.

The caption says that two tons of oil sands need to be mined to get one 42-gallon barrel of oil. The Washington Post has a slide show with this photo and others. One important thing not mentioned in the slide show is that turning oil sands into oil requires large amounts of fresh water, an even more valuable commodity than oil.