No Tar Sands

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Welcome!   Add your organization to our No Tar Sands Letter.  Sign up to join the No Tar Sands Team.

Also known as ‘oil sands’ in Canada, tar sands produce an unconventional fossil fuel from bitumen, a thick tar-like substance that is the lowest grade of crude oil.  Tar sands extraction has destroyed an area the size of Florida with pit mines, refineries, tailings lakes, and other mining activities.  In the United States, Utah has approximately 93% of all tar sand deposits in the country, and could produce 12-19 billion barrels of oil if all deposits were extracted.

Earth Energy Resources, a Canadian Company, wants to construct the first commercial-scale tar sands mine in the U.S., at PR Springs on the border between Grand and Uintah Counties.  This operation would use consume 4,000 barrels of water a day to produce 2,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Peaceful Uprising is working to stop the PR Springs Mine and prevent tar sands projects from damaging our water, air, land, wildlife and economy.  Check out our No Tar Sands Fact Sheet for more information about what tar sands are and their development in Utah.

Click here for updates from our No Tar Sands campaign.

Top Reasons to Oppose Utah Tar Sands

1. Oil from tar sands is the dirtiest fuel on the planet. Tar sands oil typically produces 3 times the greenhouse gas emissions as conventional oil because of all the energy needed to refine tar into fuel.
2. The PR Springs Mine poses a contamination threat to the Green River and Colorado River Watersheds, which 30 million people depend on for clean drinking water.
3. Crude oil from the tar sands must have heavy metals and toxic chemicals removed at a refinery to turn it into gasoline.  All those pollutants must be stored at the refineries, most likely in Salt Lake City.
4. Now is the time to invest in clean energy sources, not commit our state to decades more of dependence on dirty fossil fuels.

ACTION: Get involved with the No Tar Sands Campaign.  Sign up here to join the No Tar Sands Team and add your name to our petition to keep tar sands out of Utah.

ACTION: Are you part of a business or organization that opposes the development of tar sands? Add you organization to our No Tar Sands Sign-on Letter.  Help us show public opposition to tar sands extraction by asking other groups to endorse this letter!

Upcoming Dates

• Governor’s Energy Initiative Task Force public hearings, September (TBA), Salt Lake City, Price, Vernal, Cedar City

Canada’s Dirty Oil: Breaking Our Addiction from Dirty Oil Sands on Vimeo.

NOTE: Because Utah has different tar sands deposits and accessibility to water, tar sands mines in Utah would not produce toxic tailings lakes as they have in Canada.  Instead, Utah operations would replace water for potent chemicals.

Utah Tar Sands in the Media

Salt Lake Tribune | August 7^th, 2010
Don’t Tar Utah

Fox13 News (KSTU) | August 3^rd, 2010 (video)
‘Balance’ sought in Utah land issues

UN Dispatch | August 2^nd, 2010
Arguing over Tar Sands

KSL | July 30^th, 2010 (audio)
The Nightside Project: Tar Sands

KRCL | July 30^th, 2010 (audio)
Friday Uprising: Tar Sands

Deseret News | July 29^th, 2010
State officials listen to concerns about proposed tar sands mining

Forbes | July 28^th, 2010
Energy startup defends oil-sands project in Utah

Business Week | July 28^th, 2010
Energy startup defends oil-sands project in Utah

It’s Getting Hot In Here | July 28^th, 2010
First Tar Sands Mine in US Faces Fierce Resistance in Utah

Salt Lake Tribune | July 27^th, 2010
Groups challenge plans for Utah tar sands mine

KSL | July 27^th, 2010
Energy startup defends oil sands project in Utah

Denver Post | July 27^th, 2010
Canadian startup defends oil-sands plan

Standard-Examiner | July 27^th, 2010
Canadian firm defends oil sands project

Daily Herald | July 27^th, 2010
Energy startup defends oil sands project in Utah

ABC4 Salt Lake City | July 27^th, 2010
Energy startup defends oil sands project in Utah

Daily Kos | July 26^th, 2010
How to ruin the lives of 30 million Americans

Times-Independent | July 22^nd, 2010
Local residents join in international protest of tar sands

Deseret News | July 14^th, 2010
Utah taken advantage of

Standard-Examiner | July 1^st, 2010
Stop plan to bring tar sands refining to Utah

KRCL | June 24^th (audio)
RadioActive: Hands Across the Sand (short)

Macleans (Canada) | June 24^th, 2010
Another Alberta Apocalypse?

Oil Sands Review | June 2010
The Tar Sands of the USA – Oil Sands Review June 2010

Times-Independent | April 29^th, 2010
County notifies state agency about concerns over tar sands mining; discusses possible potash mining venture

Times-Independent | April 29^th, 2010
Environmental Genocide

Times-Independent | April 22^nd, 2010
State issues conditional permit for tar sands development in Grand, Uintah counties

Times-Independent | April 8^th, 2010
The party never ends in Utah…

Grist | April 1^st, 2010
Senate climate bill to fund Utah tar sands development

Durango Herald | March 30^st, 2010
Energy company eyes Utah sand

Salt Lake Tribune | March 30^th, 2010
Small energy company eyes Utah’s oil sands

Deseret News | March 30^th, 2010
Earth Energy Resources Inc. eyes Utah’s oil sands

Solve Climate | March 30^th, 2010
Athabasca South? Activity hints at tar sands development in Utah

Daily Kos | March 19^th, 2010
Tar Sands Mining: Coming NOW to the United States

It’s Getting Hot In Here | March 17^th, 2010
First US Tar Sands to Break Ground in Utah

Daily Herald | September 21^st, 2006
Two companies going after Utah tar sands, but the stuff is inferior to Canada’s

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