Keystone XL: Pipeline to the Apocalypse

Photography by Garth Lenz | Text by Steve Hawk

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In the ongoing coverage of the plan to build the Keystone XL pipeline to pump crude tar sands oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast, a key issue is too often ignored: the ecological horror caused by the oil's extraction. The vast tar sands surface mines of Alberta are among the most destructive industrial projects in human history, having already transformed more than 260 square miles of wetlands and forest into a post-apocalyptic moonscape. Because few Americans will ever see this scorched-earth degradation firsthand, we decided to show you some photos, taken by Canadian photographer Garth Lenz.

The confluence of the Athabasca and Clearwater Rivers (left) is about 20 miles from an active tar sands operation and is ecologically similar to areas that have been (or are slotted to be) chewed up by surface mines.

The Keystone XL pipeline, with a proposed daily capacity of 900,000 barrels, would help fuel the expansion of Alberta's tar sands production by securing access to American and foreign markets for the oil. Six new surface mines have been approved or proposed, essentially doubling Canada's output from the most damaging extraction process.