No more oil sands, green group says

WASHINGTON, June 11 (UPI) -- Canadian oil sands and associated infrastructure are standing in the way of the transition to a low-carbon economy, an environmental group said.

The National Resources Defense Council said it had the support of more than 100 economists and climate scientists in calling for a moratorium on oil sands development.

"We need to stop further development of this dirty fuel--along with projects like Keystone XL--and instead speed the transition to clean energy with more investments in wind, solar and energy efficiency," Anthony Swift, project director for Canadian operations at NRDC, said in a statement.

The low price of crude oil is presenting challenges to the North American energy market. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said it estimated Canadian oil production would reach 5.3 million barrels per day by 2030, up from the 3.7 million bpd produced last year. In June, when crude oil prices were $40 more per barrel, CAPP estimated 2030 output at 6.4 million bpd.

Most of Canada's oil is in the form of a heavier grade dubbed oil sands, a type viewed as more of a threat to the environment than others. CAPP expects oil sands production to account for about 75 percent, or 4 million barrels per day, of total production by 2030.

TransCanada, the company behind Keystone XL, has said pipelines produce the fewest amounts of emissions among oil transit options. The provincial government in Alberta, meanwhile, said its environmental standards were "at least as high" as those for the oil industry in the United States.

The NRDC said its backers from the scientific community said no new oil sands projects should be developed without rigorous environmental safeguards.

"Tar sands oil simply is the dirtiest oil on the planet," Swift said.