Anti-Alberta oil sands campaign heavy on funding, light on facts
Anti-pipeline activists and the media, including
ScienceDaily, a credible science website, are touting a small air quality study funded by the Tides Foundation and authored by Isobel Simpson et al. at the University of California. `Levels of contaminants higher than in some of the world`s most polluted cities have been found downwind of Canada`s largest oil, gas and tar sands processing zone,` warns ScienceDaily, based on Simpson`s work in northern Alberta.
`This paper characterizes ambient levels of 77 volatile organic compounds in the region using high-precision measurements,` say the authors, who collected no air samples directly at industrial facilities and no primary health data before concluding, unequivocally, `Emissions from these industries affect local air quality and human health.`
Read the full article
here.