Dearest Oprah:
When I learned that your new Oprah Winfrey Network was running exclusive advertising about ethical oil, I knew we would have to have this conversation.
I know your heart is in the right place and I know you care deeply about women’s issues but in this case, I think you’ve been duped by some clever greenwashers, or ethics washers as the case may be. Tar sands oil is not in any way ethical or green, despite what the ads might depict. If you follow the money, you’ll discover that groups like EthicalOil.org are just PR tools for the oil industry.
Oprah there is nothing ethical about this crud.
To get at this so called ‘ethical oil’ pristine Boreal forests are destroyed and indigenous people are displaced, but it doesn’t stop there. This “oil” is part of a mix of sand, dirt and clay, native people have used it for 1000’s of years for waterproofing canoes and dwellings. It takes 2 tons of this tar sand to make one barrel of oil. Lots of energy is used and amazing amounts of water is permanently polluted as a result. Rare cancers are now commonplace downstream from these massive tar sands operations.
Oprah, there’s nothing ethical about oil, no matter where it comes from.
You might be surprised to find out that we get far more of our oil from Canada and Mexico than we do from Saudi Arabia.
These are the top ten countries that the U.S. imports from:
1. Canada
2. Mexico
3. Saudi Arabia
4. Venezuela
5. Nigeria
6. Angola
7. Iraq
8. Algeria
9. United Kingdom
10. Brazil
Oprah, the real ethical thing to do would be to run some public service announcements about the hazards of the Tar Sands Keystone Pipeline. Please help us to convince President Obama to do the right thing and say no to Big Oil and to invest in wind and solar instead.
Your friends Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama along with other Nobel Peace Laureates are urging Obama to reject this pipeline. Please visit Tar Sands Action to learn more about the largest action of civil disobedience since 1977, I know you’ll do the right thing and tell those silly “ethical oil” crooks to take a hike!
Thanks for listening,
Dr. Susan Rubin
PS Check out this petition to make sure Oprah does the right thing.
