Tar Sands

Tar sands, oil sands or, more technically, bituminous sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. Tar sands are found mainly in Canada, but also in parts of Utah, Russia, and Venezuela. Mining, processing, transporting, refining and burning of tar sands has massive impacts to ecosystems, air and water quality, indigenous and marginalized communities, the global climate, and requires significant energy to break it down and ship it to the world. The movement of multinational oil companies toward this thick, heavy unconventional and hard to refine crude signals desperation, and with its significant impact on global greenhouse gas levels, presents a major threat to the stability of the world climate. WilderUtopia has partnered with Tar Sands Action Southern California to stop this deadly product from reaching global oil markets and heating the climate beyond tipping points.

crude by rail, Los Angeles, Stop Oil Trains Week of Action
Environmental Issues, Tar Sands

Hundreds Rally in Los Angeles to Stop Oil Trains

On July 11, Los Angeles joined communities across North America to call for a halt to shipping volatile and toxic crude oil via unsafe rail cars, which has caused numerous derailment explosions during the last six years as the practice has increased 4,000%. In particular, activists call for the City of L.A. to protect their communities and $1.3 billion river revitalization by opposing a crude by rail expansion in San Luis Obispo.