Gail, a fellow blogger on the Oil Sands tour, posted this first part of 2 on the Oil Drum website. The Oil Drum generally comes out in support of the oil and gas industry, but I like Gail as she follows her own guidelines. This article is relatively straightforward in that it reports numbers and does not offer much evaluation or criticism, and therefore it is a good background article. Also, the discussions following are rather insightful. In particular, check out the RockyMntGuy (RMG) who is member of the Grumpy Old Men of the Mountains (GOMM). I think we need to interview some of these GOMMers!

Another blogger on the tour, Brian Westenhaus, reports on the New Energy and Fuel site . He has written a couple of blogs on the Oil Sands tour. The first one is the most interesting. It shows quite a different perspective on the issue. I don't agree with the bashing of the environmentalists. But, ultimately it is the American consumer that is to blame for demanding the oil: the Canadians provide, and do so in a way that is much more regulated than in many other places. I really question our greedy demands and feel that environmental group should tackle the source of the problem. So in a funny way, Brian and I agree that the environmentalists are fighting the wrong fight, but we certainly come to that conclusion in different ways.