and did notice the word if in the sentence, almost didn't LOL for my vision sometimes eludes me. Here is my reasoning ... china is busying themselves to corner the market of oil and have their currency replace the dollar as the standard. May you live in interesting times, comes from a Chinese proverb. Living in interesting times could be a synonym for may you live in dangerous times, where we presently together coexist.
Yes, I know that China is trying to pin down long term sources. I am not concerned for our sake if they get this tar sands oil. We have so much potential in US with the shale oil and gas finds, that we are already exporting some of that oil. We have plenty to serve our needs for many decades. In that time our potential for solar and wind will more than make up for anything we are not getting from the tar sands. Moreover we probably will no longer need the Middle East oil either. I know there seems to be a strong oil bias here at FR, and I should add I have PB stock, but a number of the oil companies are already diversifying into harnessing all that free sun and wind we have in abundance in parts of the US. There are many potential jobs in solar and wind, and in weatherizing homes and providing superinsulation in new construction. Please Google the Kalamazoo River Enbridge pipeline disaster to see what I am anxious for our country to avoid. It has already cost as much as Solyndra, and if the XL Pipeline is built from Canada to Cushing, it crosses about 4 major rivers, and a number of small streams. Even if the pipeline gets built to the Pacific, they will still be transporting it through the US by truck and train.