"Oil consumption is hurtling back...and demand for coal, the dirtiest of...fuels, is rising."
Pollution
Extraction
"Nalleli Cobo was 9 years old when her nose started bleeding...then...headaches and heart palpitations."
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Why? An oil "drilling site just 300 feet from where she lived"?
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In her teens she developed cancer, but as of 2021, she is cancer free.
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"Certain chemical byproducts of oil extraction [include] benzene and hydrogen sulfide."
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Excess gas is openly burned ("flaring") at drill sites and refineries.
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Proposed EPA regulations "would still permit flaring of unwanted...gas from oil wells."
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15% of fossil-fuel GHG pollution occurs when the material is taken out of the ground.
Transporting (trucks, rail, ships, pipelines) and processing create additional pollution.
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Transportation
Processing
These are California's “Most frequent...routine toxic...emissions from...refineries:"
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ammonia
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formaldehyde
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methanol
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sulfuric acid (see photo)
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hydrogen sulfide
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toluene
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xylene
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benzene
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hexane
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hydrogen chloride
Petrochemical industry processes
produce plastics which "are responsible for
poisoning our bodies, reducing our fertility
Utilization
When the product is used in a car, a toxic brew of chemicals exit tail pipes
(benzene, sulphur dioxide, formaldehyde).
These and other auto pollutants - carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, PM (soot),
carbon dioxide - can cause pulmonary and cardiovascular symptoms.
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A similar chemical cocktail comes out of jet engines.
Carbon Monoxide Pollution...June 28, 2011
Abandonment
When gas&oil wells
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or coal mines
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become depleted
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they are often
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neglected - leading to
additional pollution.
"Methane is a super-pollutant."
4 major sources of methane are:
- leaks (see house)
- flaring (see top of page)
- cattle/cows (see food)
- garbage dumps (see shopping)
So now you know a little about pollution made during:
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- extraction
- transportation
- processing
- burning / utilization
- & abandonment
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But do you know future pollution?
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"Trading coal plants for gas plants...left...cumulative future pollution...virtually unchanged."
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Also called "stranded assets": these are assets that have been claimed, and paid for, but not (yet) taken.
This invested money will be lost - if the fossil-fuel is left untouched. See Investments and Profits.