Oil Sands Effort Turns on a Fight Over a Road – The New York Times

I thought this was an interesting article about how the Alberta tar sands are shaping landscapes far beyond spaces of extraction. It is interesting because it is a debate centred around the issues of space and movement –– using a small Idaho highway to move large equipment destined for the tar sands.

Some excerpts:

… international oil companies see this meandering, backcountry route as a road to riches. They are angling to use U.S. 12 to ship gargantuan loads of equipment from Vancouver, Wash., to Montana and the tar sands of Alberta in Canada. The companies say the route would save time and money and provide a vital economic boost to Montana and Idaho.

AND

The proposed route could shave thousands of miles of transportation costs for such shipments, which might otherwise be forced to travel through the Panama Canal to overland routes accessed through Houston or New Orleans. Interstates and other wide highways are typically not an option, in part because overpasses are too low.