So When Did The Tar Sands Become The Oil Sands?

[unclebuck]

Did some PR firm decide that oil did better than tar in some focus branding group or what?!? Just wondering, I've noticed that most media no longer use tar sands ... Did I go rip van winkle and miss something?

[bigbowtrout]

Its not tar at all it's large deposits of bitumen, or extremely heavy crude oil but if I hear someone say Tar sands then I kinda know where they stand on the issue.

 

Google Tar sands and only read the pages that start with Tar then Google Oil sands and only read the pages that start with Oil.

 

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=tar+sands

 

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=oil+sands

[unclebuck]

Its not tar at all it's large deposits of bitumen, or extremely heavy crude oil but if I hear someone say Tar sands then I kinda know where they stand on the issue.

 

Google Tar sands and only read the pages that start with Tar then Google Oil sands and only read the pages that start with Oil.

 

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=tar+sands

 

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=oil+sands

 

That's kind of my point. When did this rebranding take hold. Back in the 80's it was the tar sands... no ominous overtones. The verbage has become politically charged (by who?). You are providing good evidence that in fact the focus groups must have found Oil preferable to Tar. Maybe that kicked in when the anti smoking Nazis started to talk about tar or something. Until then tar was just fine and accurate. The natives have used the natural 'tar' up there to seal birch canoes for thousands of years or at least since Alex Mckenzie made note of the habit of it in 1789.

[Ayr]

So When Did The Tar Sands Become The Oil Sands?

 

 

At around $85/barrel, give or take.

[PGK]

.

[trailhead]

Tomato, Tamoto, Potato, Patato

[Nick0Danger]

Biggest environmental cleanup know to man.

[canadensis]

It was about the same time that flyfishermen became flyfishers, Christmas became the holidays and my kids could no longer take peanut butter to school.

[unclebuck]

It was about the same time that flyfishermen became flyfishers, Christmas became the holidays and my kids could no longer take peanut butter to school.

 

Amen

[Guest Sundancefisher]

Amen

 

Near as I can tell the Canadian vernacular was pretty much always oil sands. The Americans however seemed to get caught up in the name and kept calling it tar sands. I think the mix up is due the La Brea Tar Pits from the American's perspective. I chatted with some US folk on holidays last year and they believe the oil sands are like the tar pits. Bubbling oil pools at the surface with a quick sand consistency.

[canadensis]

Greenpeace calls it the Tar Sands.

 

Dirty Hippies..