Trump issued the permit for Keystone Oil Pipeline on March 24th. I remembered my wife went to protest against the same program in 2013 when Obama was the president. My wife was really upset about the approvement, and she paints the following as a way to express her feeling.

This painting is about the oil sands/tar sands mining. I got the inspiration after watching the documentary movie – “Before the Flood.”. I think everyone should watch this movie, especially American, because it not only discusses the global warming and climate change but also talks about what is happening right now in the U.S. This movie is so touching for me because I think it touches the essence of the issue. I never doubt about the global warming and climate change, but I'm so curious about why still so many people don't believe that. In a country having the most advanced technology, the U.S. still has lots of people don't believe science and a person who doesn't believe science can become this country's president. This fact is more unbelievable for me than the global warming and climate change. And this movie gives its answer to people like me. What's more, the movie tries to give some suggestions like what we can do to help protect the environment as individuals. I think it’s so important because it gives people some hope, especially in a time when we're so disappointed about the government's policies on environment issues.

In the painting, the most fearful thing for me is that you thought this is surreal and then you realize it is real. This painting is about the oil sands/tar sands construction site in Alberta, Canada. The terrible fact is how human destroy our environment is beyond our imagination. Recently, Trump approved a permit for keystone Oil Pipeline Project, which will carry oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast. And this Keystone Oil Pipeline just begins here – the oil sands/tar sands mining construction site in Alberta, Canada. We should know that producing oil from oil sands/tar sands is one of the most destructive ways to get oil. First, they clear all the trees from the land, then they scrape away the shallow layer of topsoil. Also, during its process, they need to use a lot of fresh water to separate oil from sands, causing serious water pollution. A report by University of Alberta said there were thousands of birds dead in 2010 because they landed on the toxic waste ponds. So, this painting is a real scene, showing how oil sands/tar sands industry is destroying our lovely nature. And the green in distance reminds us this area’s ecological-environment before oil sands/tar sands mining.

You can see the real tar sands site below:

Picture from New Activist - Tar sand vs. oil sands: a huge debate