K-

Not seeing any improvement in your sanity as a result of your posting this screed ;-)

My guess is that Mr. Young has done his due diligence and has determined that the Alberta Bitumen extraction and processing are *way* more environmentally damaging than the aggregate (rock) mining operations in California that you cite. I have also read that he is particularly concerned about the impact on the First Nations peoples whose water and air and land are being polluted by the extraction and dilution processes, in addition to the significant contribution to planetary greenhouse gases that the bitumen engenders.

Were it my back yard and I *had* to have a mine there, I would choose the aggregate mine over the bitumen extraction every time. How about you?