[Brother Jonathan]

I’d guess that electrons aren’t the major energy export across the border; for example, over 1.8 million barrels of crude oil went south <i>each day</i> in May. The refining of that crude oil (to say nothing of the crude oil imported from Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Nigeria, &c.) certainly has its own set of environmental costs, entirely separate from the consumption of refined petroleum products.<br /> <br /> Does anyone know of a comparison of the environmental costs of extraction vs. refining (vs. transport vs. …)?<br /> <br /> The push to increase nuclear energy is happening in many nations, not just Canada (or the USA, for that matter); particularly for oil-exporting nations, the current value of oil as an export commodity is part of what drives the search for alternatives for domestic consumption (e.g. Iran).<br /> <br /> Your point on the “pollution supply chain” is certainly valid, and a nation-by-nation comparison that included those factors would indeed be a sobering read.