South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) talked about tires on a recent Saturday. An Indiana congressman heard about engines days later. And in Wisconsin, the discussion centers on monster shovels that trundle through pit mines on tank treads.
These aren't masculine chats about molded metal and mechanics. The unpublicized conversations are about oil. A specific sludge of lampooned and coveted crude: Canada's gooey bitumen from the Albertan "oil patch."
The forested province is undertaking a remarkable effort to expose connections that states, cities and congressional districts share with the often maligned petroleum resource, whose scalded landscapes and carbon output have become a favorite target of climate champions.
Tracing economic umbilical cords between places like Milwaukee and the oil sands epicenter, Fort McMurray, Alberta, 1,793 miles away, could make a difference when local lawmakers consider restricting refined Canadian crude from ...