Coming off the viaduct I saw gravel glistening on the wet tar, thrown off by a farm vehicle.

WSJ: Hal Holbrook Remembers a Road Show Wreck | Traveler's Tale

In the Canadian press briefing I went to Mr Kent twice described the tar sands industry as "responsible and sustainable" - a phrase that garnered a fair amount of comment when I tweeted it.

BBC: Canada wins few friends on climate

But not before one of them was able to claim that while the minister was on record as saying he would defend the tar sands industry, "I have yet to hear him say that he's here to defend my future".

BBC: Canada wins few friends on climate

As the plane gained altitude, I could see the vast black pits of the tar-sands mines that surround Fort McMurray.

NEWYORKER: Unconventional Crude

Anthony Foxx pointed out that I decided to wear a tie that could be a Tar Heel -- (applause) -- but it's got a little Duke color in there, too.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Speaks on American Energy

Failure to adapt to the rapidly changing methods of media distribution will leave the clueless wallowing behind like mastodons in the muck of a Pleistocene tar pit (about as slow and agonizing of a death as I can imagine).

CNN: Why dirty up my hands with newsprint?