Tar Sands 101
The Tar Sands "Gigaproject" is the largest industrial project in human history and likely also the most destructive. The tar sands mining procedure releases at least three times the CO2 emissions as regular oil production and is slated to become the single largest industrial contributor in North America to Climate Change.
The tar sands are already slated to be the cause of up to the second fastest rate of deforestation on the planet behind the Amazon Rainforest Basin. Currently approved projects will see 3 million barrels of tar sands mock crude produced daily by 2018; for each barrel of oil up to as high as five barrels of water are used.
Human health in many communities has seriously taken a turn for the worse with many causes alleged to be from tar sands production. Tar sands production has led to many serious social issues throughout Alberta, from housing crises to the vast expansion of temporary foreign worker programs that racialize and exploit so-called non-citizens. Infrastructure from pipelines to refineries to super tanker oil traffic on the seas crosses the continent in all directions to allthree major oceans and the Gulf of Mexico.
The mock oil produced primarily is consumed in the United States and helps to subsidize continued wars of aggression against other oil producing nations such as Iraq, Venezuela and Iran.
To understand the tar sands in more depth, continue to our Tar Sands 101 reading list
The Canadian tar sands dilemma
The Canadian oil sands dilemma
March 1, 2009
by John Guerrerio,
Energy Examiner
Giant grinders loosen layers of dirt and sand to get to the oil below.
Take a lesson from ... Canada's Liberal leader?
Take a lesson from ... Canada's Liberal leader?
By NEIL WAUGH, EDMONTON SUN
Feb 28, 2009
Iggy's Great Canadian Oilsands Tour hit Alberta again last week.
He said soothing things like: "here in the west is where the destiny of our country's economy will be played out."
Or better still, telling the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce: "the oilsands are an integral part of the future of Canada."
Harper rolls dice to play tar sands 'wild card'
Harper rolls dice to play oil sands 'wild card'
Mar 02, 2009
Tyler Hamilton
ENERGY REPORTER
Canada's oil and gas sector is a crucial engine of our economy and isn't going away, so any technologies that help reduce or capture emissions are both welcome and necessary.
But can these technologies help us right now, particularly to justify rapid expansion of oil-sands projects? And, taken alone, are they enough?
Three charged in death of philanthropist
Three charged in death of philanthropist
PETER CHENEY
Globe and Mail
March 2, 2009
TORONTO — Three men have been arrested and charged in the 2007 shooting death of wealthy Toronto philanthropist Glen Davis, opening a dramatic new chapter in a long-stalled murder mystery.
“This was a lengthy and complex investigation,” said Staff Inspector Brian Raybould of the Toronto Police Homicide squad.
Alberta's oil and gas sector gets behind the Free Trade push
Crude Business in Colombia
Alberta's oil and gas sector gets behind the Free Trade push
February 25, 2009
by Dawn Paley
BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA–When Minister of International Trade Stockwell Day
signed the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in Peru on
November 21, it was a happy day for Canada’s oil and gas sector, but
the deal was celebrated by its signatories as a landmark for human
rights and democracy in Colombia.
“Deepening both economic and political engagement between our
countries is the best way Canadians can support the citizens of
National Geographic sparks mainstream reaction on Tar Sands
*Oilsands will never get a fair shake*
*Lamphier:* I've always had a thing for National Geographic. Without
access to its pictures, I'm sure I would have flunked Grade 5 geography.
My projects on the Great Pyramids of Egypt or the lost Incan city of
Machu Picchu would have been a crashing bore. I know that in my heart.
_*MORE...*
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Business/Oilsands+will+never+fair+shake/1...
* Canada needs the oil sands*
*NP:* National Geo-graphic magazine's current ar ticle on Al -berta's
Beaver Lake Cree Lawsuit gains New Support
Co-op backs Canadian oil fight
February 26, 2009
MANCHESTER-based Co-operative Financial Services said today it was backing legal action by Canada's Beaver Lake Cree Nation in its fight to stop tar sand developments by oil giants including Shell, BP and ExxonMobil.
CFS said it would fund the Alberta community's efforts to demonstrate the impact of tar sand developments on their traditional way of life and seek injunctions to prevent them.
Ignatieff Champions Tar Sands
Tories, Liberals defend oil sands
Feb 25, 2009
THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA – Conservatives and Liberals both came to the defence of Alberta's oilsands today, responding to a stark 20-page spread in this month's National Geographic magazine.
The article, "The Canadian oil boom: Scraping the bottom," details the environmental and social problems around the oilsands, as well as an explanation of the extraction process.
TransCanada has eyes on California
TransCanada has eyes on California as possible future market
CALGARY - TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) sees California as a potential future market for Canadian crude oil, an executive with the Calgary-based pipeline giant said Tuesday.
The company has a long-term proposal to ship crude from Northern Alberta's oilsands region down to energy-hungry California, said Steve Becker, TransCanada's vice-president of pipeline development.
This Op-Ed was refused publication by the New York Times.
This Op-Ed was refused publication by the New York Times.
by Charles Hall and Nate Gagnon
EROEI.com (March 23 2007)
Op-Ed Editor, New York Times:
The recent front page article "Oil innovations pump new life into old
wells" by Jad Mouawad (March 5 page 1) is dangerously misleading. The
author would have us believe that technological innovations will
increase the proportion of oil recoverable from known fields
sufficiently to compensate for the dearth of new discoveries. It gives
a false sense of security about our difficult oil situation based on a
