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
BA Energy first tar sands developer to file for bankruptcy protection
BA Energy first oil sands developer to file for protection
Financial Post
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
CALGARY -- BA Energy Inc., developer of the $4-billion Heartland
Upgrader near Edmonton, Wednesday became the first oil sands company to
file for bankruptcy protection, fearing its parent company's major
lender, Credit Suisse, will recall a US$507-million loan.
Columba Yeung, chief executive of parent company Value Creation Inc.,
said that company could default on its multi-million bank loan after BA
was unable to repay it a $50-million loan. BA's failure to make good on
Tar sands 'change everything' says Ignatieff
Oilsands 'change everything' says Ignatieff
By Tom Barrett January 15, 2009
The Alberta oilsands will allow Canada to stand up to the U.S. on everything from Arctic sovereignty to rewriting NAFTA, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said Wednesday.
Ignatieff told a town hall meeting in a Gastown pub that Canadians are just starting to understand "how powerful the oilsands make us."
He told an overflow audience crammed into the pub's tiny back room that he toured the project in August.
Canadian Natives Get U.S. Support
Canadian Natives Get U.S. Support
Alexandra Paul, Winnipeg Free Press
Canadian First Nations chiefs say aboriginal affairs advisers to U.S.
president-elect Barack Obama told them Thursday the new administration
will be in their corner in their push for aboriginal rights.
In a 20-minute meeting in Washington, the advisers suggested to the
assembly of chiefs from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the United
States that the new administration could support their push for more
control over oil and mineral resources.
Tar sands companies have PR problem: survey
Oilsands companies have PR problem: survey
By Dave Cooper, edmontonjournal.com
January 8, 2009
EDMONTON - Oilsands producers have received the word from the public — half don't believe what they are being told.
An industry-funded poll released Thursday found a lot of mistrust among respondents in Edmonton and Toronto. However, Edmontonians were generally more favourable towards the industry than Torontonians, particularly on questions around environmental responsibility.
ENERGY JUSTICE IN TURTLE ISLAND – NORTH AMERICA
Dear Friends,
The Indigenous Environmental Network and Rainforest Action Network
produced this statement in response to a lobby effort in Washington DC
tomorrow by Treaty One Chiefs of Manitoba regarding the Enbridge Alberta
Clipper and the TransCanada Keystone Project. In this communication you
will find our press statement that focuses on providing an Alberta First
Nations perspective on the issue, as well as the advisory that was sent
out by Treaty One Chiefs of Manitoba on December 31, 2008. Please
distribute this to your lists far and wide.
TransCanada offers $2 billion in debt
TransCanada offers $2 billion in debt
By Dan Healing, Calgary Herald
January 6, 2009
CALGARY - A $2-billion US debt offer launched Tuesday by TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. was lauded by energy analysts who say it will be well-received in a market that has discounted most oil and gas companies’ equity.
The funding will be earmarked by the pipeline arm of Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. to replace maturing debt facilities, pay for capital projects and fund ongoing corporate activities, said company spokesman Terry Cunha.
Oil price slump undermines controversial tar sand projects
Oil price slump undermines controversial tar sand projects
Commercial viability of carbon intensive Canadian tar sands hit by combination of falling oil prices and regulatory concerns
James Murray, BusinessGreen, 06 Jan 2009
Plunging oil prices might have spelled bad news for renewable energy projects, but they are also undermining the commercial viability of some of the world's most carbon intensive energy projects.
OPEC's future blowin' in the wind
OPEC's future blowin' in the wind
Last Updated: Monday, January 5, 2009
Philip Demont
CBC News
The noise generated by the 120 wind turbines turning on the hilltops of the Viana do Castelo region in northern Portugal might not equal that of a soccer-crazy crowd at the Estadio da Luz stadium in Lisbon.
To OPEC, however, the sound from Europe's largest wind farm is as loud and clear as a high-speed train roaring across the western world.
Syncrude facing private prosecution over dead ducks
Syncrude facing private prosecution over dead ducks
CAROLINE ALPHONSO
Globe and Mail Update
January 7, 2009
An Alberta resident launched a private prosecution against one of the country's largest oils-sands' operators, alleging that it was responsible for killing 500 ducks at its northern Alberta facility last spring.
Jeh Custer, a member of the Sierra Club Canada, commenced legal action in Edmonton Wednesday against Syncrude Canada Ltd. He said that if nothing was done, such practices by oil companies would continue without consequences.
Enbridge cleaning up spill at tar sands terminal
Enbridge cleaning up spill at oil sands terminal
Wed Jan 7, 2009 5:15pm EST
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Enbridge Inc, Canada's No. 2 pipeline firm, said a malfunctioning valve at an oil storage facility in the oil sands region of northern Alberta this week spewed out 4,000 barrels of oil, but the spill was mostly contained on the grounds of its tank farm.
The company, whose pipelines carry the lion's share of oil sands crude to U.S. markets, said the spill occurred on Saturday at its Cheecham terminal south of Fort McMurray, Alberta, when a small fitting on a valve failed.
