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
Westar Energy to Build Transmission Line Near Atchison, Kansas for the Keystone Pipeline
Westar Energy to Build Transmission Line Near Atchison, Kansas
Posted on: Tuesday, 2 September 2008, 09:00 CDT
Westar Energy, which is engaged in power generation, transmission and distribution, has announced that it will build a 115kV high-capacity transmission line near Atchison, Kansas.
Treaty One First Nations Look To Halt Keystone Pipeline Project
First Nations look to halt pipeline project
Chiefs want Ottawa to consult with them over project
By PAUL TURENNE, SUN MEDIA //
Tue, September 2, 2008
A potentially historic court hearing that may ultimately cause pipeline construction in Manitoba to be delayed and could possibly see local First Nations get a piece of oil revenues began in Winnipeg today.
Tar sands creating gold rush, conundrum
Oil sands creating gold rush, conundrum
EVE BYRON/Independent Record
Editor's note: This is the first installment in a two-day series by the Helena Independent Record examining Canadian oil sands production, its impact on the economy and the environment, and the potential connection to Montana's own energy development.
FORT McMURRAY, Alberta - The helicopter slices above the Athabasca River with only a smokestack in the distance hinting at the development about to be unveiled.
Suncor Plant Outage Will Increase Dirty Oil Volumes
Suncor oil sands plant outage means less light oil
Tue Sep 2, 2008 5:15pm EDT
CALGARY, Alberta, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Suncor Energy Inc (SU.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Tuesday it expects a processing unit at one of its oil sands upgrading plants to be off line for up to 90 days, changing the mix of its output but not cutting overall production.
Suncor, which runs Canada's second largest oil sands mining and synthetic crude operations, said a hydrogen plant at the northern Alberta site suffered an unscheduled outage in August.
U.S. foundations use money to pursue co-optation against Canadian environmental group
U.S. foundations use money to pursue co-optation against Canadian environmental group
Tue 2. Sep 2008
by Dru Oja Jay, Dominion writer
Since major foundations in the US began funding environmental groups in the late 1980s, many grassroots environmental activists have sounded the alarm about the rise of the “Big Greens.” Featuring six-figure salaries and foundation funding, critics say the large environmental NGOs co-opt grassroots movements and exercise control over what issues are brought up.
Canada pushing to exploit Alberta's tar sands
Canada pushing to exploit Alberta's oil sand
Rob Gillies, Associated Press
Sunday, August 31, 2008
(08-31) 04:00 PDT Fort McMurray, Alberta
The largest dump truck in the world is parked under a huge mechanical shovel waiting to transport 400 tons of oily sand at an open pit mine in the northern reaches of Alberta.
Each Caterpillar 797B heavy hauler - three stories high, with tires twice as tall as the average man - carries the equivalent of 200 barrels of heavy oil worth nearly $23,000 per haul at today's prices.
ALABAMA VOICES: Drilling not answer
ALABAMA VOICES: Drilling not answer
August 31, 2008
First of two parts
By John Ackerman
Over the past few months there has been a great deal written about our dependency on fossil fuels and an alternative to this dilemma called "drill here, drill now, pay less" was offered.
The tar sands that bind-- two National Post Articles
[FYI - these two articles appear side by side in the 2 September 2008
edition of the National Post, pg. A15, "First of a Series"]
The oil sands that bind
As concern about the future of oil mounts, the Post looks at the
world's most-talked-about commodity. Today, Adam Waterous explains how
the oil sands strengthen Confederation and Donald Boudreaux explains
why running out of oil is a virtual economic impossibility
Adam Waterous, National Post Published: Tuesday, September 02, 2008
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=760790
Post-Peak Politics
Post-Peak Politics
by John Michael Greer
The Archdruid Report (July 23 2008)
Druid perspectives on nature, culture, and the future of industrial society
The recent downward lurch in the price of oil, among its other effects,
has provided a good look at the downward arc of a cycle of public
discourse about energy that will likely become all too familiar during
the months and years ahead of us. As oil prices rose to new records a
few weeks back, the media bristled with pundits warning about an
imminent energy crisis in language ranging from sober to apocalyptic.
Enbridge, BP to expand tar sands pipeline network
Enbridge, BP to expand pipeline network
August 29, 2008 at 12:44 PM EDT
CALGARY — Enbridge Inc. and BP Plc plan to spend up to $2-billion (U.S.) expanding their pipeline systems to ship growing volumes of Canadian crude oil to the U.S. Gulf Coast, they said Friday.
Enbridge, best known as operator of the main artery for Canadian oil exports, and BP, the British oil major, said they aim to develop a system to ship 250,000 barrels of oil a day to Texas City, Texas, from Flanagan, Illinois, by 2012.
