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
Toll road may aid pipeline costs to Mackenzie Gas Project
Toll road may aid pipeline costs
SHAWN MCCARTHY // GLOBAL ENERGY REPORTER
August 29, 2008
OTTAWA -- The federal and territorial governments are looking at inviting private-sector partners to build a toll highway up the Mackenzie Valley as a way of opening the North for development and lowering costs for a long-delayed natural gas pipeline.
Why an oil refinery [in South Dakota] is a step in the wrong direction
Peter Carrels : Why an oil refinery is a step in the wrong direction
Saturday, August 23, 2008
In South Dakota, politicians and business leaders are cheering a massive oil refinery planned for the state’s southeast corner. If built, it will be the first oil refinery constructed in the United States in more than 30 years.
Why oil won't fall below $100
Why oil won't fall below $100
With a surge in the price of global commodities, it's costing more to produce a barrel of oil than ever before.
By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: August 22, 2008: 3:47 AM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Last week, falling oil prices looked unstoppable. The last few days have seen a halt in that slide. Still with prices well below the record set in July and a shaky world economy threatening demand, the question remains: How low can oil go?
Iraq Signs Oil Deal With China Worth Up to $3 Billion
Iraq Signs Oil Deal With China Worth Up to $3 Billion
August 29, 2008
By ERICA GOODE and RIYADH MOHAMMED
BAGHDAD — In the first major oil deal Iraq has made with a foreign
country since 2003, the Iraqi government and the China National
Petroleum Corporation have signed a contract in Beijing that could be
worth up to $3 billion, Iraqi officials said Thursday.
Under the new contract, which must still be approved by Iraq's
cabinet, the Chinese company will provide technical advisers, oil
workers and equipment to help develop the Ahdab oil field southeast of
On Clean Coal...
If By Clean You Mean Filthy
by Umbra Fisk
Grist (July 23 2008)
Question
Dear Umbra,
I noticed that several of the presidential primary debates were
sponsored by clean coal. This was announced during breaks and several
commercials aired. I have since seen several more commercials and online
advertisements. Is clean coal an oxymoron? Is this a PR stunt or are
there any real environmental benefits to clean coal that rival solar and
wind? See www.americaspower.org.
Andrew S.
Brookline, Massachusetts
Answer
Dearest Andrew,
Canada's Harper Says Mackenzie Pipeline to `Come to Fruition'
Canada's Harper Says Mackenzie Pipeline to `Come to Fruition'
By Theophilos Argitis and Alexandre Deslongchamps
Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he is ``optimistic'' Imperial Oil Ltd.'s Mackenzie pipeline project will ``come to fruition.''
``I am optimistic that in the not-too-distant future this project will come to fruition,'' Harper told reporters today in the village of Tuktoyaktuk on the shores of the Arctic Ocean.
Groups Sue Feds to Stop Keystone Pipeline
*Groups sue feds to stop pipeline*
*By Janell Cole*
*State Capitol Bureau - 08/08/2008*
BISMARCK — Environmental groups, including one from North Dakota, have sued
the U.S. State Department to stop the TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, saying
the government failed to fully consider its health and environmental hazards
before giving approval.
The listed hazards include global warming.
The company said there is nothing wrong with how the federal government
examined the line's environmental impacts.
The Natural Resources Defense Fund, Dakota Resource Council of Dickinson,
Work Camps near Fort Mac Expanding; Company also Provides Camps in Afghanistan
Oilsands housing expansion announced
Dave Cooper, edmontonjournal.com
Published: Tuesday, August 26
EDMONTON - For the sixth time since 2007, PTI Group's Wapasu Creek Lodge near the Suncor plant north of Fort McMurray is set to expand.
The facility will grow to 2,942 rooms, an increase of 672 dorm-style rooms, to accommodate a mix of workers from the surrounding oilsands area. Oil States International (NYSE:OIS), owner of PTI, expects the new rooms to be opened by mid-2009.
"We foresee more expansion in the future to serve our multiple clients," says spokesman Bradley Dodson.
Shell slammed over "sustainable" tar sands advert
Shell slammed over "sustainable" tar sands advert
ASA rules advert claiming tar sands projects are part of a "sustainable future" is misleading
James Murray, BusinessGreen, 13 Aug 2008
Oil giant Shell has once again had its knuckles rapped by the watchdog for overstating its green credentials after it claimed in an advert that its $10bn oil sands project in northern Canada represented a "sustainable energy source".
Take Charge: Dirty Work in Alberta
Take Charge: Dirty Work in Alberta
By Morgan Goodwin - August 26, 2008
Take Charge Campaign
This newsletter is provided by the Take Charge Campaign, a local initiative to encourage and to help people to conserve energy. It is published twice a month.
This week in Dirty Energy: Alberta Tar Sands
What's happening in the Alberta tar sands in Canada is the most destructive project on Earth, according to Environmental Defence. Thousands of square miles of tundra are being scraped away to harvest an oil-rich layer of earth between 10 and 80 feet deep.
