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
TransCanada's Alaska pipeline project wins approval by state Senate
TransCanada's Alaska pipeline project wins approval by state Senate
By: THE CANADIAN PRESS
CALGARY - TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) said Friday the Alaska Legislature has signed off on a license for the company's US$26-billion Alaska Pipeline Project under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act.
"The legislature's decision represents a significant milestone in advancing this major natural gas pipeline project to connect stranded U.S. natural gas reserves to Alaskan and Lower 48 consumers," TransCanada president and chief executive Hal Kvisle said.
Boiling Point!
Boiling Point!
Polaris report finds water in First Nations communities a “violation of fundamental human rights”
by Kim Petersen
July 30, 2008
Neskantaga First Nation is one of the communities profiled in the Polaris report. It has been under a boil water advisory since 1995. “What other community do you know of in Canada that has been on boil water advisory for 13 years?"
In May, the Polaris Institute, a citizen-focused think tank, released Boiling Point!, a report about the “violation of fundamental human rights” occurring in First Nation communities across Canada.
Coal Juice: High Energy Prices Prompt First U.S. Coal-to-Liquids Plant
Coal Juice: High Energy Prices Prompt First U.S. Coal-to-Liquids Plant
Posted by Keith Johnson
Fresh hope for U.S. coal? (AP) July 28, 2008, 1:58 pm
It’s far from clear that higher energy prices are environmentalists’ friend. Though they migh eventually spur clean energy, they’re doing a good bit of the opposite right now.
Increase of Migrant Workers in Canada Opens Door to Abuses
Increase of Migrant Workers in Canada Opens Door to Abuses
By Am Johal, IPS News. Posted July 31, 2008.
Canada's construction boom has brought in thousands of foreign workers. They're being horribly exploited.
Tools
VANCOUVER, Jul 15 (IPS) -- Western Canada's construction boom, spurred on by the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and oil sands development in Alberta, has led to a massive increase in foreign temporary workers coming to the region.
Oil: Tar sands less damaging than coal, insists Shell
Oil: Tar sands less damaging than coal, insists Shell
· Profits from controversial source increase by 74%
· Group makes $7.9bn as Exxon hits record $11.7bn
* Terry Macalister
* The Guardian,
* Friday August 1 2008
Shell warned environmentalists and ethical investors yesterday that failure to exploit tar sands and other unconventional oil products would worsen climate change because it would lead to the world burning even more carbon-heavy coal.
Enbridge Gateway line gains footing; profit jumps
Enbridge Gateway line gains footing; profit jumps
Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:29pm IST
By Jeffrey Jones
CALGARY, Alberta, July 31 (Reuters) - Enbridge Inc (ENB.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) is making big strides with a multibillion-dollar plan to ship crude from Canada's oil sands to Asia, the pipeline operator said on Thursday as it reported a more than fourfold jump in second-quarter profit.
Enbridge, Canada's No. 2 pipeline company, also boosted its forecast for 2008 earnings. Its shares jumped 4 percent.
N.B. inmates training to be oil rig workers
N.B. inmates training to be oil rig workers
Last Updated: Monday, July 7, 2008
CBC News
Inmates at the Westmoreland Institution in New Brunswick are being provided with the chance to train to be oil workers.
The Dorchester-based minimum-security penitentiary is offering a 20-day course to teach inmates the basics of becoming a roughneck on an oil rig.
A similar program has also been offered to inmates who are on parole and has had a high success rate, said Isabelle Leblanc-Gallant, who is setting up the job training at the institution.
LABOUR: AFL denounces “out of control” import of “disposable” foreign workers in Alberta
LABOUR: AFL denounces “out of control” import of “disposable” foreign workers in Alberta
(AlbertaIndex, July 29, Tuesday) --- The Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) has hit out at the provincial and federal governments as well as employers for letting the number of “disposable” foreign workers flooding into Alberta to reach “out of control” proportions.
(Calgary) City population growth to boost housing demand
City population growth to boost housing demand
Kathy McCormick, Calgary Herald
Published: Saturday, July 26, 2008
In spite of the lower number of housing construction starts this year, people are moving to Calgary -- and they're buying homes in the suburbs, says the latest city census.
