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
S Dakota: Settlement reached in Keystone pipeline's first eminent domain trials
Settlement reached in Keystone pipeline's first eminent domain trials
Associated Press - June 9, 2008 7:05 PM ET
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Some landowners in eastern South Dakota have reached a settlement with TransCanada Keystone for the company's use of eminent domain to build an oil pipeline.
Terms of the agreement were confidential.
The company, based in Calgary, Alberta, is building a more-than 2,000-mile pipeline designed to deliver 590,000 barrels of crude oil daily from Alberta to refineries in Oklahoma and Illinois. The pipeline will run through Nebraska.
Ottawa awards BP $1.2B in exploration permits in Beaufort Sea
Ottawa awards BP $1.2B in exploration permits in Beaufort Sea
Last Updated: Monday, June 9, 2008
CBC News
Energy giant BP came out the big winner in the federal government's latest auction for oil and gas exploration leases in the Beaufort Sea, offering to spend nearly $1.2 billion to explore on the Arctic seabed.
BP Exploration Company Ltd. won three of five exploration leases announced late Friday by the federal Indian and Northern Affairs Department.
On the Matter of Tar Sands & Indigenous Lands
On the Matter of Tar Sands & Indigenous Lands
Check out the video podcast:
http://citizen.nfb.ca/blogs/citizenshift/on-the-matter-of-tar-sands-indi...
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Fort McMurray Group wants to start needle exchange
Group wants to start needle exchange
By VERNA MURPHY
Today staff
Friday June 06, 2008
Injection drug users in Fort McMurray will soon have a safe place to drop off their dirty needles.
Tar sands demand spurs U.S. refinery boom
Oil sands demand spurs U.S. refinery boom
As refiners increase capacity to handle Alberta oil, environmental organizations ratchet up the pressure
SHAWN MCCARTHY
GLOBAL ENERGY REPORTER
June 5, 2008
OTTAWA -- American refiners are making massive investments to dramatically increase imports from Alberta's oil sands, even as they face mounting pressure in the United States over the oil sands' impact on greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution.
Chipewyan Prairie Dene Suing to Block New Tar Sands Project
First Nation wants court to block oilsands deal
Posted By THE CANADIAN PRESS
A tiny aboriginal community wants to force Alberta to consult with First Nations in a meaningful way before approving oilsands projects that native leaders say threaten their traditional way of life.
The Chipewyan Prairie Dene First Nation is asking Court of Queen's Bench to block the approval of Phase 3 of MEG Energy Corp.'s Christina Lake project near Fort McMurray until the province agrees to improve its regulatory process and hold talks with band leaders.
MPs to study impact of Alberta's tar sands on water supplies
MPs to study impact of Alberta's oilsands on water supplies
OTTAWA — A parliamentary committee is launching a study on the impact of Alberta's oilsands on Canada's freshwater supplies.
The House of Commons environment committee agreed this week to proceed June 16 with a study.
Liberal MP Francis Scarpaleggia says there's growing concern in Alberta and among Canadians about the effect of the sprawling oilsands on the future of the country's freshwater supplies.
Kearl Project Permit Restored
Imperial's oilsands permit restored
Reuters
Published: Saturday, June 07, 2008
CALGARY - Imperial Oil Ltd. again has all the approvals it needs to go ahead with its $8-billion Kearl oilsands project after the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) reinstated its authorization, revoked in March during a legal battle.
The federal department gave Imperial, Canada's biggest oil producer and refiner, a new permit yesterday to disturb fish habitat at the proposed northern Alberta mining site, DFO spokesman Phil Jenkins said.
Stop the Tar Sands Oil Rush [Illinois]
Stop the Tar Sands Oil Rush
What's New
Major oil companies want to use Illinois as a major artery for bringing dirty tar sands oil from Canada to the U.S. market — with enormous consequences for our local environment and our global climate.
Background
Regulatory delay hits pipeline
Regulatory delay hits pipeline
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, May 26, 2008
YELLOWKNIFE - The Mackenzie Gas Project is facing another regulatory delay.
A report by the Joint Review Panel (JRP) expected in mid-2008 has now been once again delayed to sometime next year.
"We cannot see this as a positive development for the project," said Pius Rolheiser, a spokesperson for Imperial Oil in Calgary.
Rolheiser said it will delay the ultimate decision on whether the pipeline will proceed.
