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
EnCana Project Reaps, Refines Tar Sands Oil
EnCana Project Reaps, Refines 'Tar Sands' Oil
March 26, 2008: 08:05 PM EST (Investor's Business Daily delivered by Newstex) --
On Wednesday we examined how well Canada stands as investors unlock their bank accounts and jump back into stocks. Much of the fortunes up north may depend on commodity prices.
Taking a look at Canada's recent winners, we see lots of natural resources companies, such as oil and gas, gold and silver, base metals, and wheat.
Prices for these raw goods recently plunged after major run-ups, so passing on a gold mine or an oil driller may have been smart.
The people of Hartley Bay feel a bit more uneasy today
The people of Hartley Bay feel a bit more uneasy today
Jack Knox, canwest news services
Published: Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Six metres of snow in Hartley Bay so far this winter.
Usually it snows, then melts, then rains in a pattern that repeats all season long, but this year it just kept snowing and snowing until it piled high above the raised boardwalks that take the place of roads in the tiny coastal settlement.
Bateman smears famous work to protest pipeline
Bateman smears famous work to protest pipeline
Video (at link at bottom): Bateman paints over painting in protest
Symbolic smearing meant to demonstrate hazards of spills
Mar 21, 2008 04:30 AM
Petti Fong
Western Canada Bureau Chief
VANCOUVER–Paintbrush in hand, poised over the canvas of orcas swimming in the ocean, wildlife artist Robert Bateman had a momentary feeling of uncertainty.
But when the black paint touched a $2,000 print of his famous painting, Orca Procession, Bateman knew defacing one of his most beloved images was the right thing to do.
Government is listening to polluters
Government is listening to polluters
Mar 24, 2008 04:30 AM
John Bennett
Federal Environment Minister John Baird claims new regulations announced this month for industry greenhouse gas emitters are "tough – tougher than any anywhere."
So why aren't environmentalists standing up and cheering?
Only a few years ago Stephen Harper called Kyoto "a socialist plot" – but now his government is calling for future oil-sands operations to capture and store the greenhouse gases they create. The Conservative government sure has come a long way, hasn't it? Well no, it hasn't.
US: Rush to Develop Oil Shale and Tar Sands Endangers...
Bush Administration's Rush to Develop Oil Shale and Tar Sands Endangers Local communities and Wild Lands in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming
26 Conservation, Citizen, Local Government and Recreation Groups Denounce Lease Plan That Could Affect 2 Million Acres of Public Lands
Climate Change Deepening World Water Crisis
Climate Change Deepening World Water Crisis
by Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS - When U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last January, his primary focus was not on the impending global economic recession but on the world’s growing water crisis.0320 08
“A shortage of water resources could spell increased conflicts in the future,” he told the annual gathering of business tycoons, academics and leaders from governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations.
Push to bar tar sands to US military
Push to bar oil sands to US military
By Sheila McNulty in Houston
Published: March 18 2008 17:11
The powerful chairman of a key congressional committee is pressing the US federal government to comply with energy legislation that bars the use of fuel from Canada’s oil sands.
The legislation, signed into law Dec 19 last year, prohibits the federal government from procuring fuels with a higher greenhouse gas content than conventional fuels, such as that from Canada’s oil sands or coal-to-liquids.
TransCanada to build new pipeline to US [Keystone]
TransCanada to build new pipeline to US
The TransCanada Company announced that it has been granted permission to build a USD 5.2 billion pipeline to export crude oil to the United States.
The TransCanada Company in a statement said that "The US Department of State issued a presidential permit to Keystone authorizing the construction, maintenance and operation of facilities at the United States and Canada border to transport crude oil between the two countries.”
"Study highlights need for conservation" (Mackenzie Gas Project/ Boreal Forest)
Anthony Kovats // CAF
Tuesday March 11, 2008
The ritual is as old as the giant and enveloping forest itself.
Every spring, the shores of Lesser Slave, Peerless and North and South Wabasca Lakes explode with colour and sound as North America’s migratory songbirds return to the continent’s vast northern forest.
American robins with their robust red breasts join the cacophony of sounds generated by Tennessee, Connecticut and Canada warblers as they gorge on caterpillars and insects in the budding branches.
This is the boreal forest.
"Syncrude Won't Accept Loss In Oil Sands Royalty Deal - Report"
Syncrude Won't Accept Loss In Oil Sands Royalty Deal - Report
Dow Jones
March 12, 2008: 10:27 AM EST
OTTAWA -(Dow Jones)- Syncrude Canada Ltd. will only accept a new oil sands royalty deal with the Alberta government that "doesn't short-shrift shareholders," shareholder Imperial Oil Ltd. (IMO) said, the National Post reported Wednesday.
However, partners in the Syncrude consortium are prepared to negotiate a new agreement under Alberta's new oil and gas royalty scheme, Imperial's outgoing chief executive, Tim Hearn, told the newspaper.
