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
Sharply drawn Journalism: Canadian Mining Comics
Sharply drawn
journalism
Local publishers Cumulus Press combine reportage with comics to take a look
at the mining industry
TAR SANDS EXTRACTION PITS:
From Extraction! A “Comix Reportage”
by CHRISTOPHER HAZOU
Local publishers Cumulus Press launch their first foray into the world of journalism and art this week with Extraction! A “Comix Reportage” about the Canadian mining industry and its effects on people and the environment around the globe.
Akaicho Land Trust "Largest Ever" [Doesn't Include Entire Thelon Region]
Akaicho Land Trust "Largest Ever" [Doesn't Include Entire Thelon Region]
By LEA STORRY, SRJ Editor 30.NOV.07
Some historic and sacred places of the Akaitcho Dene First Nations have recently been protected for the time being by Ottawa. Approximately 62,000 sq km of land have been preserved from further development.
“It’s a good news story,” said Dennis Bevington, Western Arctic Member of Parliament (MP). “It says a lot about the hard work and efforts the Akaitcho Dene First Nations have put into this.”
Hoaxers target Big Oil
Hoaxers target Big Oil
Monday December 3 2007
Environmental campaigners today appeared to have opened up a new front in the battle against Big Oil over climate change when they established a bogus website and sent out a press release committing BP, Shell and others to a 90% cut in carbon outputs by 2050 with no strings attached.
Settlers and natives, united against the government
Settlers and natives, united against the government
THIS COUNTRY: ONTARIO: URANIUM EXPLORATION
Settlers and natives, united against the government
ROY MacGREGOR
December 3, 2007
Let us head down Snow Road on this morning when the plowed banks are higher than they have been any Dec. 3 for some time.
Let us visit on a bitter weekend when Environment Canada has predicted the coldest winter in 15 years.
And here let us talk about global warming - and the hints of heat to come in at least the next 15 years.
NDP yet to break its silence on peak oil
NDP yet to break its silence on peak oil
News Features
Publish Date: November 22, 2007
The federal Green party's B.C. organizer wonders how committed the
NDP is to climate change and addressing peak oil, especially when its
provincial leader, Carole James, drives a crossover SUV.
Ben West told the Georgia Straight he was unaware that James owns a
Subaru Forester–a cross between a regular car and an SUV–but said a
"crossover" SUV sounds like the "definition of hypocrisy".
"How often does she go off-roading? I'm curious," West said.
Ed Journal: Schindler Calls for halt to Tar Sands
Halt oilsands: water expert
Athabasca River at risk, says renowned U of A scientist
Kate Jaimet, Ottawa Citizen; CanWest News Service
Published: 8:59 am
OTTAWA - The scientist who won Canada's top research prize for his work on pollution in the Great Lakes now wants a moratorium on development in the Alberta oilsands, saying the rush to extract petroleum could threaten the mighty Athabasca River.
Yukon: Uranium exploration could open Pandora’s box, critics fear
Uranium exploration could open Pandora’s box, critics fear
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
By Chris Oke Special to the Yukon News
Cash Minerals’ application to build a winter road along the Wind River Trail to further its search for uranium deposits concerns tourism and environmental groups.
Most troubling is the very mineral the exploration company is searching for.
For the past four years, Cash Minerals has been hunting for the radioactive metal.
“I see no reason why they shouldn’t mine uranium,” said Yukon Chamber of Mines president John Witham.
Canadian quarterly oil and banking profits rise
Canadian quarterly oil and banking profits rise
CanWest News Service
OTTAWA -- The energy and banking industries spurred a 5.8-per-cent
surge in Canadian third-quarter operating profits to a record high
$67 billion, Statistics Canada reported Thursday. At least one
analyst, however, warns the days of record profits may be coming to
an end.
Oil and banking accounted for almost half of the country's gains in
operating profits, the government agency said. The biggest profit
increases posted in the manufacturing sector were in motor vehicles,
ConocoPhillips proposes natural gas Alaska pipeline to U.S., Canada
Look at their plans, and look at the future pipeline grid. It is not about only getting gas to the US to heat homes, it is also about expanding the tar sands to unfathomable levels. They lie. ConocoPhilips lies. TransCanada lies. Imperial Lies. Suncor and Syncrude lie. They are not our partners, they are our enemies. Be clear about that. They lie.
