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
Refinery/Upgrader Planned for Peace Region
Refinery touted to boost Peace oilsands
Proposed bitumen-processing plant would make development worthwhile, says company
Gordon Jaremko, edmontonjournal.com
Published: 11:56 am
EDMONTON - A proposed $2.5-billion refinery in northwestern Alberta will kick-start development in the largely overlooked oilsands around Peace River, the project's sponsor predicts.
The plant will fill in a missing economic link by creating a large new market for bitumen, said Gary Brierley, chief operating officer and a partner in privately owned Bluesky Refining Inc.
North & South Dakota: two articles on the Keystone
North Dakota: Questions raised about Keystone Pipeline
State regulators are considering whether to grant a permit for a proposed oil pipeline from Canada. Eastern North Dakota landowners and others along the proposed route have been raising questions about what it will do to their land.
Terry Borgeson says a ten-mile stretch of the route is too close to the Forest River. He worries that an oil spill would contaminate the Fordville Aquifer, which provides water for about 10,000 people.
Limits to growth and the Hedberg conference
Published on 3 Oct 2007 by ASPO-USA / Energy Bulletin. Archived on 3 Oct 2007.
Limits to growth and the Hedberg conference
by Dave Cohen
Fear grows in darkness; if you think there's a bogeyman around, turn on the light.
— Dorothy Thompson
Oil on the slide
Oil on the slide
We have had plenty of warnings about the consequences of an early peak in global oil production, but no one in Westminster seems to be listening.
Jeremy Leggett
October 2, 2007 4:00 PM
Sask. Tar Sands being linked to McMurray by Highway
Highway work will link La Loche, Fort McMurray
The StarPhoenix
Published: Friday, September 21, 2007
Construction has begun on the highway, currently known as Garson Lake Road, that will eventually connect La Loche to Fort McMurray -- increasing access for the remote northern Saskatchewan community to its booming Alberta neighbour.
The province hopes this step will boost economic opportunities and provide a better quality of life for people in northern communities.
Fort McMurray teens swapping sexual favours for shelter
Fort McMurray teens swapping sexual favours for shelter: report
'Pace of life' in booming city contributing to problem, official says
Last Updated: Thursday, September 27, 2007 | 8:19 PM NT
CBC News
A survey by a homelessness committee found some teenagers in the booming city of Fort McMurray are resorting to prostitution in exchange for a bed or couch for the night.
The report, released this month by the region's Homelessness Initiatives Steering Committee, said 65 young people between the ages of 11 and 17 are without a permanent home in Fort McMurray.
Woodland Cree Suing to Halt Carmon Creek Project [Shell]
First Nation Challenges Alberta's Policy on Oil Sands Tenures and Development
Requests halt on approval of Shell's Carmon Creek Project
CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Oct. 1, 2007) - In a historic application to the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, the Woodland Cree First Nation (WCFN) has filed legal action against the Alberta government today. The First Nation asserts the Alberta government is breaching its legal and constitutional duty to consult with First Nations on oil and gas tenures, and specifically those relating to oil sands development projects.
The Globe on Raising Tar Sands Royalties
If Albertans want it all, oil sands must pay
October 2, 2007
Listening to the great Alberta royalty debate is like watching the Yankees play the Red Sox: It's hard to know which overprivileged group to root against. Should you boo the oil sands CEOs, who pay too little? Or jeer the provincial politicians, who spend too much?
Shut up about the deckchairs!
In his latest entry, Jonathan Dawson stresses on the need for a
collective 'peak moment'
by Jonathan Dawson
New Statesman (September 28 2007)
One of the ports of call during the last two weeks that I have been away
was the sixth international conference of ASPO (the Association for the
Study of Peak Oil) in Cork. This is the body, founded by former oil
geologist Dr Colin Campbell, which more than any other has brought to
public consciousness the imminent peaking in the availability of cheap
fossil fuels.
‘Fun’ was hardly the word for it, but it was good to be in the company
"Sovereignty tussles over Arctic territory threaten to impede oil and gas exploration"
[also called: How I learned to wave the flag? Maybe not...]
Polar politics
Sovereignty tussles over Arctic territory threaten to impede oil and gas exploration
Andrea W. Lorenz
This year marks the first International Polar Year since 1958. Far from being a vicarious adventure for wide-eyed audiences listening to crusty geologists talk about hair-raising encounters with polar bears, this event takes place amidst a growing number of potentially serious international disputes.
