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
North Dakota: PSC denies request to delay hearing on [Keystone] pipeline for farmers
PSC denies request to delay hearing on pipeline for farmers
Janell Cole, Forum Communications Co.
Published Saturday, September 01, 2007
http://www.in-forum.com/News/articles/176882
BISMARCK – The Public Service Commission has denied a request by Keystone pipeline opponents to delay next week’s hearing on its proposed route.
The commission voted Friday during an emergency meeting to go ahead with Wednesday’s hearing, which Commissioner Kevin Cramer expects to continue into Thursday.
The Battle of Marie Lake Rages On...
Seismic testing irks lakes' neighbours
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070830.ROSUM30/TPStor...
NORVAL SCOTT
August 30, 2007
CALGARY -- Calgary-based OSUM Oil Sands Corp. looks set to face more opposition to its controversial proposals to test for crude oil under two Alberta lakes, as a coalition of residents is planning to take its protests straight to Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach's door.
Earlier this month, Alberta regulators gave approval to privately held OSUM to conduct seismic testing at Marie Lake, 300 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.
My Kingdom for a Horseless Carriage: The Biofuels Trap
My Kingdom for a Horseless Carriage
The Biofuels Trap
http://counterpunch.org/mittenthal08312007.html
By ROBIN MITTENTHAL
We must move our nation beyond fossil fuels. But let's not be suckered by the promoters of biofuel alternatives like corn ethanol and soy biodiesel.
Large companies that stand to reap billions in subsidies and tax breaks from these energy "sources" are selling them as the way to a healthy planet and energy independence for the United States. For two reasons, don't believe it.
Updating the book on global warming
Updating the book on global warming
by George Monbiot
Here is a portion of George Monbiot's speech at the Camp for Climate
Change in London August 18 2007 {1}. He has been studying and writing
about global warming for over twenty years and is the Author of Heat
(South End Press, 2007) which is about climate change and what needs to
be done about it. He explains that because of recent scientific
discoveries the book needs an extreme update.
Indymedia.org.uk (August 31 2007)
I'm going to start with some bad news, and the bad news is this. Two
The AFL: The Boom, Union Busting, and Temporary Foreign Workers
The Boom, Union Busting, and Temporary Foreign Workers
Plans to Import Workers a "Lose-Lose Proposition"
Alberta is in the middle of a boom. There is no question about that. Due to the pace of economic activity, the labour market is tight. Employers are having to work harder to find workers for their projects.
Most employers are taking necessary steps to recruit and retain desired workers - improving working conditions, increasing wages and offering good benefits. Some employers, however, are taking more drastic steps.
Axis of Arctic Oil
Axis of Arctic Oil
Germany And Norway Form Partnership, While Russia Plans Oil Exploration
http://www.thedailygreen.com/2007/08/31/new-allies-in-arctic-oil-scrambl...
Dan Shapley/ News Editor Blog
They all say it’s not a land grab. Really, it isn’t. It’s an oil grab.
United States, China Clash over Peak Oil May Endanger World Peace
United States, China Clash over Peak Oil May Endanger World Peace
By Ann Weaver Hart
Published Aug 30, 2007
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/363360/united_states_china_clas...
Peak Oil may have put the United States on a collision course with China as the two nations compete for African oil reserves. "Peak Oil" refers to the fact that worldwide, per capita petroleum production peaked in 1979. Owing to population growth, even though more actual barrels of oil per day are extracted, the amount of oil pumped per person continues to drop.
Marathon Oil to Expand Refinery in Detroit for Tar Sands
Marathon plans to expand Detroit refinery
$1-billion project would create more than 900 new jobs
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070827/BUSINESS06/7082...
August 27, 2007
By ALEJANDRO BODIPO-MEMBA
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
Officials at Marathon Petroleum Co.’s refinery in Detroit plan to announce a $1-billion expansion proposal that would boost oil production 15,000 barrels a day by 2010 and add more than 900 jobs to the local economy.
N Dakota: "Proposed [Keystone] crude oil pipeline threatens land, wastes energy"
Proposed crude oil pipeline threatens land, wastes energy
http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=176522§ion=Opinion&for...
By Janie Capp,
Published Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Regarding the proposed 1,830-mile, 30-inch crude oil pipeline coming from Alberta, Canada, across North Dakota, to Illinois and possibly farther.
Factoring Sustainability Into Alberta's Tar Sands Project
Factoring Sustainability Into Alberta's Tar Sands Project
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/007166.html
Mindy Lubber
August 24, 2007 11:26 AM
There's much talk these days of capitalism and sustainability being increasingly interrelated -- that environmental and social impacts need to be included along with quarterly sales projections in corporate strategies and the financial bottom line. But why is this still more a concept than a reality, especially when it comes to a sustainability crisis like global warming?
