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
CNRL announces tar sands production gain
CNRL announces oil sands production gain
John Shmuel, Financial Post
Jun. 30, 2010
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. revealed in its June forecast that its oil sands production will hit between 116,000 and 118,000 barrels a day for the month, after a maintenance shutdown in May helped boost efficiency.
The June figures are significantly higher than last month's, when the Calgary-based energy company produced 81,400 barrels a day after a partial shut down of operations for maintenance.
Debate Heats Up Over Tar Sands
Debate Heats Up Over Oil Sands
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
NYTimes
July 1 2010
Stelmach buys U.S. ad touting tar sands
Stelmach buys U.S. ad touting oil sands
Article submitted to the Washington Post was rejected by op-ed section, so Alberta government turns to half-page ad
Josh Wingrove
Edmonton — Globe and Mail
Jul. 02, 2010
For lack of another way to reach U.S. lawmakers wary of the “filthy” Canadian oil sands, Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach’s office bought a half-page advertisement in Friday’s Washington Post championing its energy industry and a proposed pipeline that would reach down into the United States.
UN says at least 220 dead in oil explosion in eastern Congo
The Congo (actually, both Congo-Brazzaville and DR Congo) is supposed to be not only opening up to foreign tar sands development, but trusting people who learned how to carry it out in Canada. They have shown, much like BP, whether tar sands developers can be trusted anywhere.
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UN says at least 220 dead in oil explosion in eastern Congo
From the Associated Press
KINSHASA, CONGO —
The greatest threat to the Western Way of Life is the Western Way of Life itself.
The Collapsing Western Way of Life
The greatest threat to the Western Way of Life is the Western Way of Life itself.
By John Kozy
Global Research, June 18, 2010
The Age of Enlightenment was born sometime around the beginning of the
eighteenth century. A mere three-quarters of a century later, industrialization
ushered in the Age of Endarkenment, and human life has grown more and more
perilous ever since. The Golden Age of capitalism cannot be recreated merely by
applying the right mixture of spending, subsidies, re-regulation, and
A Run for the Canadian Border
A Run for the Canadian Border
By Marin Katusa
June 21, 2010
The Gulf of Mexico disaster has changed U.S. priorities, costs, and energy supply sources for years to come. But the fact that the U.S. needs energy isn’t changing any time soon and as mass sources of green energy are still a while away, the most likely alternative might be the most surprising one.
Ignatieff promises B.C. oil-tanker-traffic moratorium
Ignatieff promises B.C. oil-tanker-traffic moratorium
By SCOTT SIMPSON, Vancouver Sun
June 21, 2010
Federal Liberals would formalize a moratorium on crude oil tanker traffic on British Columbia's north coast waters, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff announced on Monday.
Scientist admits defaming tar sands researchers
Scientist admits defaming oilsands researchers
June 21, 2010
CBC News
A scientist who works for the Alberta government has apologized to two scientists for calling their research "a lie."
Dr. Preston McEachern, an environmental effects biologist who works for the government of Alberta, issued a letter of apology and retraction to Kevin Timoney, a researcher with Treeline Ecological Research, and Peter Lee, executive director with Global Forest Watch Canada.
Gulf oil spill: A hole in the world
Gulf oil spill: A hole in the world
Naomi Klein, June 19, 2010
The Deepwater Horizon disaster is not just an industrial accident – it is a violent wound inflicted on the Earth itself. In this special report from the Gulf coast, a leading author and activist shows how it lays bare the hubris at the heart of capitalism
Global Forces Making Vancouver a Major Oil Port
Global Forces Making Vancouver a Major Oil Port
China craves oil sands fuel. Ottawa wants to diversify its US market. So huge amounts of crude will have to pass through a risky Second Narrows.
By Mitchell Anderson,
17 Jun 2010,
TheTyee.ca
Burrard Inlet and Second Narrows bridge
Second Narrows Bridge in Burrard Inlet received highest hazard rating by Coast Guard.
