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
Big Jump in Tar Sands Oil Tankers in Vancouver's Port
Big Jump in Oil Tankers in Vancouver's Port
Flow of tar sands crude to Burrard Inlet rising, and will more than double: Kinder Morgan.
By Mitchell Anderson, 3 Jun 2010, TheTyee.ca
The proposed Enbridge Gateway pipeline to Kitimat is stirring strong public opposition to the super tankers it would attract along British Columbia's northern coast.
But a bigger risk may lie in the steeply rising number of oil tankers already plying B.C.'s coast -- up nearly 50 per cent in just two years -- to handle the growing flow of tar sands petroleum from Alberta.
Oil-smeared logos to match BP’s tarnished image
Oil-smeared logos to match BP’s tarnished image
Jun 04 2010
Sarah Barmak Special to the Star
Oil giant BP is already besieged by mounting damage lawsuits, a U.S. Justice Department investigation, and a tumbling stock price. Now, some want to hit the company responsible for the Gulf oil spill where it hurts: right in the logo.
A Smoking Gun in BP's Deep Horizon Mess?
A Smoking Gun in BP's Deep Horizon Mess?
Submitted by BassMan2 on 15. May 2010 - 11:31
Thom's nationally syndicated radio show
This hasn't seemed to have gotten much circulation yet, and I think it really needs to. Seems that a crew from Schlumberger, on contract to BP, hightailed it off the platform at their own expense 6 hours before the blowout becuase BP refused their recommendation to shut down the well. This lends more credence to Thom's suggestion that corners were cut because the bigwigs were coming for a vist.
Bellingham to consider limits on tar sands for government vehicle fuel
Bellingham to consider rules on government vehicle fuel
SAM TAYLOR - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
June 5, 2010
BELLINGHAM - Oil that comes from a controversial mining project in Alberta, Canada, will be in the sights of City Council members again Monday, June 7.
Councilman Jack Weiss is offering up two pieces of legislation that address how the city purchases fuel for its fleet of government vehicles as well as shifting away from fossil fuels for normal business operations, specifically from the Alberta tar sands.
NYTimes: Imagining Life Without Oil, and Being Ready
Imagining Life Without Oil, and Being Ready
Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times
Jennifer Wilkerson’s preparations for a post-petroleum world include growing her own food and stockpiling supplies against any shortages.
By JOHN LELAND
June 5, 2010
As oil continued to pour into the Gulf of Mexico on a recent Saturday, Jennifer Wilkerson spent three hours on the phone talking about life after petroleum.
Protesters filmed at Alberta upgrader hearing
Protesters filmed at Alberta upgrader hearing
Last Updated: Wednesday, June 2, 2010 |
CBC News
(CBC)Private landowners who protested outside a public hearing into an bitumen upgrader northeast of Edmonton Tuesday were filmed by security guards hired by the project proponent, French energy giant Total S.A., CBC News has learned.
"What are they so afraid of?" landowner Anne Brown asked on Wednesday. "Why are they taping us?"
Climate camp targets RBS in Edinburgh
Climate camp targets RBS in Edinburgh
Four-day climate camp to be held at same time as Edinburgh fringe festival and will protest over bank's links to oil industry
* Tim Webb
* The Guardian, Tuesday 1 June 2010
This summer's Edinburgh fringe festival could be hijacked by climate change protesters after they decided to hold their annual camp in the city at the same time.
"environmentalists and Tar Sands operators to announce eco-agreement"
- Alberta (& Saskatchewan) Tar Sands
- Enbridge Gateway Pipeline/ Offshore Tanker Traffic [BC]
- Mackenzie Gas Project / Alaska Highway pipelines [NWT/AK]
- Tarsands Infrastructure: South/ East [US & Can]
- International oil & gas
- Animals
- Climate Change / Emissions
- Corruption
- Economics
- Forests
- Indigenous
- War and Security
environmentalists and Tar Sands operators to announce eco-agreement
May 25th, 2010 by salmon guy
Eco-certified?
Well, maybe the subject line to this post is not quite true… but probably soon enough. We can call the products: the eco-tar sands; or Greenpeace Oil; or Suzuki Sustainable Bitumen; or otherwise.
Reliance on Tar Sands Grows Despite Environmental Risks
Reliance on Oil Sands Grows Despite Environmental Risks
Jim Wilson/The New York Times
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS and ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Published: May 18, 2010
There is no chance of a rig blowout here, or a deepwater oil spill like the one from the BP well that is now fouling the Gulf of Mexico. But the oil extracted from Canada’s oil sands poses other environmental challenges, like toxic sludge ponds, greenhouse gas emissions and the destruction of boreal forests.
The Gulf oil spill in context: US oil consumption
The Gulf oil spill in context: US oil consumption
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
May 31, 2010
[graphs and charts at link at bottom of this article]
