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
Aging Chevron oil refinery must clean up or shut down
Aging Chevron oil refinery must clean up or shut down
By Peter Cech, The Province June 1, 2010
I am appalled that oil leaks are still happening in Burrard Inlet in the heart of the Lower Mainland.
There's a long string of "events" related to Chevron's operations in North Burnaby. "Unplanned discharges" of particulate and toxic fumes in the air we breathe are an annual event.
We've even been subjected to leaks of methyl tertiary butyl ether. This goes beyond the "nuisance odours" we've been subjected to for decades.
Alberta’s Tar Sands and Idaho’s Wilderness Gateway
Alberta’s Tar Sands and Idaho’s Wilderness Gateway
Unfiltered By Nick Gier, Unfiltered 5-31-10
In April of 2008, over 1,000 ducks flying over Northern Alberta took a break from their migration north and landed in what they perceived was just another lake in the area. They never took flight again, along with other 10,000 other waterfowl that year. The water in many of these lakes has been tarred and poisoned by bitumen processing.
Athabasca Oil Sands, Greystar, Nexen: Canadian Equity Preview
Athabasca Oil Sands, Greystar, Nexen: Canadian Equity Preview
May 31, 2010, 8:27 AM EDT
By Matt Walcoff
May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of the following companies may have unusual moves in Canadian trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses.
Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. (ATH CT): PetroChina Co.’s partner in Canadian oil sands development received an “outperform” rating in new coverage from Justin Bouchard of Raymond James Financial Inc. The company “represents one of the most attractive acquisition candidates in the oil sands space,” the analyst wrote in a report.
New pipeline won't sate Asian oil demand -Enbridge
New pipeline won't sate Asian oil demand -Enbridge
Mon May 31, 2010 5:08pm EDT
CALGARY Alberta, May 31 (Reuters) - The planned C$5.5 billion ($5.3 billion) Northern Gateway pipeline will not be big enough to satisfy demand for Canadian oil sands crude from Pacific Rim nations, Enbridge Inc (ENB.TO), the line's backer, said in regulatory filings.
“Joint” agreements: The Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement.. just plain bizarre
“Joint” agreements: The Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement.. just plain bizarre
May 31st, 2010 by salmon guy
I’ve been reading through the leaked version of the recently announced Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement – the touted historic agreement signifying a new era of Joint Leadership in the Boreal Forest.
First Nations and Tar Sands Industry Clash in the Courts and the Hague
First Nations and Tar Sands Industry Clash in the Courts and the Hague
Canadian Forestry Firms’ Agreement Fails on Caribou, Boreal Protection
Canadian Forestry Firms’ Agreement Fails on Caribou, Boreal Protection
Good news turns out to be too good to be true
by Wilderness Committee Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB - A recent announcement by a 21-corporation forestry consortium that led Canadians to believe that huge swaths of boreal forest and caribou habitat were no longer going to be logged turned out to good to be true, as 9 times more caribou habitat is being targeted for logging than is being temporarily preserved over the next three years.
Reactions to Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement
Reactions to Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement
Officials, First Nations, activists offer praise, criticism
May 26, 2010
The announcement of the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement has sparked a mix of sweeping pronouncements and passionate reactions. Below, we have compiled a small sampling.
Readers are invited to post additions in the comments sections at the bottom of the page.
"The Ontario government is encouraged to see environmental groups and forest companies working together to help develop a plan that would lead to both a healthy and a prosperous Canadian forest."
The Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement Reconsidered
The Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement Reconsidered
ENGOs sign over right to criticize, companies continue to log caribou habitat
by Dawn Paley
May 26, 2010
The Dominion - http://www.dominionpaper.ca
VANCOUVER—Last week’s announcement of the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement (CBFA) was celebrated by environmental groups as a historic deal that could save a significant amount of sensitive woodland caribou habitat.
Chinese firm buys $435-million stake in Penn West
Chinese firm buys $435-million stake in Penn West to form oilsands joint-venture
Thu May 13 2010
Lauren Krugel
The Canadian Press
CALGARY — China is making yet another push into Alberta’s oilsands, taking on a five per cent stake in Penn West Energy Trust and inking a joint-venture to develop some of the Canadian oil heavyweight’s land.
