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
A delegation of business leaders is attempting to dispel "falsehoods"
Alberta group makes case for oil sands
A delegation of business leaders is attempting to dispel falsehoods and
make the case for the oil sands to politicians in Ottawa
Nathan VanderKlippe
Globe and Mail
May. 13, 2010
A group of high-powered Alberta business leaders is in Ottawa this week on
what they are calling a “a trade mission to the capital of our own
country.”
Their goal: promote the oil sands as what John Ferguson, chairman of
Suncor Energy Inc., calls a “great Canadian treasure.” Alberta’s bitumen
The end of offshore oil drilling? Not a chance
The end of offshore oil drilling? Not a chance
Energy companies are faced with the reality that new sources of oil are
just about limited to ever-deeper water
Eric Reguly
Globe and Mail
May. 13, 2010
For three weeks, about 5,000 barrels of oil a day have gushed out of BP’s
Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico. Gobs of black oil, and the weirdly
coloured slick – fuchsia in parts, as if Martha Stewart were hired for
artistic control – move ever closer to the Louisiana shore and the fecund
wetlands behind it. The ruptured pipes could spew oil for another two or
It's Worse Than You Think: Plotting Global Hydrocarbon Collapse
It's Worse Than You Think: Plotting Global Hydrocarbon Collapse
By Matthew Wild
11 May, 2010
Peak Generation
More than 90 per cent of the world’s energy comes from non-renewable sources – and its decline can be projected on a Hubbert bell curve.
North, South American countries to study heavy oil
North, South American countries to study heavy oil
Fri Apr 16, 2010
CALGARY, Alberta, April 16 (Reuters) - Energy ministers from North and South American countries with large heavy oil reserves have established a working group to develop better extraction and environmental technology, Canada's natural resources minister said on Friday.
Canada's tar sands: a dangerous solution to offshore oil
Canada's tar sands: a dangerous solution to offshore oil
Alberta is the 'safe' option for US oil needs – but its tar sands are far more environmentally damaging than Deep Horizon
o Heather McRobie
o guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 11 May 2010
Speech by Evo Morales Ayma before the G77 + China at the United Nations
Speech by Evo Morales Ayma, President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, before the G77 + China at the United Nations
May 7, 2010
I have come here to share the conclusions of the First World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, held last April 20th to 22nd in Cochabamba, Bolivia. I convened this Conference because in Copenhagen the voice of the peoples of the world was not listened to or attended to, nor were established procedures respected by all States.
Nature Conservancy and Enbridge: partners in eco-crime
Nature Conservancy and Enbridge: partners in eco-crime
May 6, 2010
http://www.publiceyeonline.com/archives/004974.html
Call this a case of bad timing...or good timing, depending on your
perspective: yesterday, the Nature Conservancy of Canada announced Enbridge
Inc. would be donating $2.5 million to support its work. "We are proud
to partner with the Nature Conservancy of Canada and pleased that our
investment will help conserve some of Canada's best and most
ecologically important natural habitat," stated the pipeline firm's
Gulf spill hardens BC First Nations opposition to Enbridge tar sands pipeline
Gulf spill hardens BC First Nations opposition to Enbridge tar sands pipeline
By David Beers May 5, 2010
The Tyee
A press release issued by the Wet'suwet'en and the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council matter of factly declares “Enbridge's pipeline and tanker project to British Columbia's coast isn't going to happen” and says the oil rig spill in the Gulf of Mexico has fortified B.C. First Nations’ opposition to the project.
BC First Nations took that message into a meeting of Enbridge Inc. executives and shareholders today in Calgary.
BP investors must urge transparency
BP investors must urge transparency
Catherin Howarth
guardian.co.uk, Friday 7 May 2010
We are going to the ends of the earth to find the next barrel of oil – but at what price?
The as yet unstoppable oil spill gushing from a deepwater rig drilling for BP in the Gulf of Mexico looks set to have dire environmental and social consequences – for fragile ecosystems and wildlife, and for local residents and businesses. And let us not forget the 11 people who lost their lives in the explosion.
Keystone XL Pipeline hearing held in Fairbury
Keystone XL Pipeline hearing held in Fairbury
(5/06/2010) KHAS-TV - Thursday night, U.S. State Department officials will hear from the public about a pipeline that would carry Canadian oil through Nebraska. The first of 3 public meetings, starts at 7:00 Thursday night in Fairbury.
The TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline would run from tar sands near Hardisty, Alberta, to the Gulf Coast.
The hearings follow the release of a report about the environmental impact on Keystone XL.
Again, Thursday night's meeting begins at 7:00 at the Rock Island Railroad Depot.
