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
Reaching far and wide for workers
Reaching far and wide for workers
Canada broadens scope to alleviate skills shortage
By Derek Sankey, For the Calgary Herald
July 25, 2008
The new reality for Canadian companies looking to recruit workers increasingly means casting a wider net across the world while government and education leaders lead the charge overseas in the face of economic restraints.
Suncor takes Greenpeace to court
Here's the latest - Suncor is suing Greenpeace for disrupting its
operations last week.
(BTW - it is absolutely outrageous that the reporter (or his editor)
is linking the tar sands actions to the Encana gas pipeline bombings
in this article, with the inference being GP is somehow connected to
the bombings.)
Suncor takes Greenpeace to court - $1.5M lawsuit comes after protest at mine
By Shaun Polczer, Calgary HeraldOctober 9, 2009 9:08 PM
CALGARY - Environmental protesters say they will continue to target
A Place at the Table?
A Place at the Table?
The Great Bear Rainforest and ForestEthics
from "Offsetting Resistance: The effects of foundation funding from the Great Bear Rainforest to the Athabasca River", a special report by Dru Oja Jay and Macdonald Stainsby.
Released September, 2009.
"Imperial welcomes regulator move on Arctic gas line"
Imperial welcomes regulator move on Arctic gas line
Vancouver Sun
NEWS SERVICES
OCTOBER 8, 2009
Imperial Oil Ltd. welcomed word from Canadian regulators on Thursday that
final arguments in the review of the $16.2-billion Mackenzie gas pipeline
are set for April, but it could not say if the timeline would allow
construction in 2010.
Imperial, lead partner in the long-delayed Arctic gas project, said the
National Energy Board's announcement of the date adds some certainty to
the process that began with its application to build the pipeline five
years ago.
'H2Oil' Tears up the Tar Sands
'H2Oil' Tears up the Tar Sands
Documentary focusing on Fort Chipewyan becomes a powerful tool for climate change activists.
By Dawn Paley, October 8, 2009, TheTyee.ca
When Lionel Lepine's plane landed in London, England in August after a long flight from northern Alberta, his initial reaction was culture shock. It was Lepine's first time flying overseas. The occasion was the Climate Camp for Action, an event now in its third year, which brings together hundreds of grassroots activists who are willing to take direct action in the fight against climate change.
Behold! Canada's most disgusting export
Behold! Canada's most disgusting export
Nothing like Alberta's's revolting oilsands to destroy your optimism
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Are you having one of those days? One of those moments where you feel like you've endured a simply relentless onslaught of negative news and economic hardship coupled to endless rounds of cretinous politicians -- all of whom enjoy fully paid health care on your tab -- debating whether or not you'll be able to afford to see a doctor ever again, all to the point where you say, you know what? I need just one more.
Enbridge to raise cost estimate on Pacific pipeline [Gateway]
Enbridge to raise cost estimate on Pacific pipeline
Tue Oct 6, 2009
CALGARY, Alberta, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Enbridge Inc (ENB.TO) expects to raise the cost estimate for the Northern Gateway pipeline, last pegged at around C$4 billion ($3.77 billion), when it seeks approvals for the oil sands export line later this year, it said on Tuesday.
Millions at stake in tar sands financial books dispute
Millions at stake in oilsands dispute
By Kelly Cryderman, Calgary Herald
October 2, 2009
Up to $100 million could be at stake this year in a dispute between the Alberta government and oilsands giants Suncor and Syncrude, according to auditor general Fred Dunn.
In his semi-annual report released Friday, Dunn said there's an ongoing tussle regarding whether the two long-lived oilsands operators can use a lower price for bitumen in their royalty calculations.
Suncor Says Tar Sands Becoming Increasingly Important
Suncor Says Oil Sands Becoming Increasingly Important
By Sonja Franklin and Doug Alexander
Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Suncor Energy Inc. Chief Executive Officer Rick George said Alberta’s oil sands are increasingly important as a supplier of energy.
“As conventional oil worldwide becomes increasingly difficult to find, develop and more costly, the oil sands, the second-largest oil base in the world, will play a bigger and bigger role,” he said in a speech to the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto today.
North America Refining Industry to 2013
North America Refining Industry to 2013: Investment Opportunities, Analysis and Forecasts of All Active and Planned Refineries in North America
Summary
