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
Keystone pipeline to build tunnel under Mississippi River
Tunnel Below Miss. River Among Keystone's Biggest Challenges
by Dennis Grubaugh, The Telegraph, Alton, Ill.
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
August 11, 2009
It's the ultimate in drilling challenges -- a tunnel 50 feet under the Mississippi River bottom, traversing a distance of 3,705 feet.
For those boring the way for the new TransCanada Keystone Oil Pipeline it's just part of the job and not even the biggest challenge in this region. That honor lies on the northern end of Illinois' Carlyle Lake, where the pipeline will span a distance of 4,500 feet.
Nuclear power's sick legacy
Nuclear power's sick legacy
By Helen Caldicott
The noted American writer Mary McCarthy once famously observed of the equally
noted but politically discredited playwright Lillian Hellman: "every word she
utters is a lie, including 'and' and 'but' ". As we have seen over the past
10 years, the same can be said of the Howard Government from the
children-overboard scandal to "there will never be a GST" to "yes, there are
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq". Now - joined by misguided and
misinformed members of the ALP and a few scientists who should know better -
Making sense of the disconnect in oil prices
Making sense of the disconnect in oil prices
By Deborah Yedlin, Calgary Herald
August 13, 2009
Oil prices edged over the $70 US per barrel mark again this week, staying at a level where they have spent most of August's trading days. But the relative strength being shown by oil prices is continuing to confound most observers.
Keystone Pipeline spokesman says sinkholes filled in Gorge
Pipeline spokesman says sinkholes filled in Gorge
Aug 14 2009
Associated Press
Grafton, N.D. (AP) A spokesman for the Keystone oil pipeline says crews have finished filling seven sinkholes in the scenic Pembina Gorge that were formed after horizontal drilling to bury pipe.
Spokesman Jeff Rauh says the North Dakota Forest Service and the state Public Service Commission approved the plans for repairing the sinkholes. He says the company will monitor them for about a month.
Officials said earlier the sinkholes were about 40 feet deep.
The Rock's most precious resource
The Rock's most precious resource
Gordon Pitts
Rushoon, Nfld. — Globe and Mail Aug. 12, 2009
As a 17-year-old with an adventurous spirit, Ann-Marie Cheeseman spent part of last summer driving 40-ton trucks in the Alberta oil sands. She made big money for a Newfoundland teenager, clearing close to $3,000 a week.
But she doesn't want to return to the oil sands, leaving her family and friends in the harbour village of Rushoon on the wild, beautiful Burin Peninsula. “I'd go back to Alberta only if I had to,” she says firmly.
Canada's oil patch open for Chinese business: Flaherty
Canada's oil patch open for Chinese business: Flaherty
By Jorge Barrera, the Financial Post
August 10, 2009
Jim Flaherty, Canada's finance minister, speaks at the opening of a Bank of Montreal branch in Beijing, China, on Monday. Canada wants Chinese state-run entities such as China Investment Corp. to consider North American listings.
Jim Flaherty, Canada's finance minister, speaks at the opening of a Bank of Montreal branch in Beijing, China, on Monday. Canada wants Chinese state-run entities such as China Investment Corp. to consider North American listings.
Skidding oil sends Suncor into red
Skidding oil sends Suncor into red
Investors stay focused on $22.5-billion Petro-Canada takeover
Edmonton Journal
July 23, 2009
Suncor Energy sank into the red in the second quarter as skidding oil prices, hedging losses and costs related to project deferrals marred the last reporting period before it closes its $22.5-billion takeover of Petro-Canada.
CEO Rick George said his company will move ahead with major investments after the takeover, and jettison assets by focusing on projects that offer the lowest risk, highest returns and near-term cash flow.
BC: Environmentalists trying to stop sound bombs
Environmentalists trying to stop sound bombs
Updated: Fri Aug. 14 2009 09:31:54
The Canadian Press
Environmentalists are in Federal Court hoping to block seismic testing that will send high decibel blasts into the ocean off Vancouver Island, possibly harming whales and other marine life in the area.
A U.S. research team wants to investigate the tectonic plates making up the ocean sub-floor around the Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents marine protected area, 250 kilometres west of Vancouver Island.
Suncor’s Edmonton refinery suffers processing problem
Suncor’s Edmonton refinery suffers processing problem
David Finlayson, edmontonjournal.com
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Black smoke emitted from the Suncor refinery east of Edmonton on August 12, 2009.
EDMONTON - It will take “days not hours” to get Suncor’s Edmonton refinery back to full production after a problem at its hydrogen supplier caused the shutdown of some units for the second time in a month, the company said Thursday.
"Funding offered for Northern Gateway environmental assessment"
Members of First Nations along the corridor being discussed have said that such "consultations" should not take place, since they have already indicated an explicit NO to pipelines, tanker traffic, ports and more. Holding these very hearings is a clear VIOLATION of indigenous sovereignty. This position deserves support.
--M
Funding offered for Northern Gateway environmental assessment
By Amelia Bellamy-Royds August 7, 2009 05:25 pm
