Oil Sands Truth: Shut Down the Tar Sands

International oil & gas

Stock markets and global oil interests (including war) would be included here, as would attempts to get oil out of high risk, low return areas from oil shale in Colorado, to natural gas and heavy oil in the high eastern Arctic. The tar sands are part of this trend and should be seen as such. What happens with the tar sands will have a tremendous impact on what kind of choices are made elsewhere, environmentally and socially.

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International Oil & Gas is a category for stories relating to tar sand production or climate change but not in any of the projects already listed geographically. This includes other regions of the planet with horrible environmental and high energy costs that, like the tar sands, are only a "choice" because of high prices and the global depletion of easily recoverable oil reserves. Such issues as the threat of war on Iran, "instability" in Iraq and Venezuela or disasters like Katrina will all drive up oil prices, which in turn doubly encourages tar sand production-- by price demand and energy demand. Stock markets and global oil interests (including war) would be included here, as would attempts to get oil out of high risk, low return areas from oil shale in Colorado, to natural gas and heavy oil in the high eastern Arctic. The tar sands are part of this trend and should be seen as such. What happens with the tar sands will have a tremendous impact on what kind of choices are made elsewhere, environmentally and socially.

Let's Hold Canada to the Same Standards as China

Let's Hold Canada to the Same Standards as China
By Yves Engler; September 01, 2008 - Znet

The mainstream media's hypocrisy during the Olympics would have been funny
if it weren't so ignorance-producing.

So many words written or spoken about human rights violations,
lip-synching, suppression of Tibet, taped fireworks, Communist
dictatorship, evil Chinese nationalism and yet what about context? Or what
about how Canada might seem to them?

Has any media discussed Canada's decades-long support of British
imperialism in China? Opium War anyone? Dividing the country up among

Canada's Tar Sands Lobbyists Focus on Democrats

POLITICS-US: Canada's Tar Sands Lobbyists Focus on Democrats
By Chris Arsenault

VANCOUVER, Sep 2 (IPS) - As the U.S. election campaign kicks into overdrive, Canadian politicians and oil executives are stepping up lobbying efforts to make sure whoever controls the White House keeps purchasing notoriously dirty oil from the Alberta tar sands.

ALABAMA VOICES: Drilling not answer

ALABAMA VOICES: Drilling not answer
August 31, 2008

First of two parts
By John Ackerman

Over the past few months there has been a great deal written about our dependency on fossil fuels and an alternative to this dilemma called "drill here, drill now, pay less" was offered.

Post-Peak Politics

Post-Peak Politics
by John Michael Greer

The Archdruid Report (July 23 2008)

Druid perspectives on nature, culture, and the future of industrial society

The recent downward lurch in the price of oil, among its other effects,
has provided a good look at the downward arc of a cycle of public
discourse about energy that will likely become all too familiar during
the months and years ahead of us. As oil prices rose to new records a
few weeks back, the media bristled with pundits warning about an
imminent energy crisis in language ranging from sober to apocalyptic.

Why oil won't fall below $100

Why oil won't fall below $100
With a surge in the price of global commodities, it's costing more to produce a barrel of oil than ever before.
By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: August 22, 2008: 3:47 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Last week, falling oil prices looked unstoppable. The last few days have seen a halt in that slide. Still with prices well below the record set in July and a shaky world economy threatening demand, the question remains: How low can oil go?

Iraq Signs Oil Deal With China Worth Up to $3 Billion

Iraq Signs Oil Deal With China Worth Up to $3 Billion
August 29, 2008
By ERICA GOODE and RIYADH MOHAMMED

BAGHDAD — In the first major oil deal Iraq has made with a foreign
country since 2003, the Iraqi government and the China National
Petroleum Corporation have signed a contract in Beijing that could be
worth up to $3 billion, Iraqi officials said Thursday.

Under the new contract, which must still be approved by Iraq's
cabinet, the Chinese company will provide technical advisers, oil
workers and equipment to help develop the Ahdab oil field southeast of

On Clean Coal...

If By Clean You Mean Filthy

by Umbra Fisk

Grist (July 23 2008)

Question

Dear Umbra,

I noticed that several of the presidential primary debates were
sponsored by clean coal. This was announced during breaks and several
commercials aired. I have since seen several more commercials and online
advertisements. Is clean coal an oxymoron? Is this a PR stunt or are
there any real environmental benefits to clean coal that rival solar and
wind? See www.americaspower.org.

Andrew S.
Brookline, Massachusetts

Answer

Dearest Andrew,

Canadian Oil Officials to Meet With Obama Adviser, Star Reports

By Sean B. Pasternak

Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian government and oil industry officials will meet with Senator Barack Obama's top energy adviser today to promote Canada's oil-sands industry, the Toronto Star reported.

The meeting with Jason Grumet will be led by Conservative Party member Tony Clement, the Star said. Officials are hoping to shed Canada's label of producing expensive oil that requires large amounts of energy and water to extract, the newspaper reported.

Coal Juice: High Energy Prices Prompt First U.S. Coal-to-Liquids Plant

Coal Juice: High Energy Prices Prompt First U.S. Coal-to-Liquids Plant
Posted by Keith Johnson
Fresh hope for U.S. coal? (AP) July 28, 2008, 1:58 pm

It’s far from clear that higher energy prices are environmentalists’ friend. Though they migh eventually spur clean energy, they’re doing a good bit of the opposite right now.

N.B. inmates training to be oil rig workers

N.B. inmates training to be oil rig workers
Last Updated: Monday, July 7, 2008
CBC News

Inmates at the Westmoreland Institution in New Brunswick are being provided with the chance to train to be oil workers.

The Dorchester-based minimum-security penitentiary is offering a 20-day course to teach inmates the basics of becoming a roughneck on an oil rig.

A similar program has also been offered to inmates who are on parole and has had a high success rate, said Isabelle Leblanc-Gallant, who is setting up the job training at the institution.