Economics drive tar sands operations. Record highs in oil prices, though still fluctuating, will make tar sand oil ‘economical’ (read: profitable) well into the future. Government subsidies to this environmentally disastrous process remain in place from a time when the federal government was sponsoring research into the possibility of recovering this oil. Stock prices of tar sands developers grow the more conventional oil is scarce.
Alberta Health Board Fires Doctor Who Raised Cancer Alarms
'I am stunned,' says Dr. John O'Connor, a veteran presence in First Nations community.
By Andrew Nikiforuk, 11 May 2015, TheTyee.ca
An Alberta health board has fired Dr. John O'Connor, the physician who came to national prominence after raising questions about rare cancers in the tarsands region.
The Nunee Health Board Society send O'Connor a letter last Friday saying it no longer required his professional services.
Koch brothers go deep in Alberta tar sands
Few people know how central this country's oil riches have been to the U.S. Big Oil billionaires' vast fortune. Most of their tar sands holdings remain untouched, but that may soon change.
by Bruce Livesey for NationalObserver.com
May 6, 2015
Fort McKay, Alberta, a hamlet of 700 citizens, hugs the Athabasca River a half-hour's drive north of Fort McMurray. It's home to the Fort McKay First Nation band.
Harper government alters climate targets, but protects oil sands
By Mychaylo Prystupa | May 15th 2015
National Observer
The Harper government is pledging to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, but in a way that does not affect the oil sands emissions - the largest source of Canada's climate warming pollution, say environmental critics.
Cutting the crud: Debunking five Big Oil myths
By Steve Cornwell
| March 12, 2015
The Harper government and Big Oil have been spouting some colourful myths about how vital the tar sands industry is for Canada. The jobs! The money! The environment!
Can't we just cut the crud and get down to the dirty truths? Why yes we can.
Let's debunk the five biggest myths about the tar sands.
Myth #1: The tar sands industry is great for Canada -- look at all those jobs it creates!
Consider the right wing source and revel in the take down of Stephen Harper.
--M
Canada Losing $30+ Bn a Year on Tar-Sands Oil
April 8, 2015
By Sprott Money
Oil is our most-precious commodity as fuel for the global economy. It is also becoming a scarce commodity, as global production has flattened, while global demand continues to climb relentlessly, everywhere in the world except for the dying economies of Europe and North America. It is a classic “seller’s market.”
Environmental groups take aim at Alberta oil sands emissions
SHAWN McCARTHY
OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Apr. 09 2015
Rising greenhouse emissions from Alberta’s oil sands would swamp Ontario’s effort to fight climate change through a carbon-pricing plan, says a report issued in advance of the provincial climate summit to be held in Quebec City next week.
Here are the other tar-sands pipelines Canada is trying to build
By Bobby Magill on 31 Mar 2015
Climate Central
A decision on whether to allow the Keystone XL pipeline to be built in the U.S. could come at any time, but there are myriad other projects on the table designed to do exactly what Keystone XL was designed to do: transport Canadian tar-sands oil to refineries.
Pipeline opponents urge support
More than 200 area people turned out in Lake Mills March 19 for an educational forum on Enbridge Energy’s project to increase the flow of tar sands oil through a pipeline that runs through Dane, Jefferson, Rock and Walworth counties.
Posted: Wednesday, March 25, 2015
By Randy Radtke Special to The Courier |
Opponents of Enbridge Inc.’s expansion of Pipeline 61 began a concerted organizational effort to rally public support to their cause with an educational forum in Lake Mills March 19.
Quebec students launch anti-austerity, pro-environment 'social strike' and movement
By Roger Annis
March 25, 2015
Rabble Blog
Post-secondary students across Quebec have launched a “social strike” and protest movement opposing hikes in tuition fees and other austerity measures of the Quebec provincial government. They are also condemning the destructive environmental policies of the Canadian and Quebec governments.
While We’ve Been Debating Keystone, The U.S. Has Grown Its Pipeline Network By Almost A Quarter
by Katie Valentine Posted on March 16, 2015
Americans have been waiting for the federal government to come to a decision over the Keystone XL pipeline for more than six years, enduring countless protests, Congressional hearings and even a Presidential veto over the controversial project.
But during that time, pipeline construction in the U.S. hasn’t slowed — in fact, it’s surged.
