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.
Oil price slump undermines controversial tar sand projects
Commercial viability of carbon intensive Canadian tar sands hit by combination of falling oil prices and regulatory concerns
James Murray, BusinessGreen, 06 Jan 2009
Plunging oil prices might have spelled bad news for renewable energy projects, but they are also undermining the commercial viability of some of the world's most carbon intensive energy projects.
OPEC's future blowin' in the wind
Last Updated: Monday, January 5, 2009
Philip Demont
CBC News
The noise generated by the 120 wind turbines turning on the hilltops of the Viana do Castelo region in northern Portugal might not equal that of a soccer-crazy crowd at the Estadio da Luz stadium in Lisbon.
To OPEC, however, the sound from Europe's largest wind farm is as loud and clear as a high-speed train roaring across the western world.
Syncrude facing private prosecution over dead ducks
CAROLINE ALPHONSO
Globe and Mail Update
January 7, 2009
An Alberta resident launched a private prosecution against one of the country's largest oils-sands' operators, alleging that it was responsible for killing 500 ducks at its northern Alberta facility last spring.
Jeh Custer, a member of the Sierra Club Canada, commenced legal action in Edmonton Wednesday against Syncrude Canada Ltd. He said that if nothing was done, such practices by oil companies would continue without consequences.
Enbridge cleaning up spill at oil sands terminal
Wed Jan 7, 2009 5:15pm EST
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Enbridge Inc, Canada's No. 2 pipeline firm, said a malfunctioning valve at an oil storage facility in the oil sands region of northern Alberta this week spewed out 4,000 barrels of oil, but the spill was mostly contained on the grounds of its tank farm.
The company, whose pipelines carry the lion's share of oil sands crude to U.S. markets, said the spill occurred on Saturday at its Cheecham terminal south of Fort McMurray, Alberta, when a small fitting on a valve failed.
The Costly Compromises of Oil From Sand
by IAN AUSTEN
Published: January 6, 2009
New York Times
OTTAWA — The oil that is extracted from Canadian dirt is being portrayed as saving America from energy dependence on the unstable Middle East, or an environmental catastrophe in the making — depending on the perspective.
The Conservative government of Canada, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has championed the industry.
Energy at any cost
Natural-gas pipelines encroach on farms, homes and businesses with government support, with more projects in the works
Wednesday, December 24, 2008 3:08 AM
By Sandy Shore
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Rockies Express natural-gas pipeline stretches across rural land as it is built near Cheyenne, Wyo. The $4 billion project will have the capacity to move 1.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.
DENVER -- In the push toward more U.S. energy independence, massive infrastructure projects that will help deliver it have clashed with land-ownership rights.
WANING of the BOOM
Once the dream factory for 24,000 mobile workers, Fort McMurray's slowdown may be most devastating for the communities across Canada who export them.
GORDON PITTS
December 29, 2008
FORT McMURRAY, ALTA. -- Hungry young tradesmen like Evan Brewer used to be as plentiful on the ground in Fort McMurray as chips at the Boomtown Casino. They'd get off the plane from Atlantic Canada and score big money in the oil sands.
Petro-Canada working on costs
Claudia Cattaneo, Financial Post Published: Friday, December 12, 2008
CALGARY -- Petro-Canada is seeing "a pretty good response" as it re-negotiates deals to bring down costs at its delayed Fort Hills oil sands project, Ron Brenneman, chief executive, said Friday.
"I don't know where it will end up or whether it's enough to make a difference in the overall project economics," but costs are moving down and are becoming more predictable, Mr. Brenneman said in an interview.
Workers vote to end 13-month lockout at Petro-Canada refinery
Last Updated: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 |
CBC News
Workers at a Petro-Canada refinery in Montreal have voted to accept a new collective agreement, a move that will put an end to a 13-month lockout.
Union officials, representing 260 employees, said Tuesday the agreement was accepted by 94.6 per cent of members. Employees will be back at work Jan. 12.
The cold truth about climate change
Deniers continue to insist there's no consensus on global warming. Well,
there's not. There's well-tested science and real-world observations.
By Joseph Romm
Feb. 27, 2008 | The more I write about global warming, the more I realize I
share some things in common with the doubters and deniers who populate the
blogosphere and the conservative movement. Like them, I am dubious about the
process used by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to
write its reports. Like them, I am skeptical of the so-called consensus on
