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.
BLM sets environmental rules for shale energy
Utah Republicans praise the action, but actual development of the lands likely far in the future
By Christopher Smart
The Salt Lake Tribune 09/06/2008
Utah's Uinta Basin holds a lot of oil shale and some tar sands, but what it will take to turn that potential into petroleum remains a question with no easy answers or time frame.
by John Michael Greer
The Archdruid Report (September 03 2008)
Druid perspectives on nature, culture, and the future of industrial society
The mismatch between the narratives of sudden apocalypse that shape so
much of today's debate about the future, on the one hand, and the
sluggish pace at which the predicament of industrial society unfolds in
the real world, on the other, found a poster child of sorts last
weekend. During the days of uncertainty before Hurricane Gustav's
arrival on the Louisiana coast, some enthusiastic soul posted claims to
Pipeline back on the radar
Published: September 03, 2008 5:00 AM
Black Press
Public consultation on Enbridge's Gateway pipeline project is set to begin in Smithers sometime in November.
Roger Harris, Enbridge vice-president of communications and aboriginal partnerships, was in Smithers Aug. 27 to discuss the project with Town Council and the Chamber of Commerce.
'Blood diamond' smugglers threaten Canada's northern industry
Andrew Mayeda , Canwest News Service
Published: Thursday, September 04, 2008
OTTAWA - The diamond industry in Canada's Far North is vulnerable to smugglers looking to import "blood diamonds" or launder the proceeds of organized crime syndicates and terrorist organizations, newly released federal documents say.
Issues - We’re in for a whale of a time
Lifting moratoria to create pipeline and tanker ‘energy corridor’
CHRIS GENOVALI / raincoast.org
Week of September 4, 2008
Canada Needs a National Water Policy That Bans Bulk Water Exports
by Dana Gabriel // 8/29/08
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
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.
Airport closure could hurt access to health care: northern Alta. leaders
Last Updated: Wednesday, September 3, 2008
CBC News
Mayors and chiefs from northern Alberta communities said they will fight any plan to shut down Edmonton City Centre Airport, a public hearing in the provincial capital heard Tuesday.
About 60 people are making presentations at the two-day public hearings on the future of the airport, beginning Tuesday at Edmonton city hall.
Westar Energy to Build Transmission Line Near Atchison, Kansas
Posted on: Tuesday, 2 September 2008, 09:00 CDT
Westar Energy, which is engaged in power generation, transmission and distribution, has announced that it will build a 115kV high-capacity transmission line near Atchison, Kansas.
