Economics

Opti, partner in Nexen's Long Lake plant and originally spawned by Iraeli company Ormat in order to export "cogeneration" technology (burning waste gunk in house for power, regardless of climate impacts), has filed for bankruptcy protection. Rather than be good news for anti-tar sands campaigners in Alberta, this will provide Nexen with less questions as they try to jump start a flawed project.

"Anonymous" Hackers Attack Monsanto, Tar Sands Oil Companies
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 07.14.11
Treehugger

The notorious activist hacking group "Anonymous" has launched two new campaigns championing a pair of green causes -- helping U.S. farmers earn the right to label their food as "GMO-free" and working to obstruct the expansion of the devastating tar sands oil project in Alberta, Canada. Monsanto, the giant biotech firm, has confirmed it was the victim of a large-scale hacking attack. And the oil companies are next, Anonymous says.

Anonymous Versus Monsanto

Conflicting signals on pipeline expansion

Report suggests U.S. has 'tipped the scales' in favor of OKing permit for 2nd leg of Keystone project; not so, official says.

By Neela Banerjee • Tribune Newspapers STLtoday.com | Posted: Thursday, July 14, 2011 12:00 am

WASHINGTON • At a town hall meeting in Pennsylvania in early April, President Barack Obama was asked about a bitter fight between industry and environmentalists over a proposed $7 billion, 2,000-mile pipeline to ship crude from Alberta's oil sands to Gulf Coast refineries.

UPDATE 3-Denali exits; TransCanada alone on Alaska pipeline
Tue, 17th May 2011 2

By Jeffrey Jones and Yereth Rosen

CALGARY/ANCHORAGE, May 17 (Reuters) - BP Plc and Conoco Phillips dropped efforts on Tuesday to build a $35 billion gas pipeline from Alaska, blaming chronically low prices as well as a technological revolution that has opened up huge supplies of natural gas much closer to big U.S. markets.

Should Alberta's cross-border oil pipeline be extended to Texas?

July 9, 2011
CBC News

Alberta's energy minister says he's going to push Ottawa to promote TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline to the U.S. government.

Alberta seeks more Keystone pipeline support
CBC News
July 9, 2011

Alberta's energy minister says he's going to push the federal government to more actively promote TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline to the American government.

In an interview airing Saturday on CBC Radio's The House, Ron Liepert said he expects to meet with Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver before the federal-provincial energy ministers conference at the end of July and will push for some help convincing the Americans to approve the pipeline.

Oil giant Total pauses Madagascar tar sands plans – for now

7 July 2011

This Monday WDM campaigners came to the office with big smiles on their faces. Over the weekend, we’d heard that French Oil giant Total, subject to one of our latest online actions, had apparently cancelled its plans to mine tar sands in Madagascar.

High fives all around. Or?

Madagascar Oil and Total drop Africa’s biggest oil sands project
Frik Els | July 1, 2011

Madagascar Oil’s annual report released on Thursday shows the company is scuttling its project with French giant Total to develop a massive oil sand deposit on the island estimated to contain 1.2bn barrels of oil after three years of extensive work. The Bemolanga bitumen deposit adjacent the Tsingy de Bemaraha nature reserve (pictured) was first drilled in the late 1800s and would have cost upwards of $8bn to bring into operation.

Jordanian Senate endorses laws ratifying oil shale agreements
June 29, 2011
Jordan Times

Climate Change: It's bad and getting worse
Severe weather events are wracking the planet, and experts warn of even greater consequences to come.
Dahr Jamail
Al Jazeera, June 23, 2011

The rate of ice loss in two of Greenland's largest glaciers has increased so much in the last 10 years that the amount of melted water would be enough to completely fill Lake Erie, one of the five Great Lakes in North America.