Economics

A Smoking Gun in BP's Deep Horizon Mess?

Submitted by BassMan2 on 15. May 2010 - 11:31
Thom's nationally syndicated radio show

This hasn't seemed to have gotten much circulation yet, and I think it really needs to. Seems that a crew from Schlumberger, on contract to BP, hightailed it off the platform at their own expense 6 hours before the blowout becuase BP refused their recommendation to shut down the well. This lends more credence to Thom's suggestion that corners were cut because the bigwigs were coming for a vist.

Bellingham to consider rules on government vehicle fuel
SAM TAYLOR - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
June 5, 2010

BELLINGHAM - Oil that comes from a controversial mining project in Alberta, Canada, will be in the sights of City Council members again Monday, June 7.

Councilman Jack Weiss is offering up two pieces of legislation that address how the city purchases fuel for its fleet of government vehicles as well as shifting away from fossil fuels for normal business operations, specifically from the Alberta tar sands.

Imagining Life Without Oil, and Being Ready
Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times

Jennifer Wilkerson’s preparations for a post-petroleum world include growing her own food and stockpiling supplies against any shortages.
By JOHN LELAND
June 5, 2010

As oil continued to pour into the Gulf of Mexico on a recent Saturday, Jennifer Wilkerson spent three hours on the phone talking about life after petroleum.

Protesters filmed at Alberta upgrader hearing
Last Updated: Wednesday, June 2, 2010 |
CBC News

(CBC)Private landowners who protested outside a public hearing into an bitumen upgrader northeast of Edmonton Tuesday were filmed by security guards hired by the project proponent, French energy giant Total S.A., CBC News has learned.

"What are they so afraid of?" landowner Anne Brown asked on Wednesday. "Why are they taping us?"

Climate camp targets RBS in Edinburgh

Four-day climate camp to be held at same time as Edinburgh fringe festival and will protest over bank's links to oil industry

* Tim Webb
* The Guardian, Tuesday 1 June 2010

This summer's Edinburgh fringe festival could be hijacked by climate change protesters after they decided to hold their annual camp in the city at the same time.

environmentalists and Tar Sands operators to announce eco-agreement

May 25th, 2010 by salmon guy

Eco-certified?

Well, maybe the subject line to this post is not quite true… but probably soon enough. We can call the products: the eco-tar sands; or Greenpeace Oil; or Suzuki Sustainable Bitumen; or otherwise.

Reliance on Oil Sands Grows Despite Environmental Risks
Jim Wilson/The New York Times
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS and ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Published: May 18, 2010

There is no chance of a rig blowout here, or a deepwater oil spill like the one from the BP well that is now fouling the Gulf of Mexico. But the oil extracted from Canada’s oil sands poses other environmental challenges, like toxic sludge ponds, greenhouse gas emissions and the destruction of boreal forests.

The Gulf oil spill in context: US oil consumption
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
May 31, 2010

[graphs and charts at link at bottom of this article]

Aging Chevron oil refinery must clean up or shut down

By Peter Cech, The Province June 1, 2010

I am appalled that oil leaks are still happening in Burrard Inlet in the heart of the Lower Mainland.

There's a long string of "events" related to Chevron's operations in North Burnaby. "Unplanned discharges" of particulate and toxic fumes in the air we breathe are an annual event.

We've even been subjected to leaks of methyl tertiary butyl ether. This goes beyond the "nuisance odours" we've been subjected to for decades.

Alberta’s Tar Sands and Idaho’s Wilderness Gateway

Unfiltered By Nick Gier, Unfiltered 5-31-10

In April of 2008, over 1,000 ducks flying over Northern Alberta took a break from their migration north and landed in what they perceived was just another lake in the area. They never took flight again, along with other 10,000 other waterfowl that year. The water in many of these lakes has been tarred and poisoned by bitumen processing.