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.
Li Ka-shing May Tap Israel for Oil-Sands Technology (For use in BP/Husky's Sunrise Project)
May 04, 2010
By Alisa Odenheimer and Mark Lee
May 4 (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing may invest in Israeli oil-sands companies to expand his interests in energy production.
Li’s Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. is keen to invest in oil-sands technology that limits environmental pollution, the billionaire told Israel’s Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz in a meeting in Hong Kong today.
Nnimo Bassey, from Friends of the Earth Nigeria
I will not dance to your beat (a poem by Nnimmo Bassey)
I will not dance to your beat
If you call plantations forests
I will not sing with you
If you privatise my water
I will confront you with my fists
If climate change means death to me but business to you
I will expose your evil greed
If you don’t leave crude oil in the soil
Coal in the hole and tar sands in the land
I will confront and denounce you
If you insist on carbon offsetting and other do-nothing false solutions
I will make you see red
Combating climate change: lessons from the world’s indigenous peoples
Bolivia’s president says developing nations must not be shut out of international negotiations for combating the greatest environmental issue of our time.
Evo Morales
LA Times. April 23, 2010
Cochabamba, the water wars and climate change
April 23, 2010
COCHABAMBA, Bolivia — Here in this small Andean nation of 10 million people, the glaciers are melting, threatening the water supply of the largest urban area in the country, El Alto and La Paz, with 3.5 million people living at altitudes over 10,000 feet. I flew from El Alto International, the world’s highest commercial airport, to the city of Cochabamba.
China’s move on oil sands is about more than money
China's Sinopec is seeking to buy a 9-per-cent stake in the Syncrude oil sands facility near Fort McMurray, Alta.
Campbell Clark
Ottawa —Globe and Mail
Apr. 15, 2010
This is a test. Chinese oil company Sinopec’s move to buy a piece of Alberta oil sands producer Syncrude is the latest move in Beijing’s step-by-step gauging of the investment waters in Canada.
China is watching to see if the deal sets off alarm bells in Canada, particularly in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative caucus.
Oil sands will shrug off enviro castigation
By: Matthew Hill
23rd April 2010
Make no mistake about it, the Alberta oil sands development will roar on.
While shareholder groups of oil multinationals Shell and BP have recently tried to force those companies to pull out of Alberta, politicians like Sarah Palin are shouting slogans such as: "Ramp up development."
And looking at the bigger political picture, it is clear to see why.
Shareholder concerns won't affect Whiting expansion, BP says
Comments
Chicago Post-Tribune
April 16, 2010
BY GITTE LAASBY
BP faced heat from shareholders this week over its involvement with Canadian oil sands -- the type that the BP Whiting refinery will be processing more of with its expansion.
RBS in battle with the Cree First Nation over dirty oil development project on tribal lands
18 Apr 2010
George Poitras has come a long way to make his point.
From his traditional Mikisew Cree homelands on the shores of Lake Athabasca in northern Alberta, he has journeyed to Murray Place in the centre of Stirling – to confront the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Oil Majors Under Shareholder Pressure For Canadian Tar Sands
04/13/2010
SustainableBusiness.com News
As shareholders gather in London this week for BP’s (NYSE: BP) annual general meeting, American and British investors are coordinating an effort to put pressure on four major oil multinationals over their controversial investments in the Canadian oil sands.
EU yields to Canada over oil trade "barriers": sources
Wed Mar 24, 2010 6:27pm EDT
Reuters
By Pete Harrison
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union has yielded to Canadian demands it remove possible trade barriers to polluting oil sands to avoid further damage to ties, according to sources and leaked documents.
Relations are already strained after the European Union banned imports of seal products last July on animal welfare grounds, a move Canada is challenging at the World Trade Organization.
