Economics

Greenwashing the globe

Adrian Parr believes that the sustainability movement has been hijacked

Mark Hopkins
Urban Living
October 15, 2009

Once upon a time, “sustainability” was a buzzword for hippies and
activists, shouted through megaphones with increasing frustration at an
SUV-driving, suburb-loving public. For a while, that uphill battle seemed
more like a downward spiral.

But things have changed: Now, sustainability is everywhere! Laundry
detergent comes in green bottles, leaf-patterns are plastered all over gas

Alberta delays oil sands upgrader plans

Nathan VanderKlippe

Globe and Mail
Oct. 20, 2009

On a cost basis, carbon-capture projects are madness

The small reductions gained by staggering per-tonne costs illustrate what
every independent analyst knows: The Harper government's 20-per-cent
reduction target will not be met

Jeffrey Simpson
The Globe and Mail
Published on Monday, Oct. 19, 2009 5:50PM EDT

Prime Minister Stephen Harper makes so many spending announcements, flying
like Mary Poppins on speed around the country to distribute billions of
dollars, that the news media have given up analyzing any of them.

EPA Backs Opponents of BP’s Whiting Refinery Expansion Plan
By Tina Seeley and Paul Burkhardt

Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it has granted part of a petition by environmental groups objecting to BP Plc’s expansion of its Whiting refinery in Indiana.

The EPA said in a statement today that Indiana regulators must re-evaluate the emissions calculations for BP’s plan to expand the facility to refine high-sulfur Canadian crude oil.

This project was originally led by Petro Canada, the official energy supplier to the 2010 Olympic Games, until the entire company was recently bought up by Suncor Energy.

Sadly, industry representatives continue to show their wonderful even handed nature and behaviour towards anyone and anything that may (or, may not) be the slightest bit deviant from their basic line of total production everywhere, at all times, and intimidate and harass those who defy it. As such, the article below was removed from this site after a series of bizarre threats for posting the article.

Greenpeace lawyer slams Alberta Premier Stelmach
Slave River Journal, October 14, 2009

The lawyer defending Greenpeace’s oilsands activists says Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach is using his political position to try to influence the legal system and prevent a fair trial.
Brian Beresh, a well-known Albertan defense lawyer, has taken on the case of 16 activists arrested during a protest at Shell’s Scotford upgrader on October 3.

Nexen says oilsands to triple production
Cities Commit To Cut Emissions

By Dan Healing, Calgary Herald
October 8, 2009

CALGARY - The Alberta oilsands will triple production to three million barrels of oil per day, Marvin Romanow, president and chief executive of Nexen Inc., predicted Thursday, adding he's confident it will happen but is a little hazy on the timeline.

Protests in oil sands raise anxieties

Oil companies say activists are most at risk, but one security specialist warns the oil patch is a sitting duck for terrorists

NATHAN VANDERKLIPPE

CALGARY — From Monday's Globe and Mail
Published on Monday, Oct. 12, 2009

The parade of Greenpeace protesters marching through the heart of Alberta's oil sands in recent weeks has provided an embarrassing glimpse at the state of the industry's security, says a former special forces operative who has helped safeguard Canada's nuclear plants.

NWT projects to be promoted to the feds

Guy Quenneville
Northern News Services
Published Monday, October 12, 2009

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - In what the GNWT is calling "a big step forward," the NWT Chamber of Commerce has successfully pushed three key NWT infrastructure developments with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, which will now lobby for those projects - as well as reforming the NWT regulatory regime - with the federal government.

Sunoco Announces Strategic Actions to Strengthen Competitive Position; Idles Eagle Point Refinery, Reduces Quarterly Dividend to $0.15 Per Share
Tue Oct 6, 2009 4:01pm EDT
PHILADELPHIA--(Business Wire)--

Sunoco, Inc. (NYSE:SUN) announced today it is indefinitely idling all process
units at its Eagle Point refinery located in Westville, New Jersey in an effort
to reduce losses in its refining business at a time when a recessionary economy,
weak demand for refined products, and increased global refining capacity have