Oil Sands Truth: Shut Down the Tar Sands

Energy

Energy and how it is captured and consumed is barely viable in tar sands production. While the amount of oil in places such as the tar sands in Alberta or the Orinoco Belt in Venezuela may have deposits of similar size to the reserves of countries such as Saudi Arabia or Iraq, the return of new energy after expending energy in production is not even close. In Iraq, the process of using one barrel of oil generates 100 new barrels. In the tar sands, estimates of 3 to 1 and even as low as 1.5 to 1 have been made. Offsetting the net energy loss would require minimally 25-30 tar sands facilities for one Saudi plant operating at the same capacity.

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Tories mulled weaker oil-gas emission targets: documents

Tories mulled weaker oil-gas emission targets: documents
last Updated: Monday, December 14, 2009
CBC News

The Conservative government has considered abandoning some of the greenhouse gas reduction goals set out in its 2007 green plan and allowing weaker targets for the oil and gas sector, documents obtained by CBC News suggest.

The proposal raises questions on how the Tories could cut overall greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 — a target they insist they can reach — while weakening the targets in the oil and gas sector.

Scientists Sound Biomass Alarm; Is Copenhagen Listening?

Monday 14 December 2009

by: Joshua Frank, t r u t h o u t | News Analysis

Current climate legislation and the Kyoto Protocol are undermining the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Or so contends a cautionary article that appeared in October's peer-reviewed journal of Science.

Conservation (or forestry or Boreal) Offsets: The biggest scam yet.

Since more and more this is likely to become the main "strategy" that countries like Canada and Australia are to "commit to", people should know what this lie is.

It behooves us all to speak to the elephant and call him a big grey liar, and stop pretending he's not there.

--M

Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, Australia)
December 14, 2009

Green pot of carbon gold lures politicians
GUY PEARSE AND GREGG BORSCHMANN

Lutselk'e shocked by chief's support of Ur-Energy exploration

Lutselk'e shocked by chief's support of Ur-Energy exploration
Last Updated: Thursday, September 3, 2009 |
CBC News

Some residents in Lutselk'e, N.W.T., were surprised Wednesday to hear their leadership is supporting a uranium company that's exploring for uranium in the Upper Thelon area.

Shaky economy hinders Long Lake tar sands project

Shaky economy hinders Long Lake oilsands project
By MARKUS ERMISCH, SUN MEDIA
10th December 2009

Nexen Inc. is delaying the expansion of its Long Lake oilsands project by one year to 2011, citing Canada's hesitant economic recovery and a lack of clarity about new environmental regulations as major reasons.

"Right across our industry, there is quite a measured approach to the pace of investment," Nexen CEO Marvin Romanow said in a conference call yesterday.

US should share tar sands burden: Paul Martin

US should share oilsands burden:Paul Martin
December 14, 2009
CP

TORONTO — Environment Minister Jim Prentice appears to be in agreement with former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin on who should pay for the environmental costs of Alberta's oilsands energy.

Martin has been quoted as saying the U.S. should shoulder some of Canada's carbon emissions burden because it's the chief user of energy from the oilsands.

Prentice, who is at the Copenhagen climate summit, says if Americans buy Canadian oil, the environmental costs should be absorbed on the U.S. side of the border.

Canada ranks low on climate change report card

Canada ranks low on climate change report card
By Kelly Cryderman, Calgary Herald
December 14, 2009

COPENHAGEN — Canada ranks just ahead of Saudi Arabia when it comes to progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, says an annual climate change performance report looking at 57 high-emitting countries.

"Looking at the emissions level of the ranked countries, the United States, Canada and Russia place very poorly," says the report, to be officially released as global climate change talks resume in Copenhagen Monday.

Ontario, Quebec say they won’t shoulder tar sands burden

Ontario, Quebec say they won’t shoulder oilsands burden
By Kelly Cryderman, Calgary Herald
December 13, 2009

COPENHAGEN — Delegations from Ontario and Quebec wasted no time before differentiating their position from the federal government’s after arriving Sunday at the climate change conference in Copenhagen — declaring they weren’t going to carry higher emission-reduction burdens for the sake of oilsands expansion in the Western provinces.

The Silence of the North: when the tailings ponds let go....

Ingmar Lee writes:

In the context of all the hot-air being emitted at Copenhagen, I offer this
piece:

I've just read a fantastic piece of historic Canadian literature, (The
Silence of the North) -a memoir by pioneer trappers-wife, Olive A.
Fredrickson, as told to author Ben East. She reminisces from her experiences
in the north of Alberta and BC in the 1920's when all was wild up there. Her
travels in the then wilderness took her all through the area around Fort
McMurray, now the epicentre of the Alberta Tar Sands planetary blight.

Burn a Tree to Save the Planet? The Crazy Logic Behind Biomass

By Joshua Frank, AlterNet. Posted December 8, 2009.

It might seem crazy that anyone would think the incineration of wood and its byproducts are a green substitute for toxic fuels such as coal. Think again.

Fire up your chainsaw and cut down a tree. Not so you can decorate it for the Christmas holiday; so you can set it on fire to help combat global warming. That's right, burn a tree to save the planet. That's the notion behind biomass, the new (yet ancient) technology of burning wood to produce energy.