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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Peak Everything

By Gunther Ostermann

28 November, 2009
http://www.countercurrents.org/ostermann281109.htm
Countercurrents.org

The former media mogul Ted Turner challenged us in 1992 with this statement:' If we don't make the right choices after we have all the information, then we don't deserve to live."

Well, we have more than enough information. Oil and gas, the stored sun's energy, which took hundreds of millions of years to incubate, gone forever within this century. We are, in fact, approaching PEAK EVERYTHING.

Group formed to oppose Enbridge pipeline plan

Group formed to oppose pipeline plan
Written by Gordon Hoekstra
Prince George Citizen staff
Thursday, 26 November 2009

A new environmental group based in Prince George has been formed to fight Enbridge's proposed $4.5-billion oil and condensate pipelines through northern B.C.

EnCana sour gas leak under investigation in B.C.

EnCana sour gas leak under investigation in B.C.
November 27, 2009 |
CBC News

A safety investigation is being carried out by the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission after a dangerous sour gas leak from an EnCana pipeline forced about 15 northeastern B.C. residents to flee their homes on Sunday.

EnCana has yet to say what caused the leak at a well located about 10 kilometres south of Pouce Coupe, but officials have confirmed it was not caused by sabotage.

1 man's campaign to end B.C.'s offshore drilling ban

The 10-billion-barrel battle

By Dave Simms
CBC News
Friday, November 20, 2009

1 man's campaign to end B.C.'s offshore drilling ban

Henry Lyatsky is a man on a mission.

The Calgary-based oil industry consultant is on a one-man campaign to lift
the moratorium on offshore oil drilling on Canada's West Coast.

While his message gets a sympathetic ear in in his home town, the centre of
Canada's oil industry, his mission is more of an uphill battle in British
Columbia.

At stake are 9.8 billion barrels of oil - enough to supply all of Canada's

IEN Statement prior to Copenhagen talks

Dear Indigenous Environmental Network Ally,

With just two weeks to go before world leaders meet in Copenhagen to deal
with climate change, we’ve run out of time for compromise. Indigenous
Environmental Network will be supporting a delegation of grassroots
community leaders from tar sands affected First Nations to attend and speak
out in Copenhagen. They will call out the Government of Canada and big oil
for their continuing failure to address the concerns of First Nations
Peoples whose Aboriginal and Treaty rights are being violated by the tar
sands and by runaway climate change.

"Province blasted for not sticking up for tar sands"

Province blasted for not sticking up for oilsands
By MARKUS ERMISCH, SUN MEDIA
18th November 2009

Alberta's government and energy industry must step up their listless defence of the oilsands and better fund their PR battle against environmental groups, says the president of the Alberta Enterprise Group.

"If we're serious about defending this asset, we need to spend some money on it," Tim Shipton told an industry conference yesterday.

"I don't see enough effort being made to position this as Canada's energy project."

North American Energy Integration: An insider perspective

Pipelines, Energy, Economy
DEREK BURNEY
WEB | November 17, 2009

Shortly after 9/11, a senior US official approached the Canadian embassy in Washington to ask whom in Ottawa he should contact regarding shared strategic infrastructure, such as pipelines and electricity grids. Presumably Canada is today better equipped now than it seemed to have been then to cope with the threat, however minimal. In any event, the issue of pipeline security needs to be placed in the larger context of energy security and economic resilience.

Indigenous women to tour U.K. to raise tar sands awareness

Canadians tour U.K. to raise oilsands awareness
Last Updated: Sunday, November 15, 2009
CBC News

Three Canadian women hope to raise awareness in the U.K. about the oilsands, and inspire citizens to take action.Three Canadian women hope to raise awareness in the U.K. about the oilsands, and inspire citizens to take action. (CBC)

Three aboriginal women from Canada are visiting the United Kingdom and Ireland as part of a 10-day tour to raise awareness around human rights issues occurring in the Alberta tarsands.

Parks, a favourite PR cover for un-green things

Parks, a favourite PR cover for un-green things
By Peter Gorrie Environment Columnist
Published On Sat Nov 14 2009 // Toronto Star

MERIDA, Mexico–It was a rare sight: a hall full of environmentalists standing to applaud federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice.

Peak oil: what does the data say?

Peak oil: what does the data say?
Terry Macalister, Guardian, November 13, 2009

The controversy over the International Energy Agency (IEA) figures has highlighted the peak oil debate. What do the numbers say?

The question is not if the world is running out of oil, it's when. There are finite quantities of crude even if the oil companies get the chance to dig up the Arctic as they are desperate to do.