Labour / Migration

First Nation coalition threatens blockades over oil pipeline
Jason Warick
Saskatchewan News Network; Canwest News Service
September 15, 2008

SASKATOON -- The chief of a Saskatchewan First Nation is leading a coalition of First Nations considering blockades or other action to halt construction of a multimillion-dollar oil pipeline until their concerns are addressed.

First Nations from across Western Canada meet today and Tuesday in Edmonton to plot their strategy, Red Pheasant Chief Sheldon Wuttunee said in an interview Sunday.

Oilsands fatality raising eyebrows
By KEVIN CRUSH, SUN MEDIA

The second fatal incident on the Horizon oilsands project in less than two years has officials raising eyebrows.

Richard Boyd Boughner, 47, of Love, Sask., was killed Wednesday when the floating backhoe he was operating flipped in a tailings pond at the Horizon site north of Fort McMurray.

On April 4, 2007, a tank collapse on the sprawling site killed two foreign workers from China.

Explosions in Metro Vancouver 'rare'
Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun // Wednesday, August 13, 2008

METRO VANCOUVER - Propane tanks, underground gas pipes, and trains and transport trucks rolling through Metro Vancouver all pose the risk of an explosion similar to the one that rocked Toronto last weekend.

Metro officials say although there is always a risk, it's low because the industry here is so strictly regulated.

As well, the fallout would likely not be as widespread because most oil and gas facilities are located in industrial areas away from residential neighbourhoods.

What $300-a-Barrel Oil Will Mean for You
Charles Maxwell, Senior Energy Analyst, Weeden & Co.
By LAWRENCE C. STRAUSS
AN INTERVIEW WITH CHARLES MAXWELL: He correctly predicted the recent price spike -- and he sees an eventual move to around $300 a barrel.

An urban legend to comfort America: crash programs will solve Peak Oil
Fabius Maximus

This is the second post in a series examining “urban legends” about energy that comfort Americans. Here we discuss the first of four comforting myths about unconventional and alternative energy sources. These are excuses for not doing the hard work of gathering information, analysis, planning, and executing programs necessary to prepare for the multi-decade transition through peak oil to the next era (whatever that will be). These four myths are:

High costs squeeze oil sands
Break-even price jumps 31%
Claudia Cattaneo, Financial Post // September 05, 2008

CALGARY -- As oil backpedalled again yesterday to a five-month low, oil sands projects are getting increasingly squeezed as soaring costs boost the break-even price.

A new report found the break-even oil price required by new mining projects in the oil sands has jumped to $85 a barrel, an increase of $20 or 31% in barely more than a year.

by John Michael Greer

The Archdruid Report (September 03 2008)

Druid perspectives on nature, culture, and the future of industrial society

The mismatch between the narratives of sudden apocalypse that shape so
much of today's debate about the future, on the one hand, and the
sluggish pace at which the predicament of industrial society unfolds in
the real world, on the other, found a poster child of sorts last
weekend. During the days of uncertainty before Hurricane Gustav's
arrival on the Louisiana coast, some enthusiastic soul posted claims to

'Blood diamond' smugglers threaten Canada's northern industry
Andrew Mayeda , Canwest News Service
Published: Thursday, September 04, 2008

OTTAWA - The diamond industry in Canada's Far North is vulnerable to smugglers looking to import "blood diamonds" or launder the proceeds of organized crime syndicates and terrorist organizations, newly released federal documents say.

MAN KILLED IN CNRL TAILINGS POND
September 4, 2008
Man killed in CNRL pond
Posted By By CAROL CHRISTIAN

Alberta’s shadow minister of employment wants a Canadian Natural Resources site shut down until the company can prove once and for all its Horizon site is safe.

Liberal MLA Hugh MacDonald called for the closure Wednesday after a third fatality in less than 18 months at the site, about 70 kilometres north of Fort McMurray.

Canada pushing to exploit Alberta's oil sand
Rob Gillies, Associated Press
Sunday, August 31, 2008
(08-31) 04:00 PDT Fort McMurray, Alberta

The largest dump truck in the world is parked under a huge mechanical shovel waiting to transport 400 tons of oily sand at an open pit mine in the northern reaches of Alberta.

Each Caterpillar 797B heavy hauler - three stories high, with tires twice as tall as the average man - carries the equivalent of 200 barrels of heavy oil worth nearly $23,000 per haul at today's prices.