Land, regardless of whether covered by forests, tundra or grasslands, is threatened by mining operations such as Alberta’s vast open tar pit operations, or through incredible networks of “right of way” cuts for pipelines that extend in the hundreds of thousands of miles, all told, and across the continent in four directions and to three oceans—either through feeding the tarsand operations with fossil fuel energy or through feeding energy markets from tarsand operations after production. In the case of pipeline right of ways, they can blast directly through mountains or be buried in permafrost if needed, to get the energy to move.
Here are the other tar-sands pipelines Canada is trying to build
By Bobby Magill on 31 Mar 2015
Climate Central
A decision on whether to allow the Keystone XL pipeline to be built in the U.S. could come at any time, but there are myriad other projects on the table designed to do exactly what Keystone XL was designed to do: transport Canadian tar-sands oil to refineries.
Pipeline opponents urge support
More than 200 area people turned out in Lake Mills March 19 for an educational forum on Enbridge Energy’s project to increase the flow of tar sands oil through a pipeline that runs through Dane, Jefferson, Rock and Walworth counties.
Posted: Wednesday, March 25, 2015
By Randy Radtke Special to The Courier |
Opponents of Enbridge Inc.’s expansion of Pipeline 61 began a concerted organizational effort to rally public support to their cause with an educational forum in Lake Mills March 19.
Grassroots Dene people defending the land in northern Saskatchewan
By Scott Neigh
| March 25, 2015
On this week's episode of Talking Radical Radio, I speak with Don Montgrand and Candyce Paul. They are grassroots Dene people living in northern Saskatchewan, and they talk with me about the Northern Dene Trappers Alliance and its efforts to defend the land and to defend the Dene people in the face of companies and governments pushing predatory resource extraction.
Environmentalists ask Chicago mayor to investigate BP oil spill
By Tara Kadioglu Post-Tribune
March 25, 2015
Environmentalist claim heavy oil leak was tar sands
Environmental activists delivered a letter to Mayor Rahm Emanuel Wednesday demanding a public report and investigation into at least 1,600 gallons of heavy crude oil spilled into Lake Michigan last year from BP's Whiting refinery.
BP confirms oil spill into Lake Michigan from Whiting refinery
While We’ve Been Debating Keystone, The U.S. Has Grown Its Pipeline Network By Almost A Quarter
by Katie Valentine Posted on March 16, 2015
Americans have been waiting for the federal government to come to a decision over the Keystone XL pipeline for more than six years, enduring countless protests, Congressional hearings and even a Presidential veto over the controversial project.
But during that time, pipeline construction in the U.S. hasn’t slowed — in fact, it’s surged.
Environment: Canadian Citizen groups say new tar sands rules too weak to protect the Athabasca River
Posted on March 14, 2015
by Bob Berwyn
Staff Report
FRISCO — A set of proposed new water rules has unleashed a storm of protest in Canada, where citizen and conservation groups charge that the government is giving away the store to energy companies exploiting the tar sans of Alberta.
U.S. Senate fails to override Obama’s veto of Keystone XL bill
Paul Koring
WASHINGTON — The Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Mar. 04 2015
Keystone XL backers in the U.S. Senate failed Wednesday to override President Barack Obama’s veto of congressional efforts to approve the controversial Canadian oil sands pipeline.
With Keystone XL pipeline uncertain, Alberta floats idea of moving tar-sands oil through Alaska
02/10/2015
Officials in the Canadian province of Alberta say they hope to talk to Alaska leaders about shipping tar-sands crude oil through the state as the Keystone XL pipeline route through the Lower 48 remains bogged down in politics.
An Alaska economist said the idea faces many challenges but is possible.
"The desert is full of mirages, but the desert also has water," said Gunnar Knapp, director of the University of Alaska Anchorage's Institute of Social and Economic Research.
Shell Withdraws From Largest Tar Sands Project Yet
by Ari Phillips Posted on February 25, 2015
"Shell Withdraws From Largest Tar Sands Project Yet"
Keystone XL is not the only deciding factor in the future of tar sands extraction.
Shell shelves plan for tar sands project in face of low oil prices
Withdrawal from the Pierre River project is the latest in a series of blows to industry reliant on high cost production struggling with oil prices at six-year lows
Shell has shelved plans for a major new tar sands mine in Canada, the largest project yet to fall victim to low oil prices.
The company has withdrawn its application for the 200,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Pierre River project and will instead concentrate on boosting the profitability of its existing 255,000-bpd oil sands operations.
