Oil Sands Truth: Shut Down the Tar Sands

Land

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.

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Gulf oil disaster doesn’t make the tar sands green

Gulf oil disaster doesn’t make the tar sands green
Jeff Rubin's Blog // Globe and Mail
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 5:59 AM

Government of Morocco on Tar Sands 'potential' in Morocco.

This is a government ministry of Morocco report. Moroccans refer to tar sands and oil shale almost interchangeably, and even refer to Alberta's giant "oil shale" mines.

--M

Morocco Oil Shale Deposits, an Alternative Oil Source Following Oil Spill in US Golf
Thursday, May 20 2010 11:43

China out front at Calgary oil show

China out front at Calgary oil show
June 9, 2010
CBC News

Chinese companies were well represented at the World Petroleum Show, which runs June 8 to 10 in Calgary.Chinese companies were well represented at the World Petroleum Show, which runs June 8 to 10 in Calgary.

As the world's top players in the oil and gas industry gather in Calgary for a high-stakes trade show, the largest contingent and most impressive displays are from China.

Canada tar sands industry hits back at critics

Canada oil sands industry hits back at critics
By Bernard Simon in Toronto
June 9 2010
Financial Times

Alberta’s oil sands industry has vigorously defended itself against an attack by Lush, the UK-based cosmetics group, in a sign of a more aggressive approach being taken by oil sands producers towards their critics.

Dave Collyer, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (Capp), issued a statement accusing Lush of distorting the industry’s environmental record.

Cross-border fight simmers over tar sands

David Ebner
Jun 9/ 2010
Globe and Mail

The oil sands have a new adversary: the City of Bellingham, Wash.

On Monday night, in a vote of 7-0, city councillors endorsed a resolution to
reconsider what sort of fuel Bellingham buys for its fleet vehicles, a motion
that pointed a specific finger at “high carbon fuels such as those derived from
the Canadian Tar Sands.”

The resolution is largely symbolic, since the city of 76,000 is locked into its
current fuel supply contract until 2015, but highlights the ongoing political

Big Jump in Tar Sands Oil Tankers in Vancouver's Port

Big Jump in Oil Tankers in Vancouver's Port

Flow of tar sands crude to Burrard Inlet rising, and will more than double: Kinder Morgan.

By Mitchell Anderson, 3 Jun 2010, TheTyee.ca

The proposed Enbridge Gateway pipeline to Kitimat is stirring strong public opposition to the super tankers it would attract along British Columbia's northern coast.

But a bigger risk may lie in the steeply rising number of oil tankers already plying B.C.'s coast -- up nearly 50 per cent in just two years -- to handle the growing flow of tar sands petroleum from Alberta.

Bellingham to consider limits on tar sands for government vehicle fuel

Bellingham to consider rules on government vehicle fuel
SAM TAYLOR - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
June 5, 2010

BELLINGHAM - Oil that comes from a controversial mining project in Alberta, Canada, will be in the sights of City Council members again Monday, June 7.

Councilman Jack Weiss is offering up two pieces of legislation that address how the city purchases fuel for its fleet of government vehicles as well as shifting away from fossil fuels for normal business operations, specifically from the Alberta tar sands.

Protesters filmed at Alberta upgrader hearing

Protesters filmed at Alberta upgrader hearing
Last Updated: Wednesday, June 2, 2010 |
CBC News

(CBC)Private landowners who protested outside a public hearing into an bitumen upgrader northeast of Edmonton Tuesday were filmed by security guards hired by the project proponent, French energy giant Total S.A., CBC News has learned.

"What are they so afraid of?" landowner Anne Brown asked on Wednesday. "Why are they taping us?"

Reliance on Tar Sands Grows Despite Environmental Risks

Reliance on Oil Sands Grows Despite Environmental Risks
Jim Wilson/The New York Times
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS and ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Published: May 18, 2010

There is no chance of a rig blowout here, or a deepwater oil spill like the one from the BP well that is now fouling the Gulf of Mexico. But the oil extracted from Canada’s oil sands poses other environmental challenges, like toxic sludge ponds, greenhouse gas emissions and the destruction of boreal forests.