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.
Outgoing TransCanada CEO touts economic benefits of Alaska pipeline to Canada
By: Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press
30/04/2010
CALGARY - Economic benefits from TransCanada Corp.'s planned Alaska natural gas pipeline are Canada's to lose, the outgoing chief executive of North America's largest gas shipper said Friday.
Leave it to the tar sands industry-- including CEO Rick George of Suncor (partners with the Canadian Boreal Initiative and the Pembina Institute) to find a way to spin the disaster in the Gulf as a good thing for the tar sands players. Yuck. These people simply do not have any morals or scruples and know no limits to their depths (so let's partner up with them!).
--M
Gulf's pain oil sands' gain, experts agree
'In face of real disaster...pretty benign operations'
Carrie Tait, National Post
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Nnimo Bassey, from Friends of the Earth Nigeria
I will not dance to your beat (a poem by Nnimmo Bassey)
I will not dance to your beat
If you call plantations forests
I will not sing with you
If you privatise my water
I will confront you with my fists
If climate change means death to me but business to you
I will expose your evil greed
If you don’t leave crude oil in the soil
Coal in the hole and tar sands in the land
I will confront and denounce you
If you insist on carbon offsetting and other do-nothing false solutions
I will make you see red
Combating climate change: lessons from the world’s indigenous peoples
Bolivia’s president says developing nations must not be shut out of international negotiations for combating the greatest environmental issue of our time.
Evo Morales
LA Times. April 23, 2010
Cochabamba, the water wars and climate change
April 23, 2010
COCHABAMBA, Bolivia — Here in this small Andean nation of 10 million people, the glaciers are melting, threatening the water supply of the largest urban area in the country, El Alto and La Paz, with 3.5 million people living at altitudes over 10,000 feet. I flew from El Alto International, the world’s highest commercial airport, to the city of Cochabamba.
China’s move on oil sands is about more than money
China's Sinopec is seeking to buy a 9-per-cent stake in the Syncrude oil sands facility near Fort McMurray, Alta.
Campbell Clark
Ottawa —Globe and Mail
Apr. 15, 2010
This is a test. Chinese oil company Sinopec’s move to buy a piece of Alberta oil sands producer Syncrude is the latest move in Beijing’s step-by-step gauging of the investment waters in Canada.
China is watching to see if the deal sets off alarm bells in Canada, particularly in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative caucus.
Oil sands will shrug off enviro castigation
By: Matthew Hill
23rd April 2010
Make no mistake about it, the Alberta oil sands development will roar on.
While shareholder groups of oil multinationals Shell and BP have recently tried to force those companies to pull out of Alberta, politicians like Sarah Palin are shouting slogans such as: "Ramp up development."
And looking at the bigger political picture, it is clear to see why.
Chávez asks leaders to introduce written proposal at Cancun Summit
April 22, 2010 in Press
EL UNIVERSAL-CARACAS, Thursday April 22, 2010
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez suggested the leaders participating in the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, which is held in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba, to submit a proposal to the meeting of the United Nations to be held in Cancun, Mexico. The move is intended to counter the Copenhagen Document that some governments led by the United States seek to impose at the Cancun Climate Change Summit.
Musings from Cochabamba and Tiquipaya, Bolivia
April 21, 2010
RBS in battle with the Cree First Nation over dirty oil development project on tribal lands
18 Apr 2010
George Poitras has come a long way to make his point.
From his traditional Mikisew Cree homelands on the shores of Lake Athabasca in northern Alberta, he has journeyed to Murray Place in the centre of Stirling – to confront the Royal Bank of Scotland.
