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.
Teck scraps Cominco brand, recasts business unit structure
Oct 1 2008
VANCOUVER — Teck Cominco Ltd. (TSX:TCK.B) is eliminating Cominco from its name and announcing a five-division structure to reflect its growth through acquisitions.
The five divisions specialize in copper, metallurgical coal, zinc, gold and energy, and the new name and logo "more accurately reflect Teck's diversified portfolio of commodities," the company said Wednesday.
Shut down the oilsands, NDP candidate urges
Tim Lai, Canwest News Service
Published: Thursday, September 25, 2008
VANCOUVER - Saying climate change may result in his two sons never seeing polar bears in the wild, a star NDP candidate from British Columbia called Thursday for the shutdown of Alberta's tarsands.
"We have to do something to address the climate change crisis, we need to do so now," said Michael Byers, the New Democrat hopeful in the key battleground riding of Vancouver Centre.
"We need to go after the big polluters, we need to shut the tarsands down."
PROPOSED OIL REFINERY IN MANDAN, HIDATSA, ARIKARA NATIONS' HOMELAND
“There is a reason that a new oil refinery has not been built in our USA for over 30 years, no one wants these proven extremely toxic & polluting industries in their back yard!”
Oilsands: Fowl play
Andrew Nikiforuk
From the September 29, 2008 issue of Canadian Business magazine
On a late July morning, 11 members of Greenpeace did what entrepreneurial activists do best: bold ventures. Armed with bolt cutters, the green crew drove north of Fort McMurray, Alta., severed a chain lock and then broke into Syncrude Canada Ltd.’s Aurora North settling basin, now known to millions around the world as the infamous watery graveyard for 500 migrating ducks. (Locals just call the waste pond “Dead Duck Lake.”)
Resource Council withdraws from lawsuit
Sep 24 2008 // Associated Press
Bismarck, N.D. (AP) The Dickinson-based Dakota Resource Council is withdrawing from a federal lawsuit over the TransCanada Keystone Pipeline.
DRC Board Chairman Roger Brenna says his group will keep its focus local by closely monitoring the pipeline construction.
The Natural Resources Defense Council says it will carry on the case, which challenges the U.S. State Department's environmental review of the pipeline.
Montana businesses will feel economic impact from Alberta oil-sands industry
By ED KEMMICK
Of The Gazette Staff
Financial ripples from the multibillion-dollar oil-sands industry in the Canadian province of Alberta are already being felt in Montana, but few businesses will benefit from the development as directly as Berry Y&V Fabricators in Billings.
Alberta's oil was coveted long before it was extracted
Tue. September 23, 2008; Posted: 02:43 PM
Sep 21, 2008 (Billings Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) -- HBC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Sep. 21--Although large-scale exploitation of northern Alberta's oil sands is a relatively recent phenomenon, people have known for nearly 300 years that the region was rich in an unconventional kind of oil.
Aside from the horribly racist tone to the description of nations demanding consultation or free, prior and informed consent-- this is really good news.
--M
Risky Business: Palin's pipeline may never get built
By Mark Hosenball | NEWSWEEK
Published Sep 20, 2008
From the magazine issue dated Sep 29, 2008
Departure of Olympic 'Spirit Train' met with protesters in B.C.
PORT MOODY, B.C. - The departure of a cross-country rail trip designed to boost enthusiasm for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics is being overshadowed by noisy protesters.
About three dozen protesters attempted to drown out a ceremony in Port Moody, B.C., held to mark the departure of the Canadian Pacific (TSX:CP) Spirit Train.
There were scuffles with police as officers tried to hold the protesters back, and one man was arrested and carried away by his arms and legs.
