Oil Sands Truth: Shut Down the Tar Sands

Peak Oil

Peak Oil is starting to be understood across a broad spectrum, but the direct connection between peak oil, climate change and the American market-led attempt to squeeze all energy out of Alberta cannot be overstated. The smaller the global supply of oil gets, the more CO2 has been emitted and the more climate change will have advanced. This leads to more interest in the tar sands—because the profit margin goes ever higher the fewer alternatives there are for petroleum. Without Peak Oil bearing down on humanity, no economical reason would exist to produce this energy intensive, low-output petrol.

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Peak Oil is starting to be understood across a broad spectrum, but the direct connection between peak oil, climate change and the American market-led attempt to squeeze all energy out of Alberta cannot be overstated. The smaller the global supply of oil gets, the more CO₂ has been emitted and the more climate change will have advanced. This leads to more interest in the tar sands—because the profit margin goes ever higher the fewer alternatives there are for petroleum. Without Peak Oil bearing down on humanity, no economical reason would exist to produce this energy intensive, low-output petrol.

"Don't let tar sand oil slip away"-- American PR for the tar sands industry

The war about what to do about the tar sands oil is well under way, and the article below is the kind of propaganda we should get used to about how much the US needs the tar sands product. In the case of the Michigan area, it should be noted that the expanding refinery capacity would include dumping into the Great Lakes. All of it increases the destruction in Northern Alberta. So these arguments are purely based (below) on a "so lifestyle and consumption patterns don't change" line of thinking.

--M

Don't let tar sand oil slip away

BY MARK J. PERRY • March 31, 2008

Shell wants to produce five times more oil from tar sands

* Terry Macalister
* The Guardian,
* Tuesday March 18 2008
This article appeared in the Guardian on Tuesday March 18 2008 on p32 of the Financial section. It was last updated at 00:49 on March 18 2008.

Shell is gearing up for a huge expansion of its carbon-intensive tar sands operation in Canada at a time when it has been struggling to replace conventional reserves.

EnCana Project Reaps, Refines Tar Sands Oil

EnCana Project Reaps, Refines 'Tar Sands' Oil
March 26, 2008: 08:05 PM EST (Investor's Business Daily delivered by Newstex) --

On Wednesday we examined how well Canada stands as investors unlock their bank accounts and jump back into stocks. Much of the fortunes up north may depend on commodity prices.

Taking a look at Canada's recent winners, we see lots of natural resources companies, such as oil and gas, gold and silver, base metals, and wheat.

Prices for these raw goods recently plunged after major run-ups, so passing on a gold mine or an oil driller may have been smart.

Government is listening to polluters

Government is listening to polluters
Mar 24, 2008 04:30 AM
John Bennett

Federal Environment Minister John Baird claims new regulations announced this month for industry greenhouse gas emitters are "tough – tougher than any anywhere."

So why aren't environmentalists standing up and cheering?

Only a few years ago Stephen Harper called Kyoto "a socialist plot" – but now his government is calling for future oil-sands operations to capture and store the greenhouse gases they create. The Conservative government sure has come a long way, hasn't it? Well no, it hasn't.

Push to bar tar sands to US military

Push to bar oil sands to US military
By Sheila McNulty in Houston
Published: March 18 2008 17:11

The powerful chairman of a key congressional committee is pressing the US federal government to comply with energy legislation that bars the use of fuel from Canada’s oil sands.

The legislation, signed into law Dec 19 last year, prohibits the federal government from procuring fuels with a higher greenhouse gas content than conventional fuels, such as that from Canada’s oil sands or coal-to-liquids.

The tar sands omerta

The oil sands omerta

Norval Scott, March 12, 2008 at 3:58 PM EDT

According to oil executives speaking at the World Heavy Oil Congress
in Edmonton this week, a big challenge for the oil sands industry is
to overcome adverse public perceptions of their work. To a man, the
Canadian representatives speaking – including the chief executives of
Suncor Energy Inc. and Nexen Inc. – referred to the need to do better
in the PR battle, and emphasized that this was a priority.

It’s a fight that the companies aren’t winning, and it’s their own

Tough new green plan targets tar sands

Tough new green plan targets oil sands
Regulations, which also apply to coal-fired power plants, would force future projects to store greenhouse-gas emissions underground

BRIAN LAGHI
OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF; Compiled by Rick Cash; Shawn McCarthy, Global Energy Reporter
March 10, 2008

Ottawa will unveil new climate-change regulations this week that would force new oil sands projects and coal-fired electricity plants to capture and store the bulk of their greenhouse gases rather than spew them into the air.

The crude fact

The crude fact
Peak oil is no academic debate: the $100 barrel is a harbinger of the energy shortage to come

Jeremy Leggett

This week, oil reached its highest price ever, exceeding the inflation-adjusted record of $103.76 set in April 1980, at the height of the second oil shock. Then, the world was worried that the high price would trigger a global depression. Now, the scope for the oil price to soar ruinously higher than $100 does not seem to worry many people. The landmark record did not reach the front pages.

Keystone pipeline to U.S. refineries nears approval

Oil sands pipeline to U.S. refineries nears approval
JAMES MCPHERSON
Associated Press
March 4, 2008

BISMARCK, N.D. -- The U.S. State Department intends to issue a permit this month for a $5.2-billion (U.S.) pipeline that would transport crude oil from central Alberta through seven states to U.S. refineries.

The State Department, in a decision published yesterday in the Federal Register, said that if no other federal agency objects, a permit will be issued within 15 days for the Keystone pipeline, a project of TransCanada Corp., Canada's largest natural gas shipper, based in Calgary.