Social Impacts. Overnight injections of migrant workers will not build healthy communities and can have severely adverse impacts on existing communities, especially those of indigenous nations on their traditional lands. Such development brings vices and long term displacement too often. Drugs, alcohol and associated violence spreads. Hunting becomes difficult when the land is threatened, leading to a further loss of culture and tradition. In towns like Fort McMurray there is no planning for the future, but merely consumption in the present. However transient the individuals may be, the populations will not leave, as “development” takes on a logic all its own. All levels of run away development are subordinate to that development, not social need.
Gulf oil spill: A hole in the world
Naomi Klein, June 19, 2010
The Deepwater Horizon disaster is not just an industrial accident – it is a violent wound inflicted on the Earth itself. In this special report from the Gulf coast, a leading author and activist shows how it lays bare the hubris at the heart of capitalism
Global Forces Making Vancouver a Major Oil Port
China craves oil sands fuel. Ottawa wants to diversify its US market. So huge amounts of crude will have to pass through a risky Second Narrows.
By Mitchell Anderson,
17 Jun 2010,
TheTyee.ca
Burrard Inlet and Second Narrows bridge
Second Narrows Bridge in Burrard Inlet received highest hazard rating by Coast Guard.
What Happened on the BP Oil Rig?
The facts, now out, are detailed here. The moral reckoning has yet to begin.
By Rex Weyler, TheTyee.ca
June 18 2010
Red flags were ignored.
After the Deepwater well blew out, the first announcement from British Petroleum (BP) assured the public that "we have the best engineers in the world." Then they announced that the damaged well flowed at a rate of "one thousand barrels per day" (b/d).
Estimates now range between 50 and 150 b/d.
How do the "best engineers in the world" get this wrong by two orders of magnitude?
Alberta MP urges Stelmach to safeguard river from oilsands plan
By Trish Audette and Mariam Ibrahim,
Edmonton Journal
June 17, 2010
EDMONTON — A Fort McMurray Conservative MP wants Premier Ed Stelmach to protect a northern Alberta river and send a "clear signal" to the oil industry about safekeeping freshwater sources.
In a two-page letter sent last month, Fort McMurray-Athabasca MP Brian Jean took aim at Nexen Inc.'s plans for the Long Lake oilsands project, which include tapping into the Clearwater River.
BP Gulf Oil Spill No Barrier to $3.8 Billion Refinery Expansion
June 02, 2010
More From Businessweek
By Joe Carroll
June 2 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc’s $3.8 billion expansion of the largest refinery in the U.S. Midwest won’t be delayed by criminal and regulatory probes into the company’s role in the largest oil spill in the country’s history.
Cuba gets ready for BP oil spill
Cuba is making preparations to protect its coast as the BP oil spill continues spreading through the Gulf of Mexico, Cuban officials said today.
News wires 15 June 2010
They offered few specifics about the preparations, but said Venezuela, Cuba's oil-rich ally, has sent a team of spill-fighting experts to help the communist-run island.
Millions of gallons of oil have gushed into the gulf in the 57-day-old spill and fouled 120 miles (190 kilometres) of US coastline.
Oil Shale or Shale Oil?
A Case of Mistaken Identity
By Keith Kohl
Thursday, June 17th, 2010
There are few things in life that anger me more than one of my readers being swindled.
And you should be just as irritated, because it's your hard earned money that's at stake.
Now, you know that shale oil isn't new to us. We've been covering the development of shale deposits for years. And my readers and I know how well that's turned out investors.
When the shale rush began, it was impossible to pick a losing play. Of course, things are much different today. But I digress...
Communities for a Better Environment v. City of Richmond: climate change mitigation measures do not stand muster under CEQA
Alston & Bird LLP
Rebecca Harrington
USA
June 15 2010
Should bigger oil tankers really be in Vancouver?
By Peter Baker,
Special to The Province
June 17, 2010
Vancouver has been a major crude-oil export port for many years. Crude-oil exports last year hit four million metric tonnes, or about 29 million barrels, according to Metro Port Vancouver. Plans are now underway to increase those shipments this year.
So why has there been so little public discussion about this development? Is it wise for Vancouver, the economic engine of the entire province, to be a major crude-oil export port?
