Tar Sands 101
The Tar Sands "Gigaproject" is the largest industrial project in human history and likely also the most destructive. The tar sands mining procedure releases at least three times the CO2 emissions as regular oil production and is slated to become the single largest industrial contributor in North America to Climate Change.
The tar sands are already slated to be the cause of up to the second fastest rate of deforestation on the planet behind the Amazon Rainforest Basin. Currently approved projects will see 3 million barrels of tar sands mock crude produced daily by 2018; for each barrel of oil up to as high as five barrels of water are used.
Human health in many communities has seriously taken a turn for the worse with many causes alleged to be from tar sands production. Tar sands production has led to many serious social issues throughout Alberta, from housing crises to the vast expansion of temporary foreign worker programs that racialize and exploit so-called non-citizens. Infrastructure from pipelines to refineries to super tanker oil traffic on the seas crosses the continent in all directions to allthree major oceans and the Gulf of Mexico.
The mock oil produced primarily is consumed in the United States and helps to subsidize continued wars of aggression against other oil producing nations such as Iraq, Venezuela and Iran.
To understand the tar sands in more depth, continue to our Tar Sands 101 reading list
The great pipeline battle [The Economist]
![The great pipeline battle [The Economist]](http://oilsandstruth.org/sites/oilsandstruth.org/files/eco.png)
Energy in Canada
The great pipeline battle
The energy industry and Stephen Harper’s government try to ensure tar-sands oil gets to market
May 26th 2012 | OTTAWA
The Economist
Tar sands company raises $11M, will start 1st US commercial production of tar sands in Utah
Oil sands company raises $11M, will start 1st US commercial production of tar sands in Utah
The Republic (Indiana)
May 24, 2012
SALT LAKE CITY — A tiny Canadian company says it has raised enough money from a stock offering to start producing oil from Utah's tar sands for a first-of-its kind project in the U.S.
U.S. Oil Sands Inc. says it raised $11 million from the offering and plans to start digging a 62-acre pit in eastern Utah this summer. Environmental groups fear it could lead to widespread destruction of public lands in the Rocky Mountain region.
Protesters disrupt hearing on pumping tarsands oil through Flamborough
Protesters disrupt hearing on pumping tarsands oil through Flamborough
Hamilton Spectator
May 23, 2012
Protesters have halted a hearing into a proposal to ship tarsands oil through Flamborough.
Enbridge has asked the National Energy Board to allow for a reversal of flow in its Line 9 pipeline which runs from Sarnia to Westover.
The three-day hearing opened Wednesday morning, but was immediately stopped when Native and environmental protestors began chanting in a London, Ont. hearing room.
Settlement Reached In BP Tar Sands Controversy
Settlement Reached In BP Tar Sands Controversy
By Network Indiana
Posted May 24, 2012
A settlement has been signed that will cut emissions from the highly-polluting tar sands oil project in Northwest Indiana.
The controversy over state air pollution permits to expand British Petroleum’s refinery in Whiting, Indiana is coming to an end. A precedent-setting settlement has been signed that will cut emissions from the highly-polluting tar sands oil project and provide stronger air quality protections for Northwest Indiana residents.
Iran row fuels hunt for new oil sources
Iran row fuels hunt for new oil sources
Indrani Bagchi, TNN | May 13, 2012
NEW DELHI: An unstable Persian Gulf and West Asia, coupled with the US pressure on India to cut oil imports from Iran, is driving New Delhi to make diversification a major plank of its energy policy. Now, India is looking at Canada, Nigeria, Venezuela and even Brazil as new sources of oil and gas.
Global Warming: An Exclusive Look at James Hansen’s Scary New Math
Global Warming: An Exclusive Look at James Hansen’s Scary New Math
A new analysis by the NASA climatologist for the first time ties specific weather events to human-induced climate change
By Paul Tullis | May 10, 2012
How can NASA physicist and climatologist James E. Hansen, writing in the New York Times today, “say with high confidence” that recent heat waves in Texas and Russia “were not natural events” but actually “caused by human-induced climate change”?
First Nations to Enbridge: 'The war is on'
First Nations to Enbridge: 'The war is on'
The Canadian Press
Date: Wed. May. 9 2012
TORONTO — Scores of West Coast First Nations and supporters ended a colourful and noisy protest against a proposed Enbridge oil pipeline Wednesday with a declaration of war from one of their chiefs.
The Yinka-Dene Alliance argues the Northern Gateway project poses a threat to aboriginals' way of life by threatening waterways and ecosystems but Enbridge insists the project will proceed.
"The war is on," said Nadleh Whut'en Chief Martin Louie after the shareholder meeting.
First barrels of Jordanian oil shale expected this year
First barrels of Jordanian oil shale expected this year
by Taylor Luck | May 08,2012 |
DEAD SEA — An Estonian-Jordanian firm is set to pump the first ever commercially viable barrels of Jordanian oil shale this year.
Jordan Oil Shale Energy (JOSE) revealed on Tuesday that the firm was scheduled to bring the first commercially-viable Jordanian oil share to the surface in the central region of Attarat this September.
Majority of tar sands ownership and profits are foreign, says analysis
Majority of oil sands ownership and profits are foreign, says analysis
By Mike De Souza, Postmedia News May 10, 2012
OTTAWA — More than two-thirds of all oil sands production in Canada is owned by foreign entities, sending a majority of the industry’s profits out of the country, says a new analysis released Thursday by a British Columbia-based conservation group.
Tough Questions for Enbridge on Its Alleged Support from First Nations
Tough Questions for Enbridge on Its Alleged Support from First Nations
by Damien Gillis l The Canadian.org
It seems like every time BC First Nations draw major press coverage on their opposition to Enbridge, the company comes up with increasingly wild claims about how much support they have from First Nations.
