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
In Alberta, dissenters are just asking for a smack-down
In Alberta, dissenters are just asking for a smack-down
Prominent scientists, doctors, leaders attacked for speaking out
By David Thompson, Edmonton Journal November 15, 2010
Dr. Paul Parks finally got the Alberta government to address his concerns about a potential "catastrophic collapse" of emergency care.
However, it took the media's bright spotlight to make it happen.
Parks had been quietly raising the issue with the government since early 2008, when he began documenting serious problems in emergency wards.
But that didn't get the government to act.
Mackenzie pipeline report OK'd by N.W.T., Ottawa
Mackenzie pipeline report OK'd by N.W.T., Ottawa
Last Updated: Monday, November 15, 2010
CBC News
The proposed $16.2-billion Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline is a step closer to reality after the federal and Northwest Territories governments agreed Monday with most of the recommendations set out by a review panel last year.
They said they can eliminate or mitigate any potential adverse impacts if the 1,200-kilometre natural gas pipeline goes ahead.
Arctic seen as possible shipping route for massive industrial components
Arctic seen as possible shipping route for massive industrial components
NATHAN VANDERKLIPPE
CALGARY— Globe and Mail Update
Published Sunday, Nov. 14, 2010
As protesters clog a new corridor built to transport the massive building blocks of a new oil sands mine, a small Northwest Territories company has suddenly found itself showered with interest by Asian companies looking for an alternative.
Alta. tailings pond to get federal inspection
Alta. tailings pond to get federal inspection
Last Updated: Monday, November 15, 2010
CBC News
Environment Canada officials will be in northern Alberta on Tuesday to inspect a tailings pond operated by Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. that was the subject of a CBC News investigation.
Federal Environment Minister John Baird made the announcement in the House of Commons on Monday, in response to a question from Alberta NDP MP Linda Duncan.
Effort to keep big rigs off Montana highways continues to spread
Effort to keep big rigs off Montana highways continues to spread
By KIM BRIGGEMAN of the Missoulian missoulian.com
October 31, 2010
From grassroots to Manhattan, the battle to keep hundreds of big rigs off the two-lane highways of Montana and Idaho continues to mushroom.
What began early last spring as an energetic local effort centered in Missoula spread quickly over Lolo Pass into rural Idaho. It has since reached across state lines and into the war rooms of an impressive array of environmental groups.
Oil and water cannot be allowed to mix along B.C.'s stunning coastline
Oil and water cannot be allowed to mix along B.C.'s stunning coastline
By Tyler McCreary
| October 29, 2010
Beneath Alaska, between the islands of Haida Gwaii and the northern British Columbia coast, is the wide but shallow Hecate Strait. Originally termed Seegaay by the Haida, Captain George Henry Richards, affixed the name Hecate to the strait in the early 1860s. Hecate was a Greek goddess associated with magic and crossroads, a governess of the wilderness and liminal regions where the spirits interact with the living.
Nexen earnings rise fourfold
Nexen earnings rise fourfold
Mechanical problems still plaguing Long Lake
By Jeffrey Jones, Reuters October 29, 2010
Nexen Inc. and Cenovus Energy Inc. on Thursday said operational problems weighed on their quarterly results, prompting investors to pull away from shares of the Canadian tarsands producers.
The issues were both internal and external, and highlighted complexities of developing Alberta's tarsands, the largest crude-oil source outside the Middle East.
350 More Ducks Killed In Canada's Toxic Tar Sands Tailing Ponds
350 More Ducks Killed In Canada's Toxic Tar Sands Tailing Ponds
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.28.10
Science & Technology
Just days after Syncrude was fined over C$3 million for , there are more duck deaths to report. At last count, the Vancouver Sun reports 350 ducks have been killed.
The birds landed on the Mildred Lake tailing pond in northern Alberta and had to be euthanized after coming into contact with tarry bitumen floating on the surface. Ducks were found to have landed at similar tailing ponds at Suncor Energy and Shell tar sands facilities.
Senators Assail Clinton Over Tar Sands Pipeline Comments
Senators Assail Clinton Over Tar Sands Pipeline Comments
Concern that State Department is pre-judging the outcome of a pipeline permit without adequate analysis
By Stacy Feldman
Leading Senate Democrats are scolding the State Department for hastily moving to approve a Canada-to-Texas pipeline that would nearly double U.S. oil sands imports and cut through the nation's largest underground aquifer.
US Tea Party's Deep Ties to Tar Sands Giant
US Tea Party's Deep Ties to Oil Sands Giant
Owners of Koch Industries, a major processor of Alberta crude, spent millions to foment and support a movement against Obama's climate change policies.
By Geoff Dembicki, November 1, 2010, TheTyee.ca
The Tea Party movement, poised to help shift the U.S. legislature to the right and stymie President Obama's green agenda, has financial and organizational ties to Koch Industries, one of America's biggest processors of Alberta oil sands crude.
