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
Imperial Oil's Mackenzie Valley pipeline still on ice
Imperial Oil's Mackenzie Valley pipeline still on ice
Cost of gas project now expected to be around $20B
CBC News Posted: Dec 19, 2013
Imperial Oil has announced it will not go ahead with the Mackenzie Gas Project, as the market conditions are just not good right now, says a company spokesman.
Imperial Oil had to give its decision on the construction of the pipeline to the National Energy Board by the end of 2013. The company was also required to provide an updated cost estimate.
Business Page rantings about Gateway and Keystone
Enbridge Gateway Win Shows Stopping Keystone Won’t Halt Oil (1)
By Jim Efstathiou Jr. and Rebecca Penty December 20, 2013
Keystone XL backers say the proliferation of alternative projects, such as one to carry oil-sands crude to a Canadian seaport that advanced yesterday, undercuts opponents who claim blocking the pipeline will keep the high-carbon fossil fuel in the ground.
Construction Advances on Flanagan South Pipeline Project
Construction Advances on Flanagan South Pipeline Project | Not first pipeline for area
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Charles Dunlap/Staff Writer
Enbridge Energy Company Inc. of Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, work on the Flanagan South Pipeline Project has advanced in Lafayette County over the recent weeks. Pipeline trenches, welding and laying of pipeline work has increased. Driving to the west or north of Concordia will find its pathway.
Piles of tar-sands waste in Chicago are pissing people off
Piles of tar-sands waste in Chicago are pissing people off
By John Upton
Grist
Nov 19, 2013
Clouds of coal dust and petroleum coke, a waste product from the refining of tar-sands oil, have been enveloping neighborhoods on Chicago’s southeast side. Federal, state, and city officials are finally moving to temper the dangerous air pollution.
The villains: KCBX Terminals (a division of Koch Industries) and Beemsterboer Slag Co.
Enbridge to keep seeking public approval for Northern Gateway pipeline
Enbridge to keep seeking public approval for Northern Gateway pipeline
Jeffrey Jones
Lake Louise, Alta. — The Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Nov. 29 2013
Enbridge Inc. will keep trying to win public approval for its Northern Gateway oil pipeline to the Pacific coast from Alberta even with the clock winding down to a crucial regulatory decision for the contentious project in the coming weeks, its chief executive officer said on Friday.
Energy East, Line 9 pipelines would be boost for Quebec refinery sector: Suncor
Energy East, Line 9 pipelines would be boost for Quebec refinery sector: Suncor
Jeff Lewis | 12/11/13
CALGARY – Rival plans to pipe Alberta crude east would safeguard jobs and encourage investment in Quebec’s struggling refinery sector, the president and chief executive of Suncor Energy Inc. said Tuesday.
The Next Frontier for Pipeline Organizing Is Your Backyard
The Next Frontier for Pipeline Organizing Is Your Backyard
The Nation
November 4, 2013
Rick Perlstein
Corroding Our Democracy
October 14, 2013
Tzeporah Berman Silences Environmentalists, Targets Corporate Deal in Tar Sands Push
Corroding Our Democracy
by MACDONALD STAINSBY
Counterpunch.org
On September 23, 2013 Democracy Now and Amy Goodman conducted an interview with Tzeporah Berman on the issue of Canada’s government and their extreme over-reach in attacks on science and all manner of environmentalists. Focusing intently on the tar sands, the interview did well to highlight the more than dubious moves of the current Conservative government to promote tar sands in particular at all costs.
Fracking Indigenous Country
October 22, 2013
Big Green, Sun Media and Elsipogtog
Fracking Indigenous Country
by MACDONALD STAINSBY
If anyone doubted that it’s a good thing that Sun News in Canada has been both going broke and also denied the ability to force their way onto Canada’s basic cable system (vastly expanding their audience and getting themselves included in most homes with television subscriptions by default), the racist rantings of Ezra Levant in response to the recent RCMP attack on the Mi’kmaq community of Elsipogtog ought to clear it up.
Are green groups ready for tarsands deal?
Are green groups ready for tarsands deal?
by Dawn Paley on Nov 20, 2013
The Georgia Straight
Gone are the days when the tarsands were an obscure experiment in making oil from tar. Today, the bitumen deposits in central and northern Alberta have become a political hot potato, an issue forced onto the world stage by coordinated protests and direct actions.
Photos
But a look at the history of the environmental groups that have signed on to the tarsands protests raises the question of whether or not an agreement between green groups and tarsands operators is on the horizon.
