Oil Sands Truth: Shut Down the Tar Sands

Alberta (& Saskatchewan) Tar Sands

The process of removing the tar from the sand involves incredible amounts of energy from clean-burning natural gas (with nuclear proposed along side), tremendous capital costs during build up, incredibly high petroleum prices to protect investments, and the largest single industrial contribution to climate change in North America. Production also involves the waste of fresh water from nearby lakes, rivers and aquifers that have already created toxic tailing ponds visible from outer space. None of the land strip mined has yet to be certified as reclaimed. It takes 4 tonnes of soil to produce one barrel of oil. The tar sands are producing over 1.2 million barrels of oil a day on average. The oil companies, Canada and the United States governments are proposing to escalate production to 5 million barrels, almost all destined for American markets-- and lower environmental standards while doing so. They also would need to violate the national and human rights of many indigenous nations who are rightly concerned about many dire social, environmental and economic repercussions on their communities.

To get the needed energy supplies, diluent for the bitumen and diverted freshwater to produce and then to transport the flowing heavy bitumen for refining would require massive new infrastructure and pipeline building from three different time zones in the Arctic, across British Columbia and through Alberta in a criss-cross pattern, into pipelines to such destinations as California, China, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ontario, Illinois, Wisconsin and Texas. This entire project is now estimated at over $170 billion dollars. And after the whole process described so far, only then will all this dirty petroleum get burned and expel greenhouse gasses into the air causing further climate change.

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Alberta Tar Sands is a category limited to the location and production of tar sand bitumen, an area the size of the state of Florida in northern Alberta province. The giant processing plants near Fort McMurray where the land itself is strip mined as well as the primarily "in situ" in-ground steam separation/production and extraction plants in the Peace and Cold Lake Regions, all in Alberta, are the "Ground Zero" of the single largest industrial gigaproject ever proposed in human history. The process of removing the tar from the sand involves incredible amounts of energy from clean-burning natural gas (with nuclear proposed along side), tremendous capital costs during build up, incredibly high petroleum prices to protect investments, and the largest single industrial contribution to climate change in North America. Production also involves the waste of fresh water from nearby lakes, rivers and aquifers that have already created toxic tailing ponds visible from outer space. None of the land strip mined has yet to be certified as reclaimed. It takes 4 tonnes of soil to produce one barrel of oil. The tar sands are producing over 1.2 million barrels of oil a day on average. The oil companies, Canada and the United States governments are proposing to escalate production to 5 million barrels, almost all destined for American markets-- and lower environmental standards while doing so. They also would need to violate the national and human rights of many indigenous nations who are rightly concerned about many dire social, environmental and economic repercussions on their communities. To get the needed energy supplies, diluent for the bitumen and diverted freshwater to produce and then to transport the flowing heavy bitumen for refining would require massive new infrastructure and pipeline building from three different time zones in the Arctic, across British Columbia and through Alberta in a criss-cross pattern, into pipelines to such destinations as California, China, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ontario, Illinois, Wisconsin and Texas. This entire project is now estimated at over $170 billion dollars. And after the whole process described so far, only then will all this dirty petroleum get burned and expel greenhouse gasses into the air causing further climate change.

Tar Sand Workers Cruising down to Edmonton?

Ft. Mac workers cruising in city?
CP - 5/31/2006
By FRANK LANDRY, CITY HALL BUREAU
http://www.sextradeworkersofcanada.com/sex%20trade/News/detail.asp?iData...

The head of a city group that targets johns says oilsands workers making big bucks "working in the bush" are regularly cruising down to Edmonton and buying sex.

Kate Quinn, executive director of the Prostitution Awareness and Action Foundation of Edmonton (PAAFE), said her group will approach oil companies about going into Fort McMurray to talk to employees about the harms of prostitution.

Ricardo Acuna on Non-Consensus in the Tar Sands Multi-Stakeholder Committee

http://www.straightgoods.ca/ViewFeature7.cfm?REF=410

Oil Sands Committee reports back

It is time for the Stelmach government to pick a side: public or industry.

Dateline: Tuesday, August 07, 2007

by Ricardo Acuna

Last week, the Alberta Government released the much anticipated final report and recommendations of the Oil Sands Multi-Stakeholder Committee — the committee charged with carrying out a broad-based consultation with Albertans and making recommendations on the future of the Alberta tar sands.

Terrace Standard Hacking up Dogwood Initiative, NDP-- Promoting oil and gas in Douglas Channel

As always, the good news is that when such hate comes at you, it is part of a larger concern that the politics being brought forth by critics are harming "business as usual". As such, people concerned about traditional lands from Edmonton to Kitamaat Village and up and down the Inside Pasage of BC should take note, and perhaps a pat on the back. Fear them only when they ignore you.

--M

This MP should stay far away
By ROGER HARRIS
http://www.terracestandard.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=33&cat=48&id=...
Aug 08 2007

Announcing Californian Tar Sands Drilling

What you read here is a press release put out by the Tri-Valley corp. It is obviously full of self-promoting, you should-buy-our-stocks stuff-- where it announces the beginning of tar sands "extraction" experimentation with Californian "SagD" or in-situ "drilling" of massive energy and high cost tar sands bitumen. AS this is what most of the Orinoco Basin is made up of, it would be likely that there is ex-pat Venezuelan Gusano help in trying to undercut the Bolivarians with this technology.

In a sentence: Welcome California into the world of producing death from sand to get oil.

New Greenpeace office to fight tar sands

New Greenpeace office to fight oilsands
edmontonjournal.com
Published: Wednesday, August 01
EDMONTON - The environmental activist organization Greenpeace Canada is setting up shop in Edmonton to fight Alberta's oilsands development.
The organization has hired two full-time staff to campaign against devlopment of northern Alberta's oilsands, which it calls Canada's glob al warming disaster.

Northern Saskatchewan Nation Blockades Tar Sands, Talking to Oilsands Quest

First Nation talking to province about oilsands
Last Updated: Thursday, August 2, 2007 | 10:40 AM CT
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2007/08/02/oilsands.html

The chief of a western Saskatchewan First Nation that blocked a road used by an oil exploration company said he's not concerned the company has moved some of its operations to Alberta.

In June, the Clearwater First Nation blocked Highway 955 north of La Loche, a route used by the Calgary-based Oilsands Quest in its search for oilsands.

Homelessness in Fort McMurray

Image being addressed
http://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com/Local%20News/328436.html

By MATTHEW HEINDL
Today staff
Friday August 03, 2007

The need for a homeless shelter for youth was broached at a homeless strategy session in Fort McMurray Thursday, but it wasn’t adopted as one of the areas identified as immediate priorities.

The World's Most Expensive Babysitters

The World's Most Expensive Babysitters
By Tom Dyson
August 6, 2007
http://www.dailywealth.com/archive/2007/aug/2007_aug_06.asp

Today, I heard the story of Angela.

Angela is 17 years old. Recently, she was offered $3,500 per month to babysit three children for a few hours after school each day while the parents work late. Two of the children are grown up. The third is a toddler. The toddler sleeps. The other two children take care of themselves. Angela watches TV, does her homework, then goes home. That's it.

Enviros Target Tar Sands while in Fort McMurray

Alberta (& Saskatchewan) Tar Sands

Green groups target oilsands projects
'It's time to get . . . opinions swayed'
Joel Kom, Calgary Herald; with a file from The Edmonton Journal
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/story.html?id=4302ec43-2a9c-4117-a72...
Published: Sunday, August 05, 2007

Environmentalists have come to the epicentre of oilsands development this weekend to highlight the vast changes taking place near Fort McMurray.

National Post "Warns" of Consequences of Tar Sands Problems

Oilpatch risks turn from value creation to value destruction
Everybody Wants A Bigger Cut Of The Booming Industry
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=40c0596f-...
Claudia Cattaneo, Financial Post
Published: Tuesday, August 07, 2007

For the first time in a generation, Alberta is facing a general strike within its construction trades that threatens to disrupt its booming oilsands industry and is introducing a new type of uncertainty --labour unrest.