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 sands oil extraction spreading rapidly, report warns
Friends of the Earth reports says extraction threatens environment as well as vulnerable communities
* Terry Macalister
* The Guardian, Monday 17 May 2010
The successful development of Canada's tar sands has triggered a rush by Shell and other oil companies to set up similar operations in Russia, Congo and even Madagascar, a new report reveals.
The Most Destructive Development on Earth: Coming to Trinidad and Tobago?
By Macdonald Stainsby
ZNet
Sunday, May 16, 2010
The key quote in this article is here:
A spokesperson for Greenpeace said: "There is no agreement, but we will let you know when there is an agreement."
MS: Who gave them such authority? How on earth can they claim that the public-- or even their own sustainers-- gave them such a mandate? How can this possibly be a positive bent, when it essentially has the PR gain for industry of being "green" right when we should be ramping UP the fight against what is happening to our forests?
Alberta group makes case for oil sands
A delegation of business leaders is attempting to dispel falsehoods and
make the case for the oil sands to politicians in Ottawa
Nathan VanderKlippe
Globe and Mail
May. 13, 2010
A group of high-powered Alberta business leaders is in Ottawa this week on
what they are calling a “a trade mission to the capital of our own
country.”
Their goal: promote the oil sands as what John Ferguson, chairman of
Suncor Energy Inc., calls a “great Canadian treasure.” Alberta’s bitumen
North, South American countries to study heavy oil
Fri Apr 16, 2010
CALGARY, Alberta, April 16 (Reuters) - Energy ministers from North and South American countries with large heavy oil reserves have established a working group to develop better extraction and environmental technology, Canada's natural resources minister said on Friday.
Canada's tar sands: a dangerous solution to offshore oil
Alberta is the 'safe' option for US oil needs – but its tar sands are far more environmentally damaging than Deep Horizon
o Heather McRobie
o guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 11 May 2010
BP investors must urge transparency
Catherin Howarth
guardian.co.uk, Friday 7 May 2010
We are going to the ends of the earth to find the next barrel of oil – but at what price?
The as yet unstoppable oil spill gushing from a deepwater rig drilling for BP in the Gulf of Mexico looks set to have dire environmental and social consequences – for fragile ecosystems and wildlife, and for local residents and businesses. And let us not forget the 11 people who lost their lives in the explosion.
Suncor Posts Profit After Crude-Oil Prices Advance
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
©2010 Bloomberg News
May 4 (Bloomberg) -- Suncor Energy Inc., Canada's largest oil company, posted first-quarter profit of C$716 million ($703 million) after crude prices jumped and last year's takeover of Petro-Canada lifted production.
Leave it to the tar sands industry-- including CEO Rick George of Suncor (partners with the Canadian Boreal Initiative and the Pembina Institute) to find a way to spin the disaster in the Gulf as a good thing for the tar sands players. Yuck. These people simply do not have any morals or scruples and know no limits to their depths (so let's partner up with them!).
--M
Gulf's pain oil sands' gain, experts agree
'In face of real disaster...pretty benign operations'
Carrie Tait, National Post
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Li Ka-shing May Tap Israel for Oil-Sands Technology (For use in BP/Husky's Sunrise Project)
May 04, 2010
By Alisa Odenheimer and Mark Lee
May 4 (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing may invest in Israeli oil-sands companies to expand his interests in energy production.
Li’s Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. is keen to invest in oil-sands technology that limits environmental pollution, the billionaire told Israel’s Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz in a meeting in Hong Kong today.
