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.

Alberta tar sands project will increase production

February 25, 2010
Alberta tar sands project will increase production

Calgary, Alberta – The Canadian Oil Sands Trust has announced it will increase synthetic crude oil production capacity at its Syncrude project near Fort McMurray, Alberta.

A Push to Save Greenpeace

March 5, 2010
A Push to Save Greenpeace
Employees, activists struggle against Tzeporah Berman's appointment

by Dawn Paley

Activists launched a new website today, claiming Greenpeace International's appointment of Tzeporah Berman as co-director of its climate change campaign will push Greenpeace "beyond the point of no return." The appointment would make her a leader of the organization's global climate strategy.

Tar sands snubbed by 'green' retailers

Tar sands snubbed by 'green' retailers
Eco-campaign against Alberta's oil heats up with companies' boycott
Published On Thu Feb 11 2010

By Mitch Potter Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON–Two trendy North American retail chains have washed their hands of Alberta's high-carbon oil sands, as environmentalists intensify a campaign to demonize the Canadian fuel.

Is There Such a Thing as Safe Sex when Sleeping With the Enemy? | GE & tcktcktck

Is There Such a Thing as Safe Sex when Sleeping With the Enemy?

This is a follow-up piece to ‘Sleeping with the Enemy; EYES WIDE SHUT | TckTckTck exposé’, and ACTION ALERT! Is Greenpeace International set to become GE – Greenpeace Electric?

This is not a good year for Greenpeace.

Environmental leader attacks Greenpeace climate appointment

Environmental leader attacks Greenpeace climate appointment
By Andrew MacLeod
February 26, 2010 // The Tyee
http://bit.ly/a4bTKv

A prominent British Columbia environmentalist has written a letter to Greenpeace International criticizing the recent appointment of Tzeporah Berman to a position heading the organization's climate and energy campaign.

Greenpeace International hires torchbearer Tzeporah Berman as chief climate campaigner

Greenpeace Greenwash
Greenpeace International hires torchbearer Tzeporah Berman as chief
climate campaigner

by Macdonald Stainsby →2010 Olympics

As the world turned their attention to the spectacle of the 2010
Olympics, Greenpeace International played another kind of game,
appointing Tzeporah Berman as their new energy and climate campaign
director. As a result, she may gain undue influence over the “Stop the
Tar Sands” campaign in Canada and take responsibility for 110 Greenpeace
climate campaigners in 28 countries. In the last few years Berman has been

Husky, BP help fuel tar sands resurgence

Husky, BP help fuel oil sands resurgence

Partners cite sharply lower costs in decision to push ahead with
$2.5-billion Sunrise project
David Ebner
Globe and Mail
Jan. 20, 2010

The energy industry slapped down its second multibillion-dollar bet this week on the oil sands, a strong endorsement for a key sector of the Canadian economy in which development almost stopped during the recession.

Conoco's Surmont Tar Sands expansion to quadruple production (with help from TOTAL).

Conoco's Surmont oilsands expansion to quadruple production
By Shaun Polczer, Calgary Herald
January 20, 2010

CALGARY — In another sign that Alberta's oilsands sector is on the mend, the Canadian subsidiaries of multinational oil giants ConocoPhillips and Total said Tuesday they plan to quadruple oilsands production by 2015, generating billions of new investment and creating thousands of jobs in the stagnant oilsands sector.

Tar Sands costs driving Shell elsewhere

Oil sands costs driving Shell elsewhere
Company steering exploration dollars to other parts of the world, including the Gulf of Mexico and Kazakhstan

Nathan VanderKlippe

Calgary — Globe and Mail Update Published on Monday, Jan. 25, 2010 8:15PM EST Last updated on Friday, Jan. 29, 2010 4:12AM EST

More than a year after it delayed a decision on a major new oil sands expansion, Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A-N55.39-1.03-1.83%) is backing further away from Canada's richest crude resource.

"B.C. eco groups call for 50 per cent land conservation"

This is damning in the extreme. What with the combination of pine beetle, forest fires and more the forests have slunk to somewhere in either the "store" or the emitter categories in BC. These people know this, they have been confronted with the science to debunk the theory that arbitrary protection of a random 50% of the forest can do *anything* ... See moreto alleviate climate change.