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.
Reaching far and wide for workers
Canada broadens scope to alleviate skills shortage
By Derek Sankey, For the Calgary Herald
July 25, 2008
The new reality for Canadian companies looking to recruit workers increasingly means casting a wider net across the world while government and education leaders lead the charge overseas in the face of economic restraints.
Here's the latest - Suncor is suing Greenpeace for disrupting its
operations last week.
(BTW - it is absolutely outrageous that the reporter (or his editor)
is linking the tar sands actions to the Encana gas pipeline bombings
in this article, with the inference being GP is somehow connected to
the bombings.)
Suncor takes Greenpeace to court - $1.5M lawsuit comes after protest at mine
By Shaun Polczer, Calgary HeraldOctober 9, 2009 9:08 PM
CALGARY - Environmental protesters say they will continue to target
'H2Oil' Tears up the Tar Sands
Documentary focusing on Fort Chipewyan becomes a powerful tool for climate change activists.
By Dawn Paley, October 8, 2009, TheTyee.ca
When Lionel Lepine's plane landed in London, England in August after a long flight from northern Alberta, his initial reaction was culture shock. It was Lepine's first time flying overseas. The occasion was the Climate Camp for Action, an event now in its third year, which brings together hundreds of grassroots activists who are willing to take direct action in the fight against climate change.
Behold! Canada's most disgusting export
Nothing like Alberta's's revolting oilsands to destroy your optimism
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Are you having one of those days? One of those moments where you feel like you've endured a simply relentless onslaught of negative news and economic hardship coupled to endless rounds of cretinous politicians -- all of whom enjoy fully paid health care on your tab -- debating whether or not you'll be able to afford to see a doctor ever again, all to the point where you say, you know what? I need just one more.
Millions at stake in oilsands dispute
By Kelly Cryderman, Calgary Herald
October 2, 2009
Up to $100 million could be at stake this year in a dispute between the Alberta government and oilsands giants Suncor and Syncrude, according to auditor general Fred Dunn.
In his semi-annual report released Friday, Dunn said there's an ongoing tussle regarding whether the two long-lived oilsands operators can use a lower price for bitumen in their royalty calculations.
Suncor Says Oil Sands Becoming Increasingly Important
By Sonja Franklin and Doug Alexander
Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Suncor Energy Inc. Chief Executive Officer Rick George said Alberta’s oil sands are increasingly important as a supplier of energy.
“As conventional oil worldwide becomes increasingly difficult to find, develop and more costly, the oil sands, the second-largest oil base in the world, will play a bigger and bigger role,” he said in a speech to the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto today.
Alberta won't apologize for remarks about oilsands protesters: solicitor general
October 6, 2009
EDMONTON — Alberta's solicitor general says the government won't apologize for publicly weighing in on how it thinks oilsands trespassers should be prosecuted.
Fred Lindsay says he respects the independence of judges and prosecutors, and his comments and those of Premier Ed Stelmach only reflect their concerns for public safety.
Lindsay and the premier caused waves with remarks about 16 Greenpeace activists who were charged after trespassing at an oilsands upgrader near Edmonton.
Eyeing a Total oil sands package
Nathan VanderKlippe/The Globe and Mail
Jean-Michel Gires discusses Total's future in Canada
NATHAN VANDERKLIPPE
CALGARY — From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
Oct. 06, 2009
French petroleum giant Total SA could add fuel to the oil sands' resurgence as the company nears a decision on a major expansion project, the company's new Canadian head said yesterday.
Tuktoyaktuk: a community on the frontline of climate change
Emma Bocking
1st October, 2009
Canadian coastal communities are faced with rising sea levels as the government continues to support destructive tar sands mining.
As the tar sands move forward, Canada's north is fighting the effects
The hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk on the northern coast of Canada is facing the steadily rising Arctic Ocean at roughly the rate of 3mm per year, which may soon force the community to relocate further south.
Ormat’s Opti Takes On Oil Sands In Alberta, A Dirty Deed For The Company’s “Clean” Image
Submitted by Maurice Picow on October 4, 2009
Israel’s ORMAT Industries Ltd (ORA) has joined with its subsidiary Opti Canada Inc in a project in extract and produce a high grade of petroleum from oil sands located in northern Alberta Canada. ORMAT is a world leader in producing energy from unconventional sources, including geo-thermal energy from volcanoes and hot springs under the earth’s surface.
