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.

Canada's dirty oil may disrupt Obama's clean energy plans

Canada's dirty oil may disrupt Obama's clean energy plans
August 10
John Guerrerio

Trading our dependence upon 'bloody oil' for 'dirty oil' does not solve the problem.

Canadians want tar sands production cut

Canadians want oil sands production cut

Survey respondents also want to see provinces – not just Ottawa – at coming climate-change talks in Copenhagen
Brian Laghi

Globe and Mail
Aug. 03, 2009

Provincial premiers will meet in Regina this week amid new poll results that show a majority of Canadians think oil sands production should be cut as Canada grapples with reducing greenhouse gases.

ACFN member climbs flagpole to protest tar sands

ACFN member climbs flagpole to protest oilsands
Activists call on wife of RBC CEO to help protect communities

By SHAWN BELL, SRJ Reporter 05.AUG.09

An Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation member climbed a 50-foot flagpole in downtown Toronto on July 29 to protest the Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC) involvement in financing the oilsands.
Eriel Deranger was one of two Rainforest Action Network (RAN) protesters who hung a 30-foot high banner in front of RBC’s Canadian headquarters, calling on the wife of RBC’s CEO to encourage her husband to withdraw financing for new oilsands projects.

Tar Sands Protesters Hang Banner at RBC’s Toronto Headquarters

Tar Sands Protesters Hang Banner at RBC’s Toronto Headquarters
By Sean B. Pasternak and Doug Alexander

July 28 (Bloomberg) -- Protesters hung a 15-foot-long banner at the Toronto headquarters of Royal Bank of Canada, asking the wife of Chief Executive Officer Gordon Nixon to help end the bank’s involvement in funding tar sands projects.

Clean energy, not photo-op, should be premiers' priority

Clean energy, not photo-op, should be premiers' priority
Provincial agreement on pollution standards would clear the way for action by Ottawa
Aug 05, 2009
Rick Smith
Executive Director of Environmental Defence

When Canada's premiers gather each year, they usually are so concerned with polite, and boring, diplomacy that the only thing that makes the news is the picture of the provincial leaders all wearing the same themed clothing. Cowboy hats for everyone!

Nuclear Power Causes Cancer: What Industry Doesn't Want You To Know

Nuclear Power Causes Cancer: What Industry Doesn't Want You To Know
Samuel Epstein,
Cancer prevention expert, prof. emeritus at U. of IL School of Public Health, Chicago
August 4, 2009
Huffington Post

Dene Chief Upset Over Canadian Defence Report

Dene Chief Upset Over Canadian Defence Report
By SHAWN BELL, SRJ Reporter 21.JUL.09

Bill Erasmus Dene National Chief

The Dene Nation has denounced a new report that claims Treaty 8 First Nations pose a threat of violence to oilsands and other resource development in Western Canada.
The report, prepared for the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute by Tom Flanagan, states that incidences of violence and protests over resource development will continue as Aboriginal rights and environmentalist movements grow.

Suncor boosts heavy oil sales to U.S.

This is a HUGE deal; as a result of the largest single tar sands operator expanding the amount of procesing done in the US, the number-- according to the FTA and NAFTA-- can NEVER GO BACK DOWN in terms of percentage, or "proportion".

This is where the "proportionality clause" kicks in; the amount of an energy source sent south in one day must stay at that proportion permanently.

Therefore this is the announcement that the state of Canada is now further beholden to the US state, never mind what happens to the indigenous nations as a direct result.

--M

Alberta seeks input on bitumen royalties

Alberta seeks input on bitumen royalties
By Jason Fekete, Calgary Herald
July 21, 2009

CALGARY - The Stelmach government is expected to ask energy producers today for their interest in a new provincial bitumen royalty-in-kind policy, as the premier faces mounting criticism for failing to keep his promise to stem the flow of oilsands to the United States.

Opti's future hinges on tar sands performance

It MUST be noted that Opti-- whose parent corporation is Ormat, an Israeli energy company-- needs to make this commercial venture work for several reasons, the most important being that this "project" would help provide the technology to make Israel "energy self-sufficient". Destroying the Negev is high on the priority list for Israel; this project is nothing but a laboratory for future exploitation of the vast (yet crappy quality) oil shale in historical Palestine.