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.

BA Energy first tar sands developer to file for bankruptcy protection

BA Energy first oil sands developer to file for protection
Financial Post
Wednesday, January 14, 2009

CALGARY -- BA Energy Inc., developer of the $4-billion Heartland
Upgrader near Edmonton, Wednesday became the first oil sands company to
file for bankruptcy protection, fearing its parent company's major
lender, Credit Suisse, will recall a US$507-million loan.

Columba Yeung, chief executive of parent company Value Creation Inc.,
said that company could default on its multi-million bank loan after BA
was unable to repay it a $50-million loan. BA's failure to make good on

Tar sands 'change everything' says Ignatieff

Oilsands 'change everything' says Ignatieff

By Tom Barrett January 15, 2009

The Alberta oilsands will allow Canada to stand up to the U.S. on everything from Arctic sovereignty to rewriting NAFTA, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said Wednesday.

Ignatieff told a town hall meeting in a Gastown pub that Canadians are just starting to understand "how powerful the oilsands make us."

He told an overflow audience crammed into the pub's tiny back room that he toured the project in August.

Canadian Natives Get U.S. Support

Alexandra Paul, Winnipeg Free Press

Canadian First Nations chiefs say aboriginal affairs advisers to U.S.
president-elect Barack Obama told them Thursday the new administration
will be in their corner in their push for aboriginal rights.

In a 20-minute meeting in Washington, the advisers suggested to the
assembly of chiefs from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the United
States that the new administration could support their push for more
control over oil and mineral resources.

Tar sands companies have PR problem: survey

Oilsands companies have PR problem: survey
By Dave Cooper, edmontonjournal.com
January 8, 2009

EDMONTON - Oilsands producers have received the word from the public — half don't believe what they are being told.

An industry-funded poll released Thursday found a lot of mistrust among respondents in Edmonton and Toronto. However, Edmontonians were generally more favourable towards the industry than Torontonians, particularly on questions around environmental responsibility.

ENERGY JUSTICE IN TURTLE ISLAND – NORTH AMERICA

Dear Friends,

The Indigenous Environmental Network and Rainforest Action Network
produced this statement in response to a lobby effort in Washington DC
tomorrow by Treaty One Chiefs of Manitoba regarding the Enbridge Alberta
Clipper and the TransCanada Keystone Project. In this communication you
will find our press statement that focuses on providing an Alberta First
Nations perspective on the issue, as well as the advisory that was sent
out by Treaty One Chiefs of Manitoba on December 31, 2008. Please
distribute this to your lists far and wide.

TransCanada offers $2 billion in debt

TransCanada offers $2 billion in debt
By Dan Healing, Calgary Herald
January 6, 2009

CALGARY - A $2-billion US debt offer launched Tuesday by TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. was lauded by energy analysts who say it will be well-received in a market that has discounted most oil and gas companies’ equity.

The funding will be earmarked by the pipeline arm of Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. to replace maturing debt facilities, pay for capital projects and fund ongoing corporate activities, said company spokesman Terry Cunha.

Oil price slump undermines controversial tar sand projects

Commercial viability of carbon intensive Canadian tar sands hit by combination of falling oil prices and regulatory concerns
James Murray, BusinessGreen, 06 Jan 2009

Plunging oil prices might have spelled bad news for renewable energy projects, but they are also undermining the commercial viability of some of the world's most carbon intensive energy projects.

OPEC's future blowin' in the wind

OPEC's future blowin' in the wind
Last Updated: Monday, January 5, 2009
Philip Demont
CBC News

The noise generated by the 120 wind turbines turning on the hilltops of the Viana do Castelo region in northern Portugal might not equal that of a soccer-crazy crowd at the Estadio da Luz stadium in Lisbon.

To OPEC, however, the sound from Europe's largest wind farm is as loud and clear as a high-speed train roaring across the western world.

Syncrude facing private prosecution over dead ducks

Syncrude facing private prosecution over dead ducks
CAROLINE ALPHONSO
Globe and Mail Update
January 7, 2009

An Alberta resident launched a private prosecution against one of the country's largest oils-sands' operators, alleging that it was responsible for killing 500 ducks at its northern Alberta facility last spring.

Jeh Custer, a member of the Sierra Club Canada, commenced legal action in Edmonton Wednesday against Syncrude Canada Ltd. He said that if nothing was done, such practices by oil companies would continue without consequences.

Enbridge cleaning up spill at tar sands terminal

Enbridge cleaning up spill at oil sands terminal
Wed Jan 7, 2009 5:15pm EST

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Enbridge Inc, Canada's No. 2 pipeline firm, said a malfunctioning valve at an oil storage facility in the oil sands region of northern Alberta this week spewed out 4,000 barrels of oil, but the spill was mostly contained on the grounds of its tank farm.

The company, whose pipelines carry the lion's share of oil sands crude to U.S. markets, said the spill occurred on Saturday at its Cheecham terminal south of Fort McMurray, Alberta, when a small fitting on a valve failed.