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.

warning: Creating default object from empty value in /var/www/drupal-6.28/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.pages.inc on line 33.

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.

Weak oil and debt markets may bedevil tar sands plans

Weak oil and debt markets may bedevil oil sands plans
Mon Sep 15, 2008 2:16pm EDT
By Jeffrey Jones - Analysis

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - A double whammy of tumbling crude prices and shaky credit markets could force some companies to delay multibillion-dollar Canadian oil sands projects, cutting the country's overall output forecast.

Most at risk are developments that are in the design phase but have yet to start construction. Some have already been delayed due to surging costs, a tight labor market and stricter regulatory scrutiny.

First Nation coalition threatens blockades over Enbridge Alberta Clipper pipeline

First Nation coalition threatens blockades over oil pipeline
Jason Warick
Saskatchewan News Network; Canwest News Service
September 15, 2008

SASKATOON -- The chief of a Saskatchewan First Nation is leading a coalition of First Nations considering blockades or other action to halt construction of a multimillion-dollar oil pipeline until their concerns are addressed.

First Nations from across Western Canada meet today and Tuesday in Edmonton to plot their strategy, Red Pheasant Chief Sheldon Wuttunee said in an interview Sunday.

"Canadian tar sands needed"-- Keystone Pipeline (N Dakota)

Canadian oil sands needed

LOADING
Sep 14, 2008 - 04:05:23 CDT
ROBERT JOHNSON
Bismarck

As a North Dakota geologist, I find the environmentalists’ opposition to U.S. use of Canadian oil sands and the Keystone pipeline narrow-minded and self-serving.

The public interest in ensuring America’s energy security requires that we use Canada’s oil sands. Second in size only to Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves, the oil sands hold an estimated 173 billion barrels of oil.

Fort Chip to world: SOS

Posted on September 14, 2008 by zandernat

Climate change, water policy and aboriginal health. Three issues that should be atop the election agenda. Three issues that start with the oil sands.

Canadians are dying. Our government is doing nothing about it. Will it take world attention to end this injustice?

Majority of Albertans don't buy 'dirty oil' label

Oilsand fears wrestle benefits
Majority of Albertans don't buy 'dirty oil' label
Kelly Cryderman, Calgary Herald // September 14, 2008

Albertans appear conflicted about the massive oilsands -- a resource nearly everyone agrees is an economic bonanza for the province, but one many feel is accompanied by a worrying array of environmental and human health effects.

In a wide-reaching Leger Marketing poll of 962 Albertans focused on their impressions of the oilsands, respondents were clearly concerned about the industry's impacts, especially when it comes to health complaints.

Tar-sands pipeline will undo Quebec's work on environment

Tar-sands pipeline will undo Quebec's work on environment
Voters should press governments to force polluters to reduce emissions
MATT PRICE and AARON FREEMAN, Freelance
Published: Wednesday, September 10

Quebec was one of the first provinces to show leadership on tackling global warming. It is now pursuing more efficient vehicles, has a carbon tax at the fuel wholesale level, and is joining other jurisdictions in a cap-and-trade system to control greenhouse-gas emissions.

It's a shame that this progress is being undone by the tar sands.

Whose energy independence?

Whose energy independence?
Tar sands are key to energy security plans in the US election, but federal parties ignore Canada’s dependence on foreign oil

RICARDO ACUÑA / ualberta.ca/parkland

One of the ways in which the current US presidential election differs from the current Canadian federal election is that oil prices, energy independence and energy security are all critical campaign issues for the US.

Alberta oil, gas land sales double

Alberta oil, gas land sales double
Dan Healing, Calgary Herald
Published: Thursday, September 04, 2008

Fifteen successful bids of more than $1 million each powered the first Alberta oil and gas properties land sale of September to a total of $58.6 million.

That's more than double the corresponding sale of a year earlier, which brought in just $21.7 million, according to numbers posted Wednesday on the Alberta Energy website.

Alberta oil spill kills hundreds of birds

Alberta oil spill kills hundreds of birds
NORVAL SCOTT AND DAWN WALTON
With a report from The Canadian Press
September 10, 2008

CALGARY -- Alberta's oil and gas industry is again in the environmental dock, as a spill at an oil well in the province has killed up to 500 ducks and swallows, according to reports from the scene.

The birds died after landing in the spill, which was found Monday at an out-of-service conventional oil well in the southwest corner of CFB Suffield, in southeastern Alberta. The well is operated by Calgary-based Harvest Energy Trust.

Tar sands fatality raising eyebrows

Oilsands fatality raising eyebrows
By KEVIN CRUSH, SUN MEDIA

The second fatal incident on the Horizon oilsands project in less than two years has officials raising eyebrows.

Richard Boyd Boughner, 47, of Love, Sask., was killed Wednesday when the floating backhoe he was operating flipped in a tailings pond at the Horizon site north of Fort McMurray.

On April 4, 2007, a tank collapse on the sprawling site killed two foreign workers from China.