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.
Bruce Power launches nuclear power feasibility study
Cassandra Kyle, Saskatchewan News Network; Canwest News Service
Published: Wednesday, June 18, 2008
SASKATOON -- A feasibility study into the potential for a nuclear energy plant in Saskatchewan will be complete by the end of the year, according to the president and CEO of Bruce Power LP, a nuclear power producer in Ontario.
Canadians, Americans split on oil sands
NORVAL SCOTT
June 11, 2008
CALGARY -- A majority of Canadians and Americans see the oil sands as economically important, but Canadians are more concerned about related environmental problems, a survey has found.
The study, carried out by public relations firm Fleishman-Hillard, found that 75 per cent of Canadians surveyed, and 68 per cent of Americans, believe future development of the oil sands is a "good thing."
Bingaman Says Canadian Oil Sands Aren't Restricted by U.S. Law
By Tina Seeley
June 11 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. legislation prohibiting the federal government from buying alternative fuels that have higher greenhouse-gas emissions doesn't apply to Canadian oil sands, Senator Jeff Bingaman said.
``Producing fuel from oil sands is not a new technology,'' Bingaman said today at a meeting of the Canadian American Business Council in Washington. The New Mexico Democrat said he supports clarifying language that the House of Representatives has already approved.
Hyperbolic invective like this should be embraced and treasured, not shunned. It is a sign of power, and not vulnerability that hogwash can be printed like this.
--M
Oil sands tarred with environmentalists' brush
By: Marilyn Scales
In the last couple of weeks environmentalists have loudly condemned Canada's oil sands producers. They call the industry dirty, polluting and a potential cause of increasingly foul emissions from U.S. refineries. These loudmouths have even reverted to the name "tar sands" lest anyone think "oil sands" is more benign.
Racism in the Tar Sands: exploiting foreign workers and poisoning indigenous people
June 12, 2008
By Macdonald Stainsby
The giant corporations that are determined to exploit the Alberta tar sands face a major problem — a serious shortage of local labour to do the actual work. So the Canadian and Albertan governments have a plan, ideal in their eyes, to solve the crunch.
More articles softening up the population for the massive expansion of the Temporary foreign worker programs, being brought in by the tag team of THe SPP and TILMA, and done in time to build Olympic and Tar Sands infrastructure... Yet, due to the size of the proposed Gigaproject as well as the 2010 Games this is actually true-- the question not being asked is are we prepared to allow projects with such dire prospects?
--M
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Shortage of skilled workers to continue
Written by GORDON HOEKSTRA
Citizen staff
Friday, 06 June 2008
First Nations town plans road blockade
Florence Loyie, The Edmonton Journal
June 13, 2008
EDMONTON - A First Nations community straddling a section of the border between northern Alberta and British Columbia is planning a blockade later this month to draw attention to health and safety concerns caused by oil and gas exploration on its traditional lands.
Clayton Anderson, a consultant working for Kelly Lake Cree Nation, said the blockade will be held in conjunction with an emergency disaster preparedness drill the community plans for next week.
Small band has big bite
Slave River Journal, June 11/2008
A small First Nation group in the southern part of the Municipality of Wood Buffalo is suing the Alberta provincial government for failing to ensure its treaty rights. Industrial encroachment near the Chipewyan Prairie Dene First Nation is destroying their way of life, according to Chief Vern Janvier.
“Today we’re at the point where we see no future where we are,” Janvier told reporters in a press conference Wednesday, June 4.
Finding their voice [Economist]
Jun 12th 2008 | OTTAWA
Canada delivers an official apology to its increasingly assertive indigenous peoples
Green groups say US refiners produce more greenhouse gases with oilsands
(AlbertaIndex, June 10, Tuesday) --- Two green lobbies have charged that US refiners will produce much more greenhouse gases processing Canada’s oilsands than if they used ‘traditional’ crude oil.
The Washington DC-based Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) and Toronto-headquartered Environmental Defence Canada (EDC) said the emissions production increase would be the equivalent of 16 new refineries in the US.
