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.
Heavy Problem: Dirtier Oil, Though Cheaper, Sparks Green Backlash
June 12, 2008, 11:45 am
The Wall Street Journal’s Ben Casselman reports:
Cheap oil! Get your cheap oil here!
Well, “cheap” may be pushing it. But even as benchmark crude futures have soared above $130 per barrel, there’s still oil out there for about $105 a barrel. The bad news: it’s nasty stuff.
No balance on tar sands
Jun 10, 2008 04:30 AM
Prime Minister Stephen Harper often talks about finding the right balance between economic growth and environmental protection.
But Harper put growth well ahead of the environment last week when he gave the green light to Imperial Oil's proposed $8 billion Kearl tar-sands project, which is predicted to create 3.7 million tonnes of greenhouse gases annually – equivalent to putting another 800,000 cars on the road.
Reopen NAFTA, reclaim our oil
Linda McQuaig
Canada will need tough negotiators to gain parity in trade agreement.
Yes, let's punish the official who leaked the Canadian memo that created
heat for Barack Obama, future president of the United States.
But let's not waste much time examining the mouth of this particular gift
horse.
Let's just consider ourselves lucky that the heated US Democratic
presidential race may result in NAFTA (the North American Free Trade
Agreement) being put back on the table.
NAFTA is deeply flawed from Canada's point of view. We failed to get the
On the Matter of Tar Sands & Indigenous Lands
Check out the video podcast:
http://citizen.nfb.ca/blogs/citizenshift/on-the-matter-of-tar-sands-indi...
Group wants to start needle exchange
By VERNA MURPHY
Today staff
Friday June 06, 2008
Injection drug users in Fort McMurray will soon have a safe place to drop off their dirty needles.
Oil sands demand spurs U.S. refinery boom
As refiners increase capacity to handle Alberta oil, environmental organizations ratchet up the pressure
SHAWN MCCARTHY
GLOBAL ENERGY REPORTER
June 5, 2008
OTTAWA -- American refiners are making massive investments to dramatically increase imports from Alberta's oil sands, even as they face mounting pressure in the United States over the oil sands' impact on greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution.
First Nation wants court to block oilsands deal
Posted By THE CANADIAN PRESS
A tiny aboriginal community wants to force Alberta to consult with First Nations in a meaningful way before approving oilsands projects that native leaders say threaten their traditional way of life.
The Chipewyan Prairie Dene First Nation is asking Court of Queen's Bench to block the approval of Phase 3 of MEG Energy Corp.'s Christina Lake project near Fort McMurray until the province agrees to improve its regulatory process and hold talks with band leaders.
MPs to study impact of Alberta's oilsands on water supplies
OTTAWA — A parliamentary committee is launching a study on the impact of Alberta's oilsands on Canada's freshwater supplies.
The House of Commons environment committee agreed this week to proceed June 16 with a study.
Liberal MP Francis Scarpaleggia says there's growing concern in Alberta and among Canadians about the effect of the sprawling oilsands on the future of the country's freshwater supplies.
Imperial's oilsands permit restored
Reuters
Published: Saturday, June 07, 2008
CALGARY - Imperial Oil Ltd. again has all the approvals it needs to go ahead with its $8-billion Kearl oilsands project after the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) reinstated its authorization, revoked in March during a legal battle.
The federal department gave Imperial, Canada's biggest oil producer and refiner, a new permit yesterday to disturb fish habitat at the proposed northern Alberta mining site, DFO spokesman Phil Jenkins said.
Stop the Tar Sands Oil Rush
What's New
Major oil companies want to use Illinois as a major artery for bringing dirty tar sands oil from Canada to the U.S. market — with enormous consequences for our local environment and our global climate.
Background
