Oil Sands Truth: Shut Down the Tar Sands

Enbridge Gateway Pipeline/ Offshore Tanker Traffic [BC]

Enbridge Gateway Pipeline [BC] is a category that involves the end of the pipeline's proposed route and attendant offshore shipping needed if heavy oil is transported to the proposed facility near Kitimat, British Columbia. To transport that heavy oil, a pipeline is proposed that would traverse the forests and land from Alberta's Peace Region across northern British Columbia to the coast of the Pacific Ocean, where an attendant marine facility would also be built.

As with most components of the tarsands, the escalation in tar sand production being proposed by the US Department of Energy and Natural Resources Canada would likely require this infrastructure. This infrastructure may lay the basis for further encroachments. Many indigenous nations from the region have launched objections to this pipeline, including legal challenges. The possibility is very strong that this would immediately include opening the coast to shipping, including the Inside Passage of Alaska's Panhandle. The tar sand oil to be shipped by this or an alternate pipeline system to the BC Coast would be shipped to China and California, and may also include more shipments on their way to or from places such as Prince William Sound in Alaska, breaking an offshore shipping moratorium in British Columbia. Once that moratorium is removed, then places such as Russia can import light hydro carbonic liquids to pipe the other way-- into Alberta-- to help yet more tarsand production and possible further expansion.

Ignatieff — in Alberta — talks down proposed Gateway pipeline

Ignatieff — in Alberta — talks down proposed oilsands pipeline

By Renata D’Aliesio, Canwest News Service
July 11, 2010

CALGARY — Federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff chastised the Harper government Saturday for waiting too long to build a relationship with China — but he remained steadfast against the prospect of tankers shipping oilsands fuel to Asia from the northern B.C. coast.

Ignatieff, in Calgary for a Liberal Stampede breakfast fundraiser, renewed his call for a ban on oil tankers in northern British Columbia.

A Run for the Canadian Border

A Run for the Canadian Border
By Marin Katusa
June 21, 2010

The Gulf of Mexico disaster has changed U.S. priorities, costs, and energy supply sources for years to come. But the fact that the U.S. needs energy isn’t changing any time soon and as mass sources of green energy are still a while away, the most likely alternative might be the most surprising one.

Ignatieff promises B.C. oil-tanker-traffic moratorium

By SCOTT SIMPSON, Vancouver Sun
June 21, 2010

Federal Liberals would formalize a moratorium on crude oil tanker traffic on British Columbia's north coast waters, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff announced on Monday.

Global Forces Making Vancouver a Major Oil Port

China craves oil sands fuel. Ottawa wants to diversify its US market. So huge amounts of crude will have to pass through a risky Second Narrows.

By Mitchell Anderson,
17 Jun 2010,
TheTyee.ca

Burrard Inlet and Second Narrows bridge

Second Narrows Bridge in Burrard Inlet received highest hazard rating by Coast Guard.

Should bigger oil tankers really be in Vancouver?

Should bigger oil tankers really be in Vancouver?
By Peter Baker,
Special to The Province
June 17, 2010

Vancouver has been a major crude-oil export port for many years. Crude-oil exports last year hit four million metric tonnes, or about 29 million barrels, according to Metro Port Vancouver. Plans are now underway to increase those shipments this year.

So why has there been so little public discussion about this development? Is it wise for Vancouver, the economic engine of the entire province, to be a major crude-oil export port?

Premiers (Inc. Campbell) promote pipelines to Pacific

Premiers promote pipelines to Pacific
Tom Fletcher
BC Local News
June 16, 2010

Premiers of western provinces and territories wrapped up two days of
meetings in Vancouver Wednesday, pledging to strengthen their east-west
pipelines, power lines and rail links for trade to Asia.

Premier Gordon Campbell, who chaired the annual conference, said western
provinces produce 91 per cent of Canada's oil, 94 per cent of its natural
gas, 27 per cent of its hydroelectricity and all of its uranium, plus
growing sources of wind, bioenergy and solar power.

China out front at Calgary oil show

China out front at Calgary oil show
June 9, 2010
CBC News

Chinese companies were well represented at the World Petroleum Show, which runs June 8 to 10 in Calgary.Chinese companies were well represented at the World Petroleum Show, which runs June 8 to 10 in Calgary.

As the world's top players in the oil and gas industry gather in Calgary for a high-stakes trade show, the largest contingent and most impressive displays are from China.

Cross-border fight simmers over tar sands

David Ebner
Jun 9/ 2010
Globe and Mail

The oil sands have a new adversary: the City of Bellingham, Wash.

On Monday night, in a vote of 7-0, city councillors endorsed a resolution to
reconsider what sort of fuel Bellingham buys for its fleet vehicles, a motion
that pointed a specific finger at “high carbon fuels such as those derived from
the Canadian Tar Sands.”

The resolution is largely symbolic, since the city of 76,000 is locked into its
current fuel supply contract until 2015, but highlights the ongoing political

Boreal countdown

Boreal countdown
By Enzo Di Matteo
Now Toronto // June 3-10, 2010

The details of the greenprint signed two weeks ago by eco groups and the forest industry to save the boreal forest are emerging after the 39-page pact was leaked last week. Is the historic Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement (CBFA) as good as advertised?

We break it down in five easy pieces.

1. Burning question

The one on everybody’s mind: why weren’t First Nations included in the discussions?

Big Jump in Tar Sands Oil Tankers in Vancouver's Port

Big Jump in Oil Tankers in Vancouver's Port

Flow of tar sands crude to Burrard Inlet rising, and will more than double: Kinder Morgan.

By Mitchell Anderson, 3 Jun 2010, TheTyee.ca

The proposed Enbridge Gateway pipeline to Kitimat is stirring strong public opposition to the super tankers it would attract along British Columbia's northern coast.

But a bigger risk may lie in the steeply rising number of oil tankers already plying B.C.'s coast -- up nearly 50 per cent in just two years -- to handle the growing flow of tar sands petroleum from Alberta.