Animal habitats and health are affected by tar sands production, whether from loss of habitat to any of the infrastructure developments across the continent, or through changes in the atmosphere such as melting polar ice caps in the Arctic brought on by out of control C02 emissions. Poisoning waterways, the food supply and the air in the immediate and not-so immediate surroundings has led to drops and even disappearances of species near pipelines, platforms and other infrastructure of the tarsands.
Downstream from tarsands, Fort Smith worries over water
Monday, April 21, 2008
CBC News
Concerned residents in Fort Smith, N.W.T., met Saturday to talk about the water they drink, and how tarsands development south of the town may be affecting its quality.
"We don't know the answers. We don't know what's in our water," resident Keith Hartery said at Saturday night's public meeting in Fort Smith, located on the N.W.T.-Alberta border.
Signed, sealed, delivered
Posted: April 21, 2008 // Indian Country Today
by: Stephanie Woodard
Environmental concerns plague fast-tracked oil pipeline
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - In March 2008, the U.S. Department of State issued a federal permit for the 2,000-mile TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, which would carry heavy crude oil from the oil sands of northern Alberta across seven U.S. states to Oklahoma. The document was signed, even though mandated government-to-government consultations with concerned Native nations were described as ''ongoing'' by the State Department.
STATEMENT OF THE LUBICON LAKE INDIAN NATION AT THE PREHEARING MEETING OF THE ALBERTA UTILITIES COMMISSION ON APPLICATION 1551990 OF NOVA GAS TRANSMISSION LTD, A WHOLLY OWNED SUBSIDIARY OF THE TRANSCANADA CORPORATION, TO BUILD A 42-INCH DIAMETER GAS PIPELINE CALLED THE NORTH CENTRAL CORRIDOR PIPELINE ACROSS UNCEDED LUBICON LAND WITHOUT LUBICON CONSENT
April 14, 2008
Introduction
Alberta Oil Sands affect the environment
COLBY STREAM
News Writer
"Problems don't stop at the border," Co-Director of Boise State Canadian Studies Lori Hausegger said. "They go across the border, so that's an issue everyone has to think about."
Canada week, which takes place the first week of April every year, addresses some of these problems.
"Canada week helps, I think, to educate folks and Boise State … about Canada. People don't know a whole lot about the country," Co-Director of Boise State Canadian Studies Ross Burkhart said.
Tribes, landowners in the Dakotas face down giant pipeline
Posted: April 11, 2008
by: Stephanie Woodard
State Department hands out tobacco, stirs anxiety
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Unease appears to be growing in North and South Dakota over imminent construction of the 2,000-mile Keystone Pipeline, which would transport oil from northern Canada across seven U.S. states from North Dakota to Oklahoma.
BP, ConocoPhillips team up on North Slope gas pipeline
Last Updated: Tuesday, April 8, 2008 | 3:56 PM CT
The Canadian Press
Two of the world's largest oil companies announced plans Tuesday to jointly develop a multibillion-dollar natural gas pipeline to move North Slope natural gas to U.S. markets through Canada.
Britain's BP PLC and ConocoPhillips, based in Houston, said they plan to spend $600 million US in the first phase of the project over the next three years.
Lubicon fight proposed TransCanada pipeline
© Indian Country Today April 04, 2008. All Rights Reserved
April 04, 2008
by: Kate Harries
TORONTO - The Lubicon Lake Indian Nation in northern Alberta is
gearing up to fight a proposed jumbo pipeline that would carry natural
gas from the Mackenzie Valley in the west to the oil sands
developments to the east.
The $983 million proposal follows a history of industrial development
across the unceded Lubicon territory that has left the 500-member Cree
nation impoverished, poisoned and disregarded by Canada and Alberta -
Whale risks rise in Robson Bight
Times Colonist
Monday, April 07, 2008
Governments' poor performance in dealing with a truck full of diesel fuel on the bottom of Robson Bight raises concerns about proposals for more tanker traffic and offshore oil and gas development.
The federal and provincial governments have expressed support for both, although the Harper government has not lifted the offshore drilling moratorium in place since the early 1970s. Both governments promise tough environmental controls as part of any change.
Don't let our country sink into this stuff
By WAYNE MADSEN
Special to McClatchy-Tribune
WASHINGTON -- Anything that allows America to continue its narcotic-like dependence on carbon fossil fuels -- whether the sprawling tar sands of Canada or the petroleum pools under Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge -- misses the point about shifting to alternative energy.
Alternative sources should be real energy alternatives such as wind, solar and geothermal power rather than alternative fossil fuel sources that often give off more greenhouse gases than conventional crude oil.
Tar sands: environmental justice and Native rights
"The river used to be blue. Now it's brown. Nobody can fish or drink from it. The air is bad. This has all happened so fast."
by Clayton Thomas-Müller
March 25, 2008
The application of treaty rights as a legal strategy implemented by the First Nations themselves must be the key focus in efforts to challenge Big Oil in Alberta.
