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.
What do you know about the largest industrial project in human history?
EDUCATIONAL ON THE TAR SANDS
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18TH
6:30 PM ROOM 2270
SFU HARBOUR CENTRE
515 WEST HASTINGS
Come learn about the Alberta Tar Sands and its impact on indigenous rights, the environment, labour rights including migrant workers, as well as its global consequences in an era of oil-dependency, the War on Terror, and an expanding corporate regime through the Security and Prosperity Partnership Agreement.
Canada's oil sands are fueling U.S. cars - but at what cost?
McClatchy Newspapers
Published Sunday, December 16, 2007
FORT CHIPEWYAN, Alberta — Like a great silver snake, the Athabasca
River glides though a spongy-wet wilderness of spindly forests, lakes
and marshes 650 miles north of the U.S.-Canada border.
Breathe deeply, though, and you catch a whiff of fresh, hot tar. In
the river, fish are speckled with shiny, wart-like blisters. And in
the tiny Indian village of Fort Chipewyan, people are coming down
with leukemia, bile duct cancer and other diseases.
from George Poitras
WELL. Below is a link of a documentary that was aired on this past Sunday's
CBC News Sunday. I think its an excellent documentary for a number of
reasons. The Fort Chipewyan residents including former Chief Archie Waquan,
Donna Cyprien (Director of Nunee Health Authority), Georg Macdonald (Head of
Nursing Station), Julie Mercredi (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Member)
and Pat Marcel (Elder, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation) did an awesome job
of portraying the reality of our current situation. Thanks also to Dr. John
The pipeline dream lurking in Canada's wild
By Steve Kallick | December 10, 2007
ONE OF many ways to combat global warming is to replace our dirtiest, carbon-polluting fuels, especially coal and oil, with cleaner fuels like natural gas. So proponents of the Mackenzie Valley pipeline, an 800-mile megaproject to tap into Canada's natural gas reserves, now say that's their plan. They want us to believe, somehow, that building this massive project through Canada's Boreal Forest wilderness will be good for the environment. Not surprisingly, a closer look at the facts suggests otherwise.
Akaicho Land Trust "Largest Ever" [Doesn't Include Entire Thelon Region]
By LEA STORRY, SRJ Editor 30.NOV.07
Some historic and sacred places of the Akaitcho Dene First Nations have recently been protected for the time being by Ottawa. Approximately 62,000 sq km of land have been preserved from further development.
“It’s a good news story,” said Dennis Bevington, Western Arctic Member of Parliament (MP). “It says a lot about the hard work and efforts the Akaitcho Dene First Nations have put into this.”
Halt oilsands: water expert
Athabasca River at risk, says renowned U of A scientist
Kate Jaimet, Ottawa Citizen; CanWest News Service
Published: 8:59 am
OTTAWA - The scientist who won Canada's top research prize for his work on pollution in the Great Lakes now wants a moratorium on development in the Alberta oilsands, saying the rush to extract petroleum could threaten the mighty Athabasca River.
Uranium exploration could open Pandora’s box, critics fear
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
By Chris Oke Special to the Yukon News
Cash Minerals’ application to build a winter road along the Wind River Trail to further its search for uranium deposits concerns tourism and environmental groups.
Most troubling is the very mineral the exploration company is searching for.
For the past four years, Cash Minerals has been hunting for the radioactive metal.
“I see no reason why they shouldn’t mine uranium,” said Yukon Chamber of Mines president John Witham.
Excerpt:
"Because construction isn't likely to begin before 2013 or 2014, the Alaska project isn't likely in direct competition with a plan to build a gas pipeline from the Mackenzie Delta in the Northwest Territories to Alberta. Mackenzie construction could start in late 2009 if it receives regulatory approval."
Since the hearings have successfully carried the lie and the crime against the environment of not being a cumulative impact assessment-- steadfastly ruling that the hearings could not cover the tar sands, and included denials and obfuscations of the final end goal of the natural gas being to help ramp up the ecological, genocidal and grotesquely anti-human tar sands operations north of Fort Muck, it should be VERY CLEAR why the North Central Corridor was officially announced only as the hearings on the MGP are finishing.
Rise in tanker traffic sparks fear of spills
Concern about a crude spill has one councillor trying to slow the increase of exports from Burnaby terminal
DON WHITELEY
Special to The Globe and Mail
November 27, 2007
VANCOUVER -- The potential for large increases in exports of crude oil through the Port of Vancouver has local politicians concerned about the port's growing vulnerability to oil spills.
