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.
More birds dying in oil sands than first reported: study
CTV.ca News Staff
Tuesday Sep. 7, 2010
A new report suggests more birds are dying in Alberta's tar sands than the government has let on.
Government industries have estimated that on average, about 65 birds die each year from tailings pond exposure, according to the study released Tuesday. The mean annual rate was determined by analyzing the mortality rate between 2000 and 2007.
Keep industry out
Calgary Herald September 7, 2010
The provincial government's proposal to have members of the oilsands industry sit on a committee tasked with overseeing a study into the unusual rates of cancer at Fort Chipewyan is an absolute nonstarter.
Neither the residents of Fort Chip, downstream on the Athabasca River from oilsands operations, nor Albertans in general, can have confidence in the conclusions of any study in which members of the industry suspected of being linked to those cancers, have oversight or control.
Reports critical of oilsands keep piling up
'There needs to be an end to industry monitoring itself'
Published September 9, 2010 by Trevor Scott Howell in News
Alberta’s oilsands tailings ponds are killing birds at a rate 30 times higher than government and industry figures imply, according to a new study.
Ecologist Kevin Timoney, who co-authored the report, calls industry self-reporting of bird deaths “ad hoc” and says it consistently underestimates actual mortality.
West Moberly says Site C would power tar sands not homes
Monday, 30 August 2010
Amid a bevy of resource projects in northeast B.C., the West Moberly First Nation claims the province is green-washing its Site C hydroelectric project.
“It’s not clean and it’s not green,” West Moberly Chief Roland Willson told BIV in a recent interview.
The First Nation community is a member of the Treaty 8 Tribal Association near Fort St. John where dozens of companies are snapping up land to build the next shale gas well, coal mine or renewable power project.
The Republican Who Dared Tell the Truth About Oil
Matt Simmons understood the wages of addiction and wasn't afraid to sound warnings, even to George W. Bush.
By Andrew Nikiforuk, Today, TheTyee.ca
"A call to arms may be wrong. We may not even know who the enemy is. And maybe the enemy is us." -- Matt Simmons
British oil company's Arctic find fuels hope of huge new reserves
By Daily Mail Reporter
25th August 2010
The Arctic is set to become the world's last dash for oil after a British energy company reported a discovery off the coast of Greenland.
Cairn Energy said it had found oil and gas bearing sands in one of its exploration wells, indicting there was an ‘active hydrocarbon system’ there.
The Edinburgh-based company is drilling in a basin the size of the North Sea, meaning the find is potentially of enormous significance.
Canada Insists Oil-Rich Tar Sands Are Sustainable
By Leon Kaye | August 25th, 2010
Triple Pundit
Some of Canada’s most stunning natural beauty is in the prosperous province of Alberta. Walk through downtown Calgary and you get the vibe that it is the true economic center of Canada. Banff and Jasper National Parks boast incredible scenery and awe-inspiring wildlife. About 275 miles and a nine-hour drive away, the landscape changes, and displays the driver behind Alberta’s economic success.
Of the three supposed most incorrect statements listed here in this Tait article, I would assume that since the 3rd one is word for word lifted off of the front page of OilSandsTruth.org it deserves response.
However, since it is clearly designed to mock the tar sands critics, and to do so with the most far reaching split hairs, let us take up the first two points she critiques:
Breaking Environmental News
The Canadian Press - ONLINE EDITION
Sentencing of Syncrude Canada in oilsands-dead ducks trial put over to Oct. 22.
By: The Canadian Press
Posted: 20/08/2010
ST. ALBERT, Alta. - Syncrude Canada will have to wait longer to hear what sentence it will face after being found guilty earlier this summer in the oilsands-dead ducks trial.
The Crown and defence asked Friday to have sentencing put over until Oct. 22.
Oilsands proposal draws protest
Joslyn North mine. Total E&P makes green promises
By MIKE DE SOUZA, Postmedia News August 24, 2010
A battle is brewing over a proposed oilsands project by a French-based company that has drawn more than two dozen opponents from Canada, the U.S. and France at today's deadline for submissions to a joint federal-provincial environmental review panel.
