Oil Sands Truth: Shut Down the Tar Sands

Energy

Energy and how it is captured and consumed is barely viable in tar sands production. While the amount of oil in places such as the tar sands in Alberta or the Orinoco Belt in Venezuela may have deposits of similar size to the reserves of countries such as Saudi Arabia or Iraq, the return of new energy after expending energy in production is not even close. In Iraq, the process of using one barrel of oil generates 100 new barrels. In the tar sands, estimates of 3 to 1 and even as low as 1.5 to 1 have been made. Offsetting the net energy loss would require minimally 25-30 tar sands facilities for one Saudi plant operating at the same capacity.

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Keystone XL key issue in U.S. election

By Yadullah Hussain, Financial Post February 10, 2012

The last time David H. Wilkins came to the National Post office for an editorial board meeting was in 2005. He was then U.S. Ambassador to Canada and President George W. Bush's key man in Ottawa.

Summing up the U.S.-Canada relationship at the time, Mr. Wilkins recalled a meeting between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mr. Bush: "The President said: 'I will tell you what my policy is on Canada. My policy is to help Canada.' "

Canadian Natural's tar sands plant off line

Canadian Natural's oil sands plant off line-source
Factbox: Keystone XL dominates energy, environment agenda

Tue Feb 7, 2012

By Jeffrey Jones and Scott Haggett

CALGARY, Alberta, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Canadian Natural Resources Ltd's Horizon oil sands plant in northern Alberta is shut down for unplanned repairs and could be off line for two to three weeks, a source with knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday.

The outage pushed up U.S. oil prices and pressured Canadian Natural shares, which fell as much as 5.2 percent. By early afternoon they were down C$1.69, or 4.2 percent, at C$38.59 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Magical thinking

Magical thinking
Salt Lake Tribune
Updated Feb 8, 2012

It’s appropriate that Gov. Gary Herbert, in attacking a federal proposal to restrict the amount of public land available for oil shale and tar sands mining, should accuse the Bureau of Land Management of waving a “bureaucratic magic wand.” Because all the proposed rule would do is cut back on the amount of land where people would be allowed to carry out some magical alchemy that no one yet knows how to do.

Talk about hocus-pocus.

Tar Sands Represents Bonus and Risk to Great Lakes

Connected by Pipeline from Canada, Tar Sands Represents Bonus and Risk to Great Lakes
Tuesday, 07 February 2012
Circle of Blue
Jacob Wheeler

Transporting and processing corrosive crude raise new questions about consequences
BP is spending nearly $4 billion to expand and modernize its Whiting, Indiana refinery to process tar sands oil from Canada - an investment that has helped to make the Great Lakes Basin both a center of commerce in the two nation’s oil production boom and a target of rising environmental risks to the largest system of fresh surface water in the world.

Tar Sands Destroying Wolf & Caribou Populations In Canada

by Beth Buczynski
February 7, 2012

Extracting oil from tar sands (aka oil sands) is detrimental to human health in a number of ways. It drastically increases greenhouse gas emissions, continues our society’s addiction to fossil fuels, and puts soil and water quality at risk.

But these aren’t the only threats posed by tar sands projects like the Keystone XL pipeline.

Possible tar sands pipeline to Portland worries environmental groups [Maine]

Possible tar sands pipeline to Portland worries environmental groups
By Matthew Arco
Feb 08, 2012
Portland Daily Sun (Maine)

Environmental groups fearing that talks to pump "incredibly destructive" crude oil from Canada to Greater Portland are once again resurfacing, are opposing the project even before one is officially put in writing.

Too Much Energy Used to Mine, Move Bitumen Says BC Firm

'Energy Return on Investment' hard to justify says P.G.-based engineering
analyst.

By: By Geoff Dembicki 6 February
2012, TheTyee.ca

A B.C. engineering consulting firm claims it has hard numerical proof that
Enbridge's Northern Gateway proposal augurs poorly for the future of modern
society.

The Prince George-based C.J. Peter Associates
Engineeringcame to this conclusion after
performing an EROI analysis on the
$5.5-billion project.

Huge BC rally in Prince Rupert protests Northern Gateway pipeline

Huge BC rally in Prince Rupert protests Northern Gateway pipeline
By Lynn Herrmann
Feb 5, 2012
Digital Journal

Prince Rupert - A huge rally took to the streets on Saturday in British Columbia’s Prince Rupert, opposing Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline which would transport Alberta tar sands to Kitimat, primary access point along the province’s northwest coast.

Canada's tar sands emerging as an energy heavyweight

By SYED RASHID HUSAIN

Published: Feb 5, 2012

ARAB NEWS.

The energy world is in a transition. It is undergoing a major metamorphosis. New energy frontiers are cropping up and the global energy map is changing fast. Of these new emerging global energy centers, the landlocked province of Alberta in Canada, with its rich resource base, stands out in more than one ways. Many say Calgary, its most important city, is the Dhahran of tomorrow or at least the equivalent of it.

Is Canada’s tar sands monitoring program a ‘PR stunt’?

Op-Ed: Is Canada’s oil sands monitoring program a ‘PR stunt’?

By Kathleen Blanchard
Feb 5, 2012
Digital Journal

Environment Canada announces they are taking steps to monitor the effects of development of oil sands in the area. The plan is designed to gauge the cumulative effects on the environment from oil production from tar sands.