Forests lose more trees and habitat to pipeline “right of way” cuts and tar pit building than to clearcuts. With minor variation, pipelines go the direct route. Through the strip mining of the land that contains tarsand petroleum and through pipeline construction to accomodate, only the Amazon Basin in Brazil would see larger rates of deforestation than the Boreal forest cover surrendered to the tarsands. Roads often accompany pipelines, as do various other developments. Hundreds of thousands of miles of forests, all combined, have been lost to infrastructure built to accommodate tarsands operations. Now the industry wants to build two approximately 1200 km long Mackenzie and Gateway pipelines as well as 2700 km's from Alaska's North Slope to accomodate tarsand oil production.
Oilsands emissions could triple under Conservative plan
Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service
Published: Friday, March 14, 2008
Meantime, Environment Canada has confirmed that millions of tonnes of pollution from small facilities will be exempt for companies in sectors such as oil and gas, natural gas pipelines, electricity, chemicals and fertilizers.
Here's the real reason for Suncor's participation in the Pew/Sunoco funded Canadian Boreal Initiative -- allow for endless tarpit expansion while taking credit for some low-hanging fruit protected areas elsewhere in the boreal forest. An excellent business strategy indeed, especially given the fact that Pew/Sunoco actually *founded* Suncor in 1967. Though Pew/Sunoco sold off Suncor in 1995, they continue to refine large amounts of synthetic (mock) crude oil from the tarpits and desperately want more.
Tarpit Pete
Aboriginal chiefs want oilsands moratorium
Renata D'Aliesio, Calgary Herald
Published: Monday, February 25, 2008
EDMONTON - Alberta's aboriginal chiefs are calling for a moratorium on new oilsands development until they've completed plans to manage water and resource development in the region.
Oil-rich Alberta showing shades of Green
From the Globe and Mail Feb 21, 2008
DAWN WALTON
With a report from Katherine O'Neill in Fort McMurray, Alta.
February 21, 2008
LACOMBE, ALTA. -- Alberta Green Party candidate Joe Anglin could hardly believe his eyes when 50 people - mainly baby boomers, some seniors and, on the surface, not a single member of the granola set - took their seats in the Lacombe parish hall over the long weekend.
Environmentalists Win landmark Tar Sands Lawsuit
Court Finds Gaping Holes in Environmental Assessment
EDMUNTON - March 5 -The Federal Court of Canada today released a judgment finding fatal legal errors in the environmental assessment of the Kearl Tar Sands Project, north of Fort McMurray.
Ecojustice lawyer Sean Nixon was in court in January on behalf of the Pembina Institute, Sierra Club of Canada, the Toxics Watch Society of Alberta and the Prairie Acid Rain Coalition.
Are the Sacred Headwaters being sacrificed for the Tar Sands?
The Athabasca Oil Sands are the largest single source of greenhouse
gases in Canada. They are also one of the largest users of methane, also
known as natural gas.
Bitumen extraction is an energy intensive process that requires between
700 and 1200 cubic feet of natural gas to produce one barrel of bitumen.
The natural gas is used to heat water, which is mixed with tar sands to
separate the crude bitumen (a semi-solid form of crude oil), from
silica, clay and other minerals.
Note: Fort Chip is not a reserve, but a hamlet.
--M
Reserve holds cancer rally
By SHANNON MONTGOMERY The Canadian Press
Sun. Mar 2 - 4:46 AM
EDMONTON — Janelle Vermillion owns a house in the tiny northern Alberta community of Fort Chipewyan. Her family, including her brother, still lives there. She considers it home.
But the 27-year-old woman says she will never again feel safe living there.
"I just want to move back home," she said, fighting back tears as she gestured to the pink-clad six-month-old baby in the stroller in front of her.
Finally Canada's establishment newspaper gets it right! The proposed partial moratorium is indeed a PR greenwash smokescreen:
Oil patch split over proposal for partial moratorium
NORVAL SCOTT
February 25, 2008
CALGARY -- A business-led lobbying effort to create a partial moratorium on oil sands development in order to free up conservation land has divided Canada's major energy companies, while a government decision on the issue will likely be delayed until after next Monday's provincial election.
Major oil producers - led by Petro-Canada Corp., Suncor Inc., Husky Energy Ltd., Shell Canada and Imperial Oil - have for the first time called on Alberta to slow development in the Athabasca region.
Arctic ‘Doomsday Vault’ Filled With World’s Seeds Comes to Life
by Pierre-Henry Deshayes in Longyearbyen, Norway
AN Arctic “doomsday vault” filled with samples of the world’s most important seeds will be inaugurated in Norway today.
0224 03The vault aims to provide humankind with a Noah’s Ark of food in the event of a global catastrophe.
