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.
How Enbridge Sawed Off Good Relations with BC First Nations
Killing Haisla's sacred trees just one way firm has undercut dealings with aboriginals on Pacific Gateway route.
By Geoff Dembicki, 16 Jan 2012, TheTyee.ca
More than five years ago, in a patch of coastal rainforest not far from the mouth of the Kitimat River, what was supposed to have been a quiet land survey turned into a public relations nightmare.
How lemurs fight climate change
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
January 09, 2012
An interview with Kara Moses, a part of our on-going Interviews with Young Scientists series.
Enbridge undeterred by B.C. chiefs’ rebuke of Northern Gateway
wendy stueck
VANCOUVER— From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012
With its sole public agreement with a native group in tatters, Northern Gateway proponent Enbridge Inc. on Wednesday said it will continue to court the Gitxsan First Nation and other bands whose traditional territories would be crossed by the $5.5-billion pipeline project.
Big oil's aggressive plan to run more pipelines through Super Natural B.C.
Barry Saxifrage
Nov 30th, 2011
This is the second part of a two part series. The first part explored the dramatic decline in American oil imports and why they won’t absorb much more of the tar sands expanding flows. Today’s second part explains just what that means for Vancouver and BC as a proposed string of gigantic tar sands pipelines target our coast.
Lots and lots of new tar sands pipelines
China Digs Deeper Into Canadian Tar Sands During Durban Talks
Think Progress
By Brad Johnson on Dec 3, 2011
Although China boasts of its green progress, the booming nation is also making major bets on North and South American tar sands, one of the most carbon-intensive fuels on the planet. This play for civilization-threatening energy comes even as the world’s nations jockey over the fragile international climate accords in Durban, South Africa:
EVERYONE IS DOWNSTREAM: Tar Sands in Madagascar
Jean Pierre Ratsimbazafy of Madagascar speaks in Durban, South Africa
by Lia Tarachansky →Durban 2011
Utah’s Oil Sands a Resource for Domestic Energy and Jobs
December 4, 2011
Utah Pulse
One of the nation’s largest potential hydrocarbon resources is contained in oil sands in Utah. The oil sands at PR Spring are located on Utah’s remote East Tavaputs Plateau, and they are estimated to contain the equivalent of over 4.5 billion barrels of oil. As oil prices hover around $100 a barrel and we look to domestic fuel sources, unconventional options are moving into the spotlight. Oil sands are important for applications such as transportation fuel and native asphalt.
'Secret' Environment Canada presentation warns of oilsands' impact on habitat
By Mike De Souza, Postmedia News December 22, 2011
Contamination of a major western Canadian river basin from oilsands operations is a "high-profile concern" for downstream communities and wildlife, says a newly-released "secret" presentation prepared last spring by Environment Canada that highlighted numerous warnings about the industry's growing footprint on land, air, water and the climate.
Premier Clark says B.C.'s coast belongs to Alberta (and all of Canada), not just B.C.
BC Premier Christy Clark said the west coast "doesn't just belong to British Columbia", but some British Columbians disagree.
Alexis Stoymenoff
Posted: Dec 19th, 2011
"British Columbia's coast does not just belong to British Columbia,” BC Premier Christy Clark said last week. The statement has sparked both environmental and economic discussions about responsibilities and rights to British Columbia’s coast.
The Estonian connection: Or how I started worrying about oil shale
High Country News
Jonathan Thompson | Dec 06, 2011 05:00 AM
The last big oil shale* boom in the West busted on “Black Sunday” 1982. I was 11 years old, then, living in Western Colorado, and I can still remember my dad explaining the boom, the bust and the process necessary to get the "oil" out of the shale.
