Land, regardless of whether covered by forests, tundra or grasslands, is threatened by mining operations such as Alberta’s vast open tar pit operations, or through incredible networks of “right of way” cuts for pipelines that extend in the hundreds of thousands of miles, all told, and across the continent in four directions and to three oceans—either through feeding the tarsand operations with fossil fuel energy or through feeding energy markets from tarsand operations after production. In the case of pipeline right of ways, they can blast directly through mountains or be buried in permafrost if needed, to get the energy to move.
US Tea Party's Deep Ties to Oil Sands Giant
Owners of Koch Industries, a major processor of Alberta crude, spent millions to foment and support a movement against Obama's climate change policies.
By Geoff Dembicki, November 1, 2010, TheTyee.ca
The Tea Party movement, poised to help shift the U.S. legislature to the right and stymie President Obama's green agenda, has financial and organizational ties to Koch Industries, one of America's biggest processors of Alberta oil sands crude.
Idaho road becomes oilsands battleground
By Shaun Polczer,
Calgary Herald
October 23, 2010
A twisting highway in the scenic Pacific Northwest has become the latest battleground for anti-oilsands activists hoping to block development of the world's second-largest oil reserves.
More than 200 process modules for Imperial Oil's $8-billion Kearl oilsands mine began arriving in Vancouver, Wash., on Oct. 3 and are being barged up the Columbia and Snake rivers to Lewiston, Idaho, without permits from state authorities to ship them 1,300 kilometres overland to the Alberta border.
Syncrude Fined $3m for Duck Kill at Tar Sands
by Richard Komorowski – Cornwall Ontario – October 23, 2010
Cornwall ON – Syncrude, which last year had revenues estimated at $7 billion, was today fined almost $3m for the massive duck kill in April 2008.
The company, which is jointly owned by a number of multinational oil companies, was convicted of one offence under the federal Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994, and one count under the Alberta Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act.
First Nations Women to Speak Out in Toronto against Tar Sands
By Kathleen Airdrie
Published Oct 25, 2010
National First Nations Women's Speakers Tour on Tar Sands will hold an event October 27, 2010 at the University of Toronto.
The women’s tour is sponsored by several organizations concerned with the devastation caused by the massive projects’ degradation of the land.
First Nations Women Speaking Out
Shell hammered at hearing over refinery
Produced 90,000 barrels per day. Company must dismantle refinery and decontaminate soil
By KEVIN DOUGHERTY,
The Gazette
October 20, 2010
Nicolas Houle, director of Shell Canada's Montreal East oil refinery, got a rough ride yesterday at special National Assembly hearings challenging the company's decision to shut down the facility.
"Why should I give you a permit to dismantle it?" asked Natural Resources Minister Nathalie Normandeau.
Rash of spills puts new tar sands oil pipeline on hold
By Ed Brayton 10/18/10 7:40 AM Digg Tweet
U.S. State Department approval of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, a massive project that would carry crude oil from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada all the way to southern Texas, has been delayed and observers say the spill of a million gallons into a Michigan waterway is likely one key reason why. AP reports:
Imperial's oilsands modules traverse circuitous route
By Dave Cooper, Edmonton Journal October 16, 2010
With Imperial's $8-billion Kearl oilsands project now about 25 per cent complete, the first two South Koreanmade modules have arrived by barge in Lewiston, Idaho, after a 500-kilometre trip from the U.S. West Coast.
A shipload of modules arrived on Oct. 3 at the Port of Vancouver, Wash., across from Portland on the Columbia River. The units were loaded onto barges and towed up the Columbia and Snake rivers to Lewiston.
Canada-US pipeline on hold amid oil's recent woes
By JAMES MacPHERSON and JOSH FUNK
BISMARCK, N.D.
A company waiting for the U.S. government to approve the last leg of its multibillion-dollar oil pipeline network between Canada and the United State may be running into public concerns stemming from recent oil disasters.
Some experts conclude the so-called Keystone XL pipeline is a victim of guilt by association amid the negative publicity of the Gulf Coast oil rig explosion and other spills.
Proposed oil refinery the center of political debate
Iowa politicians weigh environmental risks against potential economic gains
By Matt Vasilogambros 10/6/10
The Iowa Independent
A proposed 400,000-barrel-per-day tar sands oil refinery along the South Dakota-Iowa border is stirring an increasingly polarizing debate, bringing both environmental and economic concerns to the forefront. The refinery is even becoming an issue in the gubernatorial campaign between Republican Terry Branstad and Democrat Chet Culver.
Minnesota and Alberta Tar Sands
By Kevin Karner, TC Daily Planet
October 11, 2010
A September 22 forum at St. Thomas University, Alberta Tar Sands: Minnesota's Dirty Oil Secret explored Minnesota's dependence on the oil sands of Alberta.
