Peak Oil is starting to be understood across a broad spectrum, but the direct connection between peak oil, climate change and the American market-led attempt to squeeze all energy out of Alberta cannot be overstated. The smaller the global supply of oil gets, the more CO2 has been emitted and the more climate change will have advanced. This leads to more interest in the tar sands—because the profit margin goes ever higher the fewer alternatives there are for petroleum. Without Peak Oil bearing down on humanity, no economical reason would exist to produce this energy intensive, low-output petrol.
Global Forces Making Vancouver a Major Oil Port
China craves oil sands fuel. Ottawa wants to diversify its US market. So huge amounts of crude will have to pass through a risky Second Narrows.
By Mitchell Anderson,
17 Jun 2010,
TheTyee.ca
Burrard Inlet and Second Narrows bridge
Second Narrows Bridge in Burrard Inlet received highest hazard rating by Coast Guard.
What Happened on the BP Oil Rig?
The facts, now out, are detailed here. The moral reckoning has yet to begin.
By Rex Weyler, TheTyee.ca
June 18 2010
Red flags were ignored.
After the Deepwater well blew out, the first announcement from British Petroleum (BP) assured the public that "we have the best engineers in the world." Then they announced that the damaged well flowed at a rate of "one thousand barrels per day" (b/d).
Estimates now range between 50 and 150 b/d.
How do the "best engineers in the world" get this wrong by two orders of magnitude?
Oil Shale or Shale Oil?
A Case of Mistaken Identity
By Keith Kohl
Thursday, June 17th, 2010
There are few things in life that anger me more than one of my readers being swindled.
And you should be just as irritated, because it's your hard earned money that's at stake.
Now, you know that shale oil isn't new to us. We've been covering the development of shale deposits for years. And my readers and I know how well that's turned out investors.
When the shale rush began, it was impossible to pick a losing play. Of course, things are much different today. But I digress...
In Oil Spill Address, Obama Offers No Answers on Climate Bill
President Avoids Mention of Climate Change or Carbon Cap
By Aaron Wiener 6/16/10 12:00 AM
In his speech to the nation from the Oval Office Tuesday night, President Obama laid out a three-step plan to mitigate the damage from the BP oil spill and compensate affected residents along the Gulf Coast.
Rethinking Alberta's energy sector
Oilsands and emissions are key issues in report from a think-tank funded by BlackBerry billionaire Jim Balsillie
By Deborah Yedlin, Canwest News Service June 16, 2010
There are a number of interesting, if not controversial, assumptions made in a study released last week by the Canadian International Council, the think-tank funded by Research In Motion billionaire Jim Balsillie.
Cenovus plans five-fold boost in oil sands output
Wed Jun 16, 2010
CALGARY, Alberta, June 16 (Reuters) - Cenovus Energy Inc (CVE.TO), the oil sands company spun off by EnCana Corp (ECA.TO) late last year, said on Wednesday its northern Alberta properties contain more than enough oil to support plans for a five-fold rise in production over the next decade.
Part One: Peak Oil Goes Mainstream
The Archdruid Report (June 09 2010)
Druid perspectives on nature, culture, and the future of industrial society
Longtime readers of this blog will recall that one of its central projects
early on was an attempt to deconstruct the most deeply entrenched set of
myths industrial culture uses to define the future. To borrow a phrase
from Carlos Castaneda, the myth of progress and the myth of apocalypse
were worthy opponents, and I hope the confrontation with them was as
educational, and occasionally entertaining, to my readers as it was to me.
Offshore Drilling Backlash May Boost Shale, Oil Sands
*Date:* /15-Jun-10/
*Author:* Jon Hurdle and Jeffrey Jones
The massive Gulf oil spill may hasten the development of shale gas and oil
sands, North America's two most important emerging energy sources.
The risk of pursuing deepwater oil reserves dwarfs the environmental concerns
facing both onshore sectors.
Neither Canadian oil sands petroleum nor natural gas from U.S. shale beds will
immediately substitute for delayed Gulf of Mexico crude output in the wake of a
Another big year for Alberta oil sands
By QMI Agency
Last Updated: June 7, 2010
Alberta oilsands production could see another big year as the economic recovery puts global crude demand back on track.
Overall production in the region ramped up 14% in 2009 despite the widespread economic downturn, unstable crude prices and global criticism aimed at Fort McMurray operations.
In 2009, Alberta squeezed out 1.49 millionbarrels per day of raw crude bitumen from the oilsands for a total of 544 million barrels, according to the province’s Energy Resources Conservation Board.
