Water is needed in huge amounts in tarsands production and in all other construction stages of tarsands infrastructure across the continent. It takes five litres of water to produce one of usable petrol. There is also water used to move gas, build new tar pits or that water which becomes polluted in the outlying areas. Waste tailings ponds are so vast as to be visible from outer space at this early point in production. Water is now being privatized in slow motion, as “access rights” are available in Alberta. As production grows and climate change continues to parch southern Albertan land, more and more water will be needed to help supply fuel for the American market. This water will ultimately be diverted from rivers, lakes, farms and cities throughout Canada; the water levels in the Athabasca River have already dropped several meters. The Deh Cho/Mackenzie River is already threatened, both from development along its valley and it is downstream from tar sands operations. A generation ago, the Athabasca River was clear and drinking was common. Now, those that live with the river consider it poison and off-limits.
How First Nations Are Gearing Up for Legal Battle Against Gateway
Native groups likely to cite evidence they weren't consulted as required by Supreme Court decisions.
By Geoff Dembicki, Jan 30 2012
TheTyee.ca
On Sept. 28, 2011, Enbridge appears to have made an extraordinary offer of peace to several of its most dedicated opponents.
University of Utah professor warns tar sands process could taint water
By brandon loomis
The Salt Lake Tribune
Jan 23 2012
The citrus-based chemical that a Canadian company plans to use to strip oil from eastern Utah tar sands will leave tailings that could leach cancer-causing compounds into the groundwater, a University of Utah scientist warns.
![Map shows Trans Mountain's existing pipe and possible twinning expansion. The Anchor project (red) was completed three years ago, while twinning from Darfield to Kamloops and from Hinton to Edson was done many years before that. [Kinder Morgan graphic]](http://oilsandstruth.org/sites/oilsandstruth.org/files/78996clearwaterTransMtnMap.jpg "Map shows Trans Mountain's existing pipe and possible twinning expansion. The Anchor project (red) was completed three years ago, while twinning from Darfield to Kamloops and from Hinton to Edson was done many years before that. [Kinder Morgan graphic]")
Kinder Morgan investigates twinning Trans Mountain pipeline
By Keith McNeill - Clearwater Times
Published: January 23, 2012 10:00 AM
Many local residents have been following the hearings that recently began to look into the proposed Enbridge Gateway pipeline from Alberta to Kitimat.
Ottawa plays down oil sands document
David Ljunggren - The Globe and Mail
January 26, 2012
The federal government disassociated itself on Thursday from an embarrassing official policy paper that said the country’s independent energy regulator, now studying a controversial oil pipeline, is in fact a government ally.
Critics have long charged the right-of-centre Conservative government is trying to pressure the regulator – the National Energy Board (NEB) – to approve Enbridge Inc. ’s plan to build a pipeline from the Alberta oil sands to the Pacific Coast.
Oil Shale Mining and Research Picking Up Steam
By Al Fin | Sat, 15 January 2011
Oilprice.com
Estonia's largest oil shale mining company, Eesti Energia, reported the largest oil shale production figures in 18 years for 2010 - 17 million tons, up 3 million tons from the year before.
The bulk of the national power company Eesti Energia's mining subsidiary's production is used in the furnaces of the Narva power plants, which have significantly geared up electricity production due to a sharp decline in imports after the closure of Lithuania's Ignalina nuclear plant. _ERRNews
Exxon Mobil Gets $908 Million in Venezuela
By AP / IAN JAMES Sunday, Jan. 01, 2012
(CARACAS, Venezuela) —
An international arbitration body has awarded Exxon Mobil Corp. nearly $908 million in a dispute with Venezuela over compensation for the nationalization of its assets, the company said Sunday.
Exxon Mobil sought arbitration after President Hugo Chavez's government nationalized an oil project in the country in 2007.
TransCanada hopes to stick to 2014 timeline for Keystone pipeline
By Rebecca Penty, Calgary Herald; With Files From James Wood And Dina O'meara, Calgary Herald January 19, 2012
Keystone XL backer TransCanada Corp. is maintaining an ambitious plan to have its proposed Alberta-to-Texas oil pipeline operating by late 2014, though the Obama administration that rejected the line Wednesday says any subsequent application would spark a fresh review.
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.
Obama denies permit for Keystone pipeline
Alberta Tories to blame for our friendless status
By Don Braid, Calgary Herald January 19, 2012
As the Keystone XL pipeline collides yet again with U.S. politics, nobody cries for Alberta. Our licence plate motto could be: Alberta, The Friendless Province.
And we've earned our lonely state; or at least, successive PC governments have won it for us.
This latest fiasco results from decades of bad provincial policy, lax oversight, and overweening, belligerent pride in money and resources bestowed by nature, not by virtue.
Oil Shale in Morocco: Reserves, History and Production
FreePRNews.in(Press Release) - Friday, January 6th, 2012 -
