Water

Important note: This article originally had the words Oil Shale reversed as "Shale Oil". However, the common use of the term Shale Oil is in reference to fracking to recover oil near or trapped by shale rock; much like the gas released by fracking in Northeastern BC in Canada or the Northeast of the United States (New York, Pennsylvania, etc). Oil Shale extraction is in many ways worse; we do not yet know what the impact on water would be if this were to go into larger scale production, however, we do know that the energy input alone is likely to be astronomical-- in the case of Israel/Palestine, they are talking about a process of heating the rock in the ground for MANY months before a single drop of kerogen (a pre-oil substance, like the more commonly known bitumen) is literally bled out of the rock.

Just in terms of climate change this project is a disaster, never mind the impact on geopolitics, the immediate environment, Palestinian human rights, Israeli human health, etc. this could be a crime on a scale hard to imagine. It is sad to say there may be something worse than tar sands in Canada. And harder to say that it may, in fact, be in the Holy Land-- and the holiest of places within it.

--M

Imperial Oil approves US$8.6 billion expansion to Kearl oil sands mine

By Associated Press
December 21

CALGARY, Alberta — Imperial Oil Ltd. said Wednesday it will go ahead with an $8.9 billion Canadian (US$8.6 billion) expansion to its Kearl oil sands mine in Alberta.

The Calgary-based oil producer and refiner said the second phase of the project is slated to begin producing 110,000 barrels of oil per day by late 2015.

[This same Boak is shilling as well for the Israeli plan to decimate parts of the Elah Valley to turn rock into oil using heat, damn the energy input. They are not to be trusted and have no previous record of success, but this is reprinted here as an FYI as to what should come out of the ground vis-a-vis their "ideas". --M]

Oil shale development requires thoughtful, careful dialogue
December 12, 2011 7:56 PM
JEREMY BOAK
GUEST COLUMNIST

Jordan Jumps Forward on Energy Development
Laurie Balbo | December 12th, 2011

Environmental activists united in protest for a second time in six months urging public debate over Jordan’s emerging atomic energy program. Over two dozen anti-nuclear activists protested near Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh’s Amman offices last Saturday, in vocal reaction to a government policy statement reaffirming Jordan’s commitment to nuclear development.

The Oil That Comes in from the Cold
By Humberto Márquez
IPSNews
December 31 2011

CARACAS, Dec 30, 2011 (IPS) - Thanks to soaring oil prices and new technology, oil producers in the hot sands of Arabia, the torrid Niger delta or the humid plains of the Orinoco are facing new competition from rivals in the frozen North.

The Anglo-Dutch Shell group was given the green light by the U.S. environmental agency to drill for oil off the coast of the northern edge of Alaska from July 2012, a project in which the company has already invested 3.5 billion dollars.

The politics of pipe: Keystone's troubled route
nathan vanderklippe
CALGARY
Globe and Mail
Dec. 24, 2011

Half-a-decade before TransCanada Corp.’s (TRP-T44.45----%) Keystone XL ran into a wall of political and environmental resistance, a key stretch of the route linking Canada’s oil sands to refineries in the southern U.S. emerged as a tricky, though seemingly surmountable, problem.

The route crossed a landscape of prairie and farmland, far from mountains, tundra, permafrost and other features that make it tough to dig trenches and lay pipe. But there was one obstacle.

Politics Stamps Out Oil Sands Pipeline, Yet It Seems Likely to Endure
By JOHN M. BRODER and DAN FROSCH
Published: December 23, 2011

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration confirmed this week that a provision in the payroll tax bill requiring a quick decision on the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from western Canada to the Gulf Coast will probably lead to cancellation of the project.

Reflections on Apartheid Oil

by Media Co-op
December 21, 2011

The Apartheid Oil series, which was originally published here on the Media Co-op, has created waves of discussion throughout the activist community and beyond. As a follow up to the five pieces that were part of the Apartheid Oil project, the Media Co-op did a follow-up interview with author Macdonald Stainsby.

Media Co-op: Is there a religious element to arguments in favour of developing these oil shale deposits?

'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.