Economics drive tar sands operations. Record highs in oil prices, though still fluctuating, will make tar sand oil ‘economical’ (read: profitable) well into the future. Government subsidies to this environmentally disastrous process remain in place from a time when the federal government was sponsoring research into the possibility of recovering this oil. Stock prices of tar sands developers grow the more conventional oil is scarce.
New pipeline plan can’t obscure Keystone XL failure: Tim Harper
The politicization of the Keystone XL pipeline proposal threatens damage to Canada-U.S. relations, even before the decision.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has raised the issue of the Keystone XL pipeline with U.S. President Barack Obama at every turn, to apparently little effect, writes Tim Harper.
By: Tim Harper
National Affairs, Published on Thu Aug 01 2013
TransCanada to build oil pipeline to Atlantic Coast
By Rob Gillies / The Associated Press
August 1, 2013
Portland Press Herald
TORONTO — Pipeline company TransCanada said Thursday it will go ahead with a $12 billion plan to ship 1.1 million barrels of oil per day from Western Canada to the country's Atlantic coast that would replace foreign oil in Eastern Canada and allow for Canadian crude to be exported to Asia and Europe.
Enbridge to build $1.3 billion oil sands pipeline extension
By Jordan Howell
Jul 28, 2013
Canadian pipeline company Enbridge announced plans to build a US $1.3 billion southern extension to its Northern Alberta Woodland oil pipeline to connect the company’s Cheecham Terminal to its Edmonton Terminal and nearby refineries.
The extension will serve Imperial Oil's Kearl oil sands project located in the Athabasca Oil Sands region about 70 kilometers north of Fort McMurray and is planned to be in service by the third quarter of 2015.
UPDATE August 1st 2013: TransCanada has announced they intend on moving forward with their Energy East Pipeline and have unfortunately even added to its capacity, making it now a 1.1 million barrel per day project.
Be sure to bring your concerns and your friends to the public engagement meetings TransCanada is hosting.
Goldman Sachs: Killing the Keystone XL Pipeline Kills Canadian Oil Sands
By Mat McDermott
Motherboard
Contrary to what the U.S. State Department says, stopping the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline would have a large impact on the financial viability of future expansion of tar sands projects, as shipping all that bitumen--oil's heavy, vicous tar form--out via rail would be just too expensive and logistically challenging. For the Canadian tar-sand oil boom to continue, they're going to need to open that vein.
Maine town opposes tar sands oil in pipeline
Jun 12, 2013
HARRISON, Maine (AP) - Residents in a Maine town have passed a resolution opposing the pumping of Canadian tar sands oil through a pipeline for shipment overseas.
Residents in Harrison voted 156-59 for the resolution Tuesday, one of at least six towns to do so.
The pipeline is used to carry foreign crude oil from Maine to Montreal. Five miles stretch through Harrison.
South Portlanders petition to put tar-sands project on the ballot
Pre-emptive Petitioning
The Portland Phoenix
By DEIRDRE FULTON | June 13, 2013
In the latest pre-emptive salvo against a potential project that has garnered significant advance attention, a group of South Portlanders has launched a citizens' initiative to change the city's zoning ordinance in order to prevent the Portland Pipe Line Corporation from processing tar-sands oil through its Casco Bay facility.
San Francisco State University votes to divest investment in coal, tar sands
Associated Press // SJ Mercury News
06/12/2013
SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco State University will stop investing its endowment in coal and tar sands companies, joining a growing list of universities that are avoiding investments in fossil fuels, the school said Tuesday.
The university's foundation, which oversees a $51.2 million endowment, also voted in May to look into removing all future investments in fossil fuels companies.
Canada's tar sands companies fail to clean up toxic waste, report finds
Three arrested in environmental protests as Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper visits London
Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 13 June 2013
Protesters gathered as Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper addressed Parliament on Thursday. Photograph: Peter Marshall/Demotix/Corbis
None of the companies operating in Canada's tar sands have met a commitment to clean up the vast and expanding sprawl of toxic waste ponds, an official report has found.
B.C. officially opposes Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline
'Our questions were not satisfactorily answered,' environment minister says
CBC News
May 31, 2013
The B.C. government has officially expressed its opposition to a proposal for the Northern Gateway pipeline project, saying it fails to address the province's environmental concerns.
The province made the announcement in its final written submission to the Northern Gateway Pipeline Joint Review Panel.
