EVERYONE IS DOWNSTREAM: Tar Sands in Madagascar
Jean Pierre Ratsimbazafy of Madagascar speaks in Durban, South Africa
by Lia Tarachansky →Durban 2011
The Health implications in terms of these projects are vast, and not just the deadly explosions and industrial accidents that happen in production-—from reported increases in rare forms of cancer downstream from tar sands production to the pollution of fresh water leading to poisoned diets (fish, moose and plant toxicity)—-direct links are hard to establish but impossible to either rule out or ignore, especially where tarsand operations constitute overwhelmingly the greatest change to the environment in most corners of the continent effected directly by tarsand infrastructure.
EVERYONE IS DOWNSTREAM: Tar Sands in Madagascar
Jean Pierre Ratsimbazafy of Madagascar speaks in Durban, South Africa
by Lia Tarachansky →Durban 2011
Shell's Bonga Bongo (and other beats)
Nnimmo Bassey
Although the oil company Shell has pronounced the cause and source of its oil spill of 20 or so December 2011 this has remained nothing other than a company statement. Since that spill the company has writhed and contorted in efforts to prove to the world that it is responsive to concerns surrounding its notorious despoliation of the Niger Delta environment.
Energy sector brings wealth, immigrants to Alberta
Jeremy van Loon, Bloomberg News
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Alberta Premier Alison Redford says oil is opening Canada's fastest-growing province to the world for the first time.
The population of Canada's main oil-producing region has soared by 37 percent to about 3.7 million in the past decade as companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Statoil ASA attracted workers from China, Venezuela and the Philippines to develop the largest oil reserves outside the Middle East.
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.
Oil in the Desert
Will water be sacrificed to oil in Jordan?
by Macdonald Stainsby
The Dominion
December 7, 2011
Explorations pétrolières
Le danger est inévitable selon l’AVG
L’alliance « Voahary gasy » (AVG) a recommandé d’arrêter l’exploration et l’exploitation du pétrole con-conventionnel dans les sites de Bemolanga et de Tsimiroro. Toutes les activités liées à l’exploration ont actuellement des effets néfastes non seulement sur l’environnement et les richesses en biodiversité mais surtout sur la santé des communautés environnantes.
Oil in the Desert
Will water be sacrificed to oil in Jordan?
November 13, 2011
by Macdonald Stainsby
AMMAN, Jordan--In March of 2011, The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan jumped headlong into unconventional oil extraction, and signed a deal with Karak International Oil (KIO), a subsidiary of Jordan Energy and Mining Limited (JEML--a British company) for the commercial mining of oil shale approximately one hour’s drive from the capital of Amman. Unlike most countries in the region, if you fill up your gas tank in Jordan, you are using imported oil— but the Kingdom is touting a future when extreme extraction will change that, and soon.
Apartheid Oil
Crude trapped in shale could transform Israel into energy powerhouse
November 10, 2011
by Macdonald Stainsby
JERUSALEM-- Major offshore gas strikes in 2009 and 2010 may soon convert converted Israel into a gas exporting country with self-sufficient energy. But perhaps more important than the gas under the sea is the mock crude trapped in husk dry sands and rock hard shale, reserves which could push Israel into the upper echelons of recoverable oil on the planet. Israel has long had a weakness economically and militarily because of their reliance on others for energy supplies.
Could Israel be another Middle East oil giant?
30 September 2011
By Daniel Estrin BBC co-production The World
Prospectors in Israel say hundreds of feet below the ground lies shale rock that can be converted into billions of barrels of oil. But environmentalists say it's a disaster waiting to happen.
"This is the distinct smell I'm talking about when I talk about oil shale."