Oil Sands Truth: Shut Down the Tar Sands

Indigenous

Indigenous

Indigenous nations have protected the earth on their territories for thousands of years. With the government of Canada ignoring their sovereignty, nations not only see massive theft of resources that could help alleviate social problems, but their exacerbation through their further alienation from their own lands, often accompanying being overrun by development and southern workers, while having no self-determination during this process. In the south of Canada industrial farming displaced many nations with often genocidal results. In the north, a modern equivalent of that fate is only just beginning, wrought on by industrial oil and gas drilling schemes (among many industrial plans) that are condemning entire societies, languages and cultures to a precarious future, becoming minorities in their lands for the first time.

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Indigenous nations have protected the earth on their territories for thousands of years. With the government of Canada ignoring their sovereignty, nations not only see massive theft of resources that could help alleviate social problems, but their exacerbation through their further alienation from their own lands, often accompanying being overrun by development and southern workers, while having no self-determination during this process. In the south of Canada industrial farming displaced many nations with often genocidal results. In the north, a modern equivalent of that fate is only just beginning, wrought on by industrial oil and gas drilling schemes (among many industrial plans) that are condemning entire societies, languages and cultures to a precarious future, becoming minorities in their lands for the first time.

Shell's Bonga Bongo (and other beats)

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.

Oil Shale project raises hackles in Israel

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

The politics of pipe: Keystone's troubled route

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 Keystone XL Pipeline, Yet It Seems Likely to Endure

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

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 tar sands' impact on habitat

'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, not just B.C.

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.

Tsleil-Waututh First Nation To fight Kinder Morgan Expansion

Tsleil-Waututh First Nation To fight Kinder Morgan Expansion
BC Local News
December 20, 2011

Kinder Morgan's plan to more than double its ability to send crude oil by pipeline through the Lower Mainland to tankers on Burrard Inlet will be opposed by the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation.

The company aims to twin its Trans Mountain pipeline from Alberta, boosting its capacity from 300,000 barrels per year to up to 700,000 and increasing the number of oil tankers that sail past downtown Vancouver.

Harper miscalculated Keystone XL anger, opposition parties say

Harper miscalculated Keystone XL anger, opposition parties say
By Jessica Murphy ,Parliamentary Bureau

Monday, November 14, 2011

Bob Rae Liberal Leader Bob Rae speaks to the media following Question Period in the Foyer of the House of Commons at Parliament Hill in Ottawa Nov 14, 2011. (ANDRE FORGET /QMI AGENCY)

OTTAWA - The Harper government is underestimating the political weight the aversion to the Keystone XL pipeline and Alberta's oilsands has, opposition parties have charged.

Oil in the Desert

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.

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