LISTEN: TARSANDS - CBC Radio – The Current

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LISTEN: Tarsands Items on CBC Radio – The Current –

Part Three – February 26, 2009

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2009/200902/20090226.html

Oil Sands - Last week, The Current devoted an hour to the future of the Alberta Oil sands. The industry faces tighter regulations, environmental pressures, and a U.S. President who isn't necessarily keen on importing energy from so called, dirty oil... no matter how cheap. So we asked the question ... Have the Alberta Oil Sands reached a tipping point? We aired a clip of Alberta's Minister of Finance and Enterprise, Iris Evans speaking on the Current last Wednesday. After hearing this item, our listeners responded.

The issue of the term Tar Sands vs. Oil Sands came up in some of our letters so we thought we'd address this. Neither the CBC nor the Canadian Press has an official policy on whether one term should be used over another. So we decided to get to the bottom of this. First we spoke to Dan Woynillowicz, a senior policy analyst with The Pembina Institute and we also called out to Travis Davies, a public affairs officer with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. (The ERCB he was referring to is the Energy Resources Conservation Board.)

Listen: http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2009/200902/20090226.html

Scroll Down to Part Three ‘podcast’

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CBC Radio – The Current – February 19, 2009

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2009/200902/20090219.html

Part 1: Obama & Dirty Oil

Obamamania is sweeping the streets of Ottawa today. But in the Alberta oil patch, pulses are racing for a different reason. There's an enormous amount of anxiety about what the new U.S. administration will mean for the future of the oil sands.

The United States is Canada's biggest energy market by a wide margin. And much of what we send them comes from the oil sands. And while the Bush Administration saw the oil sands as a key part of its energy security strategy, President Obama campaigned on finding clean, green energy and weaning the United States off less environmentally benign sources such as the oil sands.

Terry Tamminen has a special insight into Barack Obama's thinking on the oil sands and the energy industry. He's an adviser to President Obama's transition team. He's also a long-time environmental adviser to California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. And he's the author of Lives Per Gallon: The True Cost of our Oil Addiction. Terry Tamminen joined us from Santa Monica, California.

Listen to Part One: http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2009/200902/20090219.html

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CBC Radio – The Current – February 18, 2009

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2009/200902/20090218.html

Part 2: Oil Sands Talk Tape

We're going to spend the next hour in the Alberta Oil Sands ... where a confluence of events has made a once bright economic future a whole lot murkier.

CBC Radio producer in Edmonton, Gillian Rutherford and Calgary producer, Michael O'Halloran joined Anna Maria to talk about Oil Sands.

Listen to Part Two: http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2009/200902/20090218.html
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Part 3: Oil Sands Talk Tape (cont'd)

To recap: The oil sands industry is facing tighter regulations ... a whole slate of environmental issues ... a bishop who is calling into question the morality of its development and a new U.S. President who doesn't seem too crazy about importing lots of energy from the oil sands, no matter how cheap or reliable it might be.

That's a lot to deal with. But so far, neither the oil industry nor the Alberta or Canadian Governments have shown much appetite for putting the brakes on oil sands development. Except that the economic downturn and the plunging price of oil have imposed their own de facto slowdown on development.

Michael O'Halloran, our producer in Calgary as well as Gillian Rutherford, our producer in Edmonton joined Anna Maria once again to continue the discussion about the oil sands.

Oil Sands - Alberta Finance Minister

Iris Evans has been listening to our conversation about the challenges facing the oil sands. She's Alberta's Minister of Finance and Enterprise and she was in Edmonton.

Listen: (around 10 minute mark on Podcast):
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2009/200902/20090218.html