WE ARE ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH THE TAR SANDS
The new focus on oil sands
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/markets/
markets-blog/the-new-focus-on-oil-sands/article1532887/
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 11:48 AM David Berman
After the news broke on Monday that ConocoPhillips Co. had sold it 9 per cent stake in Syncrude Canada Ltd. to China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. for nearly $4.7-billion (U.S.), one name in Canada’s oil patch jumped.
Canadian Oil Sands Trust (COS.UN-T31.53-0.69-2.14%) rose about 5 per cent on the news, and for a pretty good reason: If 9 per cent of Syncrude was worth $4.7-billion, then Canadian Oil Sands’ 36.7 per cent stake in Syncrude would be worth...a lot more. Indeed, the deal represents a 16 per cent premium over the units’ closing price on Monday.
However, Jeff Meunier, an analyst at TD Newcrest, isn’t overly bullish. On Tuesday, he cut his recommendation on Canadian Oil Sands to “hold” from “buy”, although he raised his 12-month price target to $34.50 from $32 based on the company’s increased reserve and resource report announced in late March.
The reason for his tempered enthusiasm? Although the Concoco-Sinopec deal suggests that the trust has a higher valuation, the price paid by Sinopec represents a premium over Canadian Oil Sands’ net asset value, in Mr. Meunier’s opinion. In other words, Sinopec paid more than Syncrude is worth intrinsically.
MORE:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/markets/
markets-blog/the-new-focus-on-oil-sands/article1532887/
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AN AGREEMENT BY CHINA PETROLEUM & CHEMICAL CORP TO INVEST $4.65 BILLION IN OIL SANDS
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... uTZuvnpPW0
Canada Stocks Rise on SinoPec Oil Sands Investment, Greece Plan
By Matt Walcoff
April 12 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks gained for a third day as energy shares rallied on an agreement by China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. to invest $4.65 billion in an oil sands project and gold shares rose on a European rescue package for Greece.
Canadian Oil Sands Trust, the largest owner of the Syncrude project in Alberta, climbed 5.9 percent as Sinopec agreed to buy ConocoPhillips’s 9 percent stake. Lake Shore Gold Corp., which mines in Ontario, jumped 4.5 percent after receiving an “outperform” rating from Royal Bank of Canada. . . .
“Other countries are still pouring money into Canada,” said Doug Davis, chief executive officer of Davis-Rea Ltd. in Toronto, which manages C$400 million ($399 million). “To get a positive investment in the oil sands not only stimulates investment in that whole community of stocks but also stimulates investment in Canada generally.”
Canada is the biggest supplier of oil exports to the U.S. Crude prices have rallied 20 percent since Feb. 5, boosting energy companies, which make up 26 percent of Canadian stocks by market value.
Canadian Oil Sands, which owns 37 percent of the Syncrude project, increased 5.9 percent to C$32.52, after ConocoPhillips said it agreed to sell the stake. Cenovus Energy Inc., the oil company spun off from EnCana Corp. in December, advanced 2.8 percent to C$29.76.
MORE: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... uTZuvnpPW0
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Sinopec to Buy Syncrude Stake for $4.65 Billion (Update3)
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-0 ... ate1-.html
April 12, 2010, 4:16 PM EDT (Adds 4:01 p.m. share price in 17th paragraph.)
By Edward Klump 1
April 12 (Bloomberg) -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia’s biggest refiner, agreed to buy ConocoPhillips’s stake in oil-sands producer Syncrude Canada Ltd. for $4.65 billion to help feed the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
Sinopec, as the Beijing-based company is known, will buy about 9 percent of unlisted Syncrude, Houston-based ConocoPhillips said today in a statement.
Spending by Chinese companies on mining and energy acquisitions reached a record $32 billion last year. ConocoPhillips said in October it planned to sell $10 billion of assets over two years to help cut debt. Sinopec joins domestic rival PetroChina Co. in acquiring stakes in Canadian producers of oil locked in sand.
“China is moving more and more and more toward wanting to and having a desire to secure natural resources,” said Robbert Van Batenburg, head of equity research at Louis Capital Markets LP in New York. “For them to get a greenfield operation in the oil sands in Canada is going to be much more difficult, so this is probably the most viable.”
MORE:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-0 ... ate1-.html
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BACKGROUND:
The Enbridge Oil Sands Gamble – Andrew Nikiforuk
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15488
December 14th, 2009
Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent by Andrew Nikiforuk
Book Review: Written by Justin Van Kleeck Published on January 7th, 2009
http://sustainablog.org/2009/01/07/
book-review-andrew-nikiforuk%E2%80%99s-tar-sands-dirty-oil-and-the-future-of-a-continent/
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LONG LAKE TAR SANDS PROJECT SEEKS WATER FROM CLEARWATER RIVER
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=3268
Aprill 10, 2010
The Calgary Herald reports that, “The operator of the Long Lake oilsands project in northern Alberta has put forward a plan to tap up to 17,000 cubic metres per day from the Clearwater River.”
This Canadian Heritage River flows 295 kilometres from its headwaters at Broach Lake in northern Saskatchewan to its confluence with the Athabasca River at Fort McMurray.
“The steam-assisted gravity drainage project south of Fort McMurray, which began steaming its underground oilsands deposits in late 2008, is producing about 18,000 barrels per day, about a third of its 60,000 barrel per day goal. But it is using about 100,000 barrels of steam per day, a 5.5-to-one steam-oil ratio when its original plan, which called for no use of surface water, envisioned three-to-one over the life of the project.”
“The water project would involve building a 35-kilometre pipeline to the river before it meets up with the Athabasca River in Fort McMurray.”
“The project will need approvals from Alberta Environment, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Transport Canada, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development and the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board.”
On March 3, 2008, the Ottawa Citizen reported that, “Senior officials at Environment Canada were warned two years ago about potential economic and environmental impacts from water shortages as well as legal threats resulting from an explosion of development in the oilsands sector…(When asked about this) Environment Canada officials said they needed more time to explain what federal actions have been taken since 2006.”
A 2006 briefing note by Michael Horgan, deputy minister of Environment Canada, states, “The lack of a proper assessment of the cumulative environmental effects associated with these (tarsands) projects could result in legal challenges of federal and provincial approvals…”
As noted in the article, Randy Mikula, a senior researcher at Natural Resources Canada, says the annual water allocation for tarsands companies now stands at 523 million cubic metres, but with new projects the estimated water allocation could rise to 703 million cubic metres, which would likely lead to water restrictions for part of the year.
The full Calgary Herald article is at
http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/
Environmentalists+outraged+over+Long+Lake+oilsands+water+plan/
2778867/story.html#ixzz0kY5jQB8B
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AB Tarsands killing Saskatchewan Lakes:
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=159
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Oilsands activity threatens water supply in Sask., NWT: study
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/s ... water.html
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The Impact of Canada’s Oil Sands – Speech - CEO Marcel Coutu on Canadian tour
https://service.clearservice.com/otans/ ... s/1/OTANS/
breakfasts/marcelcoutuotansspeechjan1309.pdf
QUOTE: “Don’t believe those who say Canada’s oil sands are one of the world’s biggest sources of pollution. They are trying to scare you while, frankly, what they are really doing is fundraising. “ - Marcel Coutu, CEO Syncrude, Item #7
WE ARE ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH THE TAR SANDS
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WE ARE ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH THE TAR SANDS
by Oscar » Tue Apr 20, 2010 5:09 pm
Last edited by Oscar on Wed Apr 21, 2010 10:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
- Oscar
- Site Admin
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WE ARE ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH THE TAR SANDS
by Oscar » Tue Apr 20, 2010 5:34 pm
WE ARE ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH THE TAR SANDS
From: Sandra Finley
Sent: Monday, April 19, 2010 9:55 PM
WE ARE ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH THE TAR SANDS:
- There is huge Corporate, Government and University SUPPORT FOR expansion of the Tar Sands.
- There is an international UPRISING AGAINST the expansion of the Tar Sands.
We need to put this squarely on the table and deal with it. Before the collision happens.
THE INTERESTS AGAINST EXPANSION are updated below in this email.
The Corporate-Government-University Tar Sands interests are not going to stop.
In the event that the forces opposed to Tar Sands expansion become too great a threat to this Corporate agenda, what then?
Where does that leave us? Personally, I will defend the land. I otherwise doom my children and other beings on this planet. The Government nor the Corporations have been given a mandate to destroy.
I will defend. Look at this: Canadian soldiers are sent to Afghanistan. We pay the taxes to make it possible. That area of the world is turning into a very large war zone, with bombs being dropped now on Yemen, and then on Iran, if the oil interests can figure out a way to pull it off. The propaganda machines tell us it is being done to defend democracy and for human (women’s) rights, etc. It is being done to secure access and ownership rights to oil.
You can figure it out: If people in Canada fight against the Tar Sands (as is being done), to defend our democracy, our water supplies, to prevent ourselves from being poisoned even more (cancers, etc.), to be able to provide for ourselves from the land which is dying from acid rain from the Tar Sands, to mention nothing of preventing acceleration of climate change - - well then, our own soldiers and American soldiers will be brought in to “quell the rebellion”.
People in Iran, whose oil they also want control of, will be doing exactly what we in Canada are now doing - - defending against the oil corporations and their quislings. The propaganda machines will paint them as terrorists. They are people no different from me.
The Troop Exchange Agreement is in place (Feb 14, 2008). Any little excuse, manufactured or otherwise, will be used. But before that, an RCMP anti-terrorist squad will be assigned, as has been done for the Encana Pipeline incidents in B.C..
If WE are effective in our fight against the Tar Sands, and there is every reason to believe we will be - - there are literally thousands of people already engaged in one form or another, we will potentially have the police, the courts and the military lined up against us. Only SOLDIERS can fight for democracy – which is propaganda not truth.
We will be maligned, the same as Ludwig Wiebo in Alberta (more on that story in the 3rd email). The truth will not be mentioned here in Canada nor in the U.S., anymore than it is mentioned in relation to Iraq and Afghanistan and Iran: the troops are assigned to protect the interests in oil. The people fighting for democracy are ourselves.
The email below is by no means a complete inventory of the Resistance to the Tar Sands. It is a sampling to give a sense of the number and commitment of the people. It is “at this point in time”. There has been no attempt to provide the lengthy list of actions that have been on-going for years now – the lobbying, pleading, the presentations, the escalation to non-violent resistance.
In the material below you will see a massive effort by First Nations people. I am going to send a cheque to some of them. It is simply not true that they have lots of their own money. I have included some web links and some contact information in case there is someone or some group you might be able to help with a donation. Their work is very effective; we need to stand solidly behind them.
It is the same in every ethnic group: there are those who follow the dollar and there are those who understand our dependence upon the Earth. It is convenient for the corporatocracy if we are kept in vertical silos on the basis of ethnicity. The truth is that the division is horizontal: it cuts across ethnic lines. I have more in common with First Nations, Oriental, Arab, Muslim, South American, Indian, etc. people who are fighting “the good fight” than I have with White people who worship at the foot of the consumer God, killing the Planet in their ignorance. Our success is dependent upon the successes of each other. Whites have access to much more money than First Nations people do. First Nations people might seem to be more directly affected but it’s only in the short term. In the long term, all of our children will suffer. I am extremely grateful to the First Nations people with whom we work side-by-side.
It’s okay if you don’t have money to help; you have memory and you know people. You, or someone you know, will know people in the police, military and justice systems. It is extremely important to draw them into this conversation. We need to work together; there has to be dialogue if we are to stop the collision before it happens. An ounce of prevention: the last thing we need is for citizens to be lined up against our own police, military and judges.
Working on the dialogue is easy: make a special effort to pass this email along so that it gets into the hands of police officers, military personnel and members of the judiciary. Thanks!
/Sandra
- - - -
Cathy writes: “ Greenwash is a form of "the big lie". The more often people hear it and it goes uncontested, the more likely they are to believe it. Will the tar sands and the nuclear industry save the environment? Are corporations the answer? ”
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CONTENTS
(1) MARCH 23, B.C. FIRST NATIONS “WE WILL PROTECT OURSELVES AND THE INTERESTS OF FUTURE GENERATIONS WITH EVERYTHING WE HAVE. .. THIS IS WHERE ENBRIDGE HITS A WALL”
(2) APRIL 9, ALBERTA FIRST NATIONS TAKE LEGAL STAND ON OIL SANDS
(3) THE DOGWOOD INITIATIVE TO STOP ENBRIDGE PIPELINE AND OIL TANKERS ON THE WEST COAST
(4) COALITIONS and CITIZEN ACTION GROUPS TO STOP THE TAR SANDS AND ENBRIDGE’S “NORTHERN GATEWAY PIPELINE”
(5) RISING WATER DEMANDS IN TAR SANDS THREATEN FAMOUS CANADIAN HERITAGE RIVER, THE CLEARWATER
(6) OIL COMPANY EXECUTIVE FLIES TO FORT CHIPEWYAN TO SILENCE OPPOSITION, THE ‘BLOODY OIL’ CAMPAIGN
(7) TAKING ON TARMAGEDDON, NEW INTERNATIONALIST, APRIL 2010 - WITH THANKS TO CHIEF DALE AWASIS
(8) OILSANDS A SITTING DUCK FOR CRITICS, GILLIAN STEWARD, APRIL 13
(9) EU YIELDS TO CANADA ON TAR SANDS IN TRADE TALKS, MARCH 25
(10) BLOOMBERG BUSINESS REPORT ON THE CHINESE INVESTMENT IN THE TAR SANDS, APR 12
(11) SITE C DAM PROJECT ON THE PEACE RIVER, RELATED TO THE TAR SANDS. THE PROTESTS HAVE STARTED THERE, TOO.
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(1) MARCH 23, FIRST NATIONS “WE WILL PROTECT OURSELVES AND THE INTERESTS OF FUTURE GENERATIONS WITH EVERYTHING WE HAVE. .. THIS IS WHERE ENBRIDGE HITS A WALL”
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: George Poitras <poitras.george@gmail.com>
Sent: Tue, March 23, 2010 9:49:54 PM
Subject: BC & AB First Nations Will Not Allow Enbridge Pipeline & Tanker Traffic
First Nations Say They Will Not Allow Pipelines and Oil Tankers Carrying Alberta's Tar Sands Oil in British Columbia
"This is where Enbridge hits a wall"
http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Environ ... ridgeWall/
VANCOUVER, March 23 /CNW/ - First Nations stood as a unified block today - on the 21st anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill - to announce their opposition to a proposed Tar Sands pipeline that would bring expanded amounts of Tar Sands oil from Alberta to British Columbia, where the oil would be shipped by oil tankers to overseas markets, notably China.
"We will protect ourselves and the interests of future generations with everything we have because one major oil spill on the coast of British Columbia would wipe us out," said Gerald Amos, Director, Coastal First Nations, an alliance of nine First Nations. "This bountiful and globally significant coastline cannot bear an oil spill. This is where Enbridge hits a wall."
Coastal First Nations from Vancouver Island to the BC/Alaska border are unanimous in their opposition and are joined by the vast majority of First Nations affected along the pipeline route from Kitimaat to Alberta. These First Nations - whose territories are all directly impacted by the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline - stood in unity today to voice their opposition. The Coastal First Nations issued a declaration from their First Nations governments:
...in upholding our ancestral laws, rights and responsibilities, we declare that oil tankers carrying crude oil from the Alberta Tar Sands will not be allowed to transit our lands and waters.
The Athabasca Chipewyan Cree First Nation located near Alberta's Tar Sands also offered their support with Chief Allan Adam saying, "From experience I know that any industrial development and potential pollution within traditional territories of the First Nations not only jeopardizes the land, the people and wildlife today, but for generations to come... I do not support doing business with Enbridge now and in the future."
To date no First Nation in Canada - and no municipality - has publicly supported Enbridge's proposed pipeline, which would increase Tar Sands oil production by 30 per cent. Tar Sands oil produces three times more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional oil.
"Nothing threatens our way of life more than contaminated water and destruction of wildlife. Today, we invite First Nations around the world to join us in solidarity in our fight against this pipeline development and to a put a stop to oil tanker traffic," said Terry Tegee, Vice President, Carrier Sekani Tribal Council.
Also today, an unprecedented grouping of 150 First Nations groups, businesses, environmental organizations, and prominent Canadians - including Dr. David Suzuki, Margaret Atwood and Neve Campbell - ran a full-page ad in today's Globe and Mail with the headline 'This was Exxon's gift to Alaska. B.C. Can Expect the same from Enbridge.'
For further information: Art Sterritt, Executive Director, Coastal First Nations: (604) 868-9110 or (604) 696-9889; Gerald Amos, Director, Coastal First Nations: (250) 632-1521 or (604) 696-9889; Terry Tegee, Vice President, Carrier Sekani Tribal Council: (250) 640-3256
--
George J. Poitras
Mikisew Cree First Nation
"It would be easier just to fold our hands and not make this fight..., to say, I, one man, can do nothing. I grow afraid only when I see people thinking and acting like this. We all know the story about the man who sat beside the trail too long, and then it grew over and he could never find his way again. We can never forget what has happened, but we cannot go back, nor can we just sit beside the trail."
- Poundmaker, Cree Chief
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Coastal First Nations office is located in downtown Vancouver.
United Kingdom Building
Suite 1051 – 409 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC Canada
V6C 1T2
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(2) Alberta First Nations Take Legal Stand on Oil Sands
http://rabble.ca/news/2010/04/
alberta-first-nations-take-legal-stand-oil-sands
April 9, 2010 MEDIA NEWS RELEASE Peace River Alberta
Two more Alberta First Nations are seeking the assistance of the Supreme Court of Canada in defending their Aboriginal and Treaty rights in the face of mounting oil sands development in Alberta. The Supreme Court of Canada has granted intervenor status to Duncan's First Nation (DFN) and Horse Lake First Nation (HLFN), in a case that may have major legal implications for the development of oil sands, pipelines, oil sands
infrastructure projects and other major projects.
MORE: http://rabble.ca/news/2010/04/
alberta-first-nations-take-legal-stand-oil-sands
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(3) THE DOGWOOD INITIATIVE TO STOP ENBRIDGE NORTHERN GATEWAY PIPELINE AND OIL TANKERS ON THE WEST COAST
http://dogwoodinitiative.org/
Artist Robert Bateman is just one of the prominent Canadians working on the Dogwood Initiative.
Please ask if you would like a copy of the poster “Destined for Disaster, Northern Gateway Pipeline”.
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(4) COALITIONS and CITIZEN ACTION GROUPS TO STOP THE TAR SANDS
These are just some of the groups. Not all are Canadian. Not in any order.
Does the Government think that these hundreds of thousands of people are working together to stop the tar sands, just for the fun of it?
Note the following statement by Marcel Coutu, Chairman of Syncrude on his recent cross-Canada tour to promote the Tar Sands:
“Don’t believe those who say Canada’s oil sands are one of the world’s biggest sources of pollution. They are trying to scare you while, frankly, what they are really doing is fundraising. “
At some point, after people have exhausted all the channels open to them to protect their land, water, air, the health of their people, and the climate they will take up arms to defend.
And when they do, let them not be called “terrorists”.
This is supposed to be a democracy. The Government, the corporatocracy, is deliberately creating the conditions for violence.
List of Groups:
Greenpeace
The Council of Canadians – more than 100,000 members in just this one Canadian group.
Sierra Club
David Suzuki Foundation
Duncan’s First Nation
Horse Lake First Nation
Carrier Sekani Tribal Council
Athabasca Chipewyan Cree First Nation
“an unprecedented grouping of 150 First Nations groups, businesses, environmental organizations, and prominent Canadians” put an ad in the Globe & Mail
Coastal First Nations http://coastalfirstnations.ca/
Indigenous Environmental Network http://www.ienearth.org/
Tar Sands Watch (Polaris Institute) http://www.tarsandswatch.org/
STOP http://stoptarsands.wordpress.com/
Nature Canada http://www.naturecanada.ca/advocate/bird.html
Oil Sands Truth http://oilsandstruth.org/maps-tar-sands-development
World Wildlife Fund http://www.wwf.org.uk/news_feed.cfm?340 ... nds-threat
Facebook Group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2375244025
RainForest Action Network http://ran.org/campaigns/freedom_from_o ... tar_sands/
Environmental Defence environmentaldefence.ca/reports/tarsands.htm
Forest Ethics http://www.forestethics.org/tar-sands
Natural Resources Defence Council http://www.nrdc.org/energy/dirtyfuels_tar.asp
Dirty Oil Sands http://www.dirtyoilsands.org/about
Honor The Earth http://www.honorearth.org/
Friends of the Earth http://foe.org/
Dogwood Initiative http://dogwoodinitiative.org/
Corporate Ethics International http://corpethics.org/
EarthWorks http://www.earthworksaction.org/
Global Community Monitor http://gcmonitor.org/
South Dakota Tar Sands Pipeline http://tarsandspipelines.wordpress.com/
CitizenShift http://citizenshift.org/stop-tar-sands? ... _nid=22361
AVAAZ http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_tar_sands_ ... K_TF_TRACK
Tree Hugger http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/06 ... states.php
Raven http://www.raventrust.com/
Mobilization for Climate Justice http://www.actforclimatejustice.org/201 ... tar-sands/
UK Tar Sands Network Tar Sands In Focus http://www.no-tar-sands.org/
Petition http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/no-new ... velopments
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(5) RISING WATER DEMANDS IN TAR SANDS THREATEN FAMOUS CANADIAN HERITAGE RIVER, THE CLEARWATER.
http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2010/04/07/clearwater/
(Nexen figures very large in this report. The Clearwater River is mostly in Saskatchewan. Can we expect opposition party efforts to prevent the taking of the Clearwater? No. There is no effective political opposition in Saskatchewan to the tar sands. It is very unfortunate that the NDP (the opposition party) elected Dwain Lingenfelter to the leadership position. He was deputy premier in the Roy Romanow NDP Government, left that position to become a vice-president of Nexen in Calgary for 8 years and then came back to become NDP Party leader. In the same vein, Alberta is a one-party state. Federally, the Conservatives under Harper and the Liberals under Ignatieff are both corporate Tar Sands supporters, although there is a massive lobbying campaign to try and get “Iggy” off the corporate Tar Sands bandwagon.)
You know what they’re doing to the Athabasca River. Now this:
Alberta’s Clearwater River (INSERT: this is SASKATCHEWAN’S Clearwater River!!)
http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2010/04/07/clearwater/
Lake Ontario Waterkeeper April 7th, 2010
Tar sands water demand threatens pristine Canadian Heritage River: The Clearwater River
(TORONTO) — Opti-Nexen, one of the largest steam plant operators in the oil sands, wants to withdraw 17,000 cubic meters of water a day from Alberta’s Clearwater River. The Clearwater is a pristine, culturally significant wilderness river near Fort McMurray. The Clearwater received “Heritage River” designation in recognition of the its unspoiled beauty and its historical importance as a connecting link between the Churchill and Mackenzie river systems in the fur trade era.
Opti-Nexen’s daily water taking would be roughly equal to a city of 50,000 people. In contrast to a city, Opti-Nexen would not return the water to the Clearwater after using it. Opti-Nexen’s request is unprecedented. Most oil sands operators that melt deep deposits of bitumen with steam get their water from salt or freshwater aquifers. No water for steam plants is currently removed from the Clearwater or nearby Athabasca rivers.
“The Canadian Heritage Rivers Board designated the Clearwater River one of Canada’s leading rivers because it is remote and pristine and a precious part of Canadian history. If Opti-Nexen is allowed to start taking water from this river, what does that say about our priorities?” asks Ruth Kleinbub, a long-time advocate for the Clearwater River.
This pristine river originates in Saskatchewan and runs into Alberta where it empties into the Athabasca River at Fort McMurray. It was designated a Heritage River first by Saskatchewan in 1987 and later by Alberta in 2004. Historically, the Clearwater River was at the centre of the 18th century fur trade and was part of the voyageur route to the Arctic. The explorers Peter Pond, Alexander Mackenzie and Sir John Franklin canoed this legendary river. It is one of the few western rivers that remain as the voyageurs and Cree and Beaver nations once paddled it. The request for Clearwater River water is the result of Opti-Nexen’s failure to meet water-use targets. The company initially predicted that it would need two barrels of steam to produce one barrel of bitumen. In actual practice, it requires six barrels. Opti-Nexen is now scrambling to find a new source of water for its upgrader, and it hopes to draw upon the Clearwater River.
“We are deeply concerned about the example this water taking could set for the rest of the country. Canada’s environmental laws are supposed to protect the environmental and cultural integrity of the nation’s waterways. If the Clearwater River water taking is approved without public consultation and without independent scientific review, then any
Canadian river is vulnerable. If a river like the Clearwater does not get the best protection possible, then there is no hope at all for less pristine areas,” says Mark Mattson, an environmental lawyer and full-time Waterkeeper based in Toronto.
Opti-Nexen confirmed earlier this week that it plans to sell some of its heavy oil properties and will focus on projects like the Opti-Nexen Long Lake project. Long Lake is just one of many steam plants facing water challenges in Alberta. The total area under lease for oil development in Alberta’s north is more than 80,000 square kilometres.
Contacts
Ruth Kleinbub: long-time resident who fought for the river’s protection (Fort McMurray): 780-791-2736
Mark Mattson: environmental lawyer and co-founder of several Waterkeeper organizations, including Lake Ontario
Waterkeeper (Toronto): 416-861-1237
More Background
Backgrounder: Oil Sands Steam Plant Industry & the Clearwater River
Opti-Nexen is one of the largest steam plant operators in the oil sands (also known as SAGD: Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage).
Opti-Nexen wants to withdraw 17,000 cubic meters of water a day the Clearwater River. One cubic meter of water is equal to 1,000 liters. The average Canadian uses 343 liters a day. Therefore Opti-Nexen wants to remove enough water from a protected Canadian Heritage River to sustain nearly 50,000 Canadian households every day.
The Clearwater River is a pristine river. It originates in Saskatchewan and runs into Alberta where it empties into the Athabasca River at Fort McMurray. It was designated a Heritage River first by Saskatchewan in 1987 and by Alberta in 2004 (more information).
Historically, the Clearwater River was at the centre of the 18th century fur trade and was part of the voyageur route to the Arctic (more information). The explorers Peter Pond, Alexander Mackenzie and Sir John Franklin canoed this legendary river. It is one of the few western rivers that remain as the voyageurs, and Cree and Beaver nations once paddled it (more information).
Opti-Nexen’s request is without precedent. According to the National Roundtable On the Environment most steam plants now draw their water from salty or freshwater aquifers. But no water for steam plants is now removed from the Athabasca or Clearwater rivers (more information).
Opit-Nexen’s troubled Long Lake project, like the majority of industry’s steam plants, has failed to meet its water targets and has now doubled its water demand. It has also failed to achieve bitumen production goals. The company initially predicted that it would need two barrels of steam to produce just one barrel of bitumen. Now it requires six barrels (more information).
According to its 2008 Sustainability Report, fresh water withdrawals increased from 735,000 cubic meters in 2007 to 1,890,000 cubic meters in 2008 due to increases in bitumen production (more information). Statoil has also expressed concerns about “water management challenges” and shortages for its SAGD operation (additional information as
referenced by: John Kus, Extra Heavy Oil in Canada, TEKNA Conference, Stavanger, Norway, January 23, 2008).
A 2009 report, commissioned by JOGMEC (Japan Oil Gas and Metals National Corporation) on the problems encountered by steam plants, notes that all projects, with the exception of two companies, have exceeded original water estimates or steam to oil ratios by often-extreme volumes. Some companies have used as much as 14 barrels of steam to produce one barrel of bitumen (more information).
In an exhaustive 2009 report on groundwater, the Council of Canadian Academies concluded that steam plants (also known as in situ) could ultimately use more water than mining operations:
Since more than four-fifths of the total bitumen reserves in Alberta are accessible only by in situ methods, the demand for groundwater for in situ production could be as great as or greater than the demand for surface water for oil-sands mining, unless new extraction processes are adopted. (p. 210) View background information as a PDF file.
Additional documents: NEXEN1 NEXEN2
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(6) OIL COMPANY EXECUTIVE FLIES TO FORT CHIPEWYAN TO SILENCE OPPOSITION, THE ‘BLOODY OIL’ CAMPAIGN
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: George Poitras
Sent: Wed, March 17, 2010 11:50:48 PM
Subject: Canadian Governments Visit to London Greeted by Tar Sands Protests
Hello friends.
I'm slowly re-emerging from the hiatus of my previous email campaign.
Many of you know that I voluntarily left the Mikisew Cree First Nation at the end of November 2009. What some of you don't know are the circumstances surrounding my abrupt decision for the same. Well, it turned out that our lobby efforts in the United Kingdom in August 2009, which many have characterized as our "Bloody Oil" campaign, generated so much international media attention. We dubbed it the "Bloody Oil" campaign because by that time it was apparent that tarsands oil companies in collaboration with the Alberta and Canadian governments were nowhere near offering any genuine assistance to the community of Fort Chipewyan in finding resolutions to many of our environmental and health issues. So hence, Bloody Oil in the hands of the oil companies and negligent governments.
Because of this very successful campaign in the UK, one of the oil companies executives flew to Fort Chipewyan and attempted to force the hand of my First Nation to "silence or terminate" my employment with the Mikisew because they didn't like that I travelled internationally, on Mikisew time, and that by doing so I generated so much negative publicity on the tarsands industry. Apparently we are not to speak publicly if we observe water quality issues, health impacts, or worse our people dying too frequently of cancers. This they said, was not consistent with the companies "vision" and that if Mikisew didn't support their vision there would be repercussions. And there were repercussions. Many Mikisew employees lost their jobs on this particular companies site within weeks.
I chose to leave because I would not be silenced.
Today I have relocated from Fort McMurray and am taking on the activism work full time. Many of you may know that whilst I was with the Mikisew, my day time job had nothing to do with the advocacy work that I did on behalf of Fort Chipewyan. Despite the companies suggestion that I travelled and did the activism work on Mikisew time, it was actually all on my vacation time, outside of work hours, etc. All the advocacy work that I embarked on in the past four years while in Fort McMurray was on my personal and voluntary time.
I'm happy to be back and look forward to advancing Fort Chipewyan's issues even stronger. Below is the news of the day!
- - -
PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 17.03.2010
Canadian Government's visit to London greeted by Tar Sands protests
Photo opportunity: 8:30am, Thursday 18 March, Canada House, Trafalgar Square, London
A high-level delegation from Canada will be greeted tomorrow by protesters with banners that read: “Canadian Tar Sands – Climate Crime”, outside Canada House in Trafalgar Square. The protest, on Thursday 18 March, is part of a growing campaign by UK groups against the tremendous human and ecological devastation caused by extracting oil from Canada's tar sands – and is taking place in solidarity with First Nations and Canadian environmental justice organizations. The Canadian delegation is being hosted by UK Trade and Investment, a government department that exists to promote the interests of British industry.
“The Canadian and British governments should know that people in the UK are very concerned about the tar sands,” said Alice Hargreaves of the UK Tar Sands Network which has organised the protest along with members of Rising Tide and Camp for Climate Action. “The tar sands are the world's most destructive project. Canada is ripping up an area larger than England, creating sprawling toxic lakes and ever-expanding carbon emissions. This environmental horror story is violating indigenous peoples' rights – they are losing their traditional ways of life, and some are getting cancer from the pollution. The tar sands is a project that needs to be stopped, yet British companies like Shell, BP and RBS are involved, and with this event, UK Trade and Investment is actively promoting further British involvement.”
The Canadian government is on a multi-country tar sands promotion tour, seeking to ease the growing concerns of investors, by arguing that 'carbon capture and storage' (CCS) technology can reduce the enormous amount of carbon emissions caused by tar sands extraction. Yet this unproven technology can never 'green' the tar sands, argue the protesters, and the delegation has already met with similar protests in Norway
“Carbon capture in the tar sands is more of a smokescreen than a silver bullet,” said Clayton Thomas-Muller of the Indigenous Environmental Network. “It is an untested, expensive, long-lead-time technology that has more holes than it does solutions. Only a small portion of carbon emissions from the tar sands can ever be captured using CCS, and it will not prevent the destruction of the boreal forest, or the pollution flowing into local water systems. Our governments shouldn’t be fostering technologies that allow toxic developments like the tar sands to continue, but should be investing in protecting the health of all our communities and building a green, just economy for the future.”
(North America) Clayton Thomas-Muller
Indigenous Environmental Network- 001-613 789 5653
http://www.ienearth.org/tarsands.html
(UK) Suzanne Dhaliwal of the UK Tar Sands Network: Phone: 07530415274
www.tarsandsinfocus.wordpress.com Email: tarsandsinfocus@gmail.com
--
George J. Poitras
Mikisew Cree First Nation
- - - -
INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK - CANADIAN INDIGENOUS TAR SANDS CAMPAIGN
Clayton Thomas-Muller
294 Guigues Ave.
Ottawa Ontario K1N 9H8
Canada
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(7) TAKING ON TARMAGEDDON, NEW INTERNATIONALIST, APRIL 2010 - WITH THANKS TO CHIEF DALE AWASIS
. . terrible what is happening here in canada
http://www.newint.org/features/2010/04/ ... tar-sands/
April 2010 • Issue 431
Taking on Tarmageddon
The tar sands are the most destructive project on earth – and the campaign to shut them down is gathering momentum. Jess Worth reports from the thick of it. - - -
(This is an excellent piece on the Tar Sands – I recommend you click on the link. It is too large a file to include here.)
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(8) OILSANDS A SITTING DUCK FOR CRITICS, GILLIAN STEWARD, APRIL 13
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/
794248--oilsands-a-sitting-duck-for-critics
Published On Tue Apr 13 2010
By Gillian Steward, Columnist
The petroleum industry launched a new public relations offensive last week designed to polish up the tarnished image of oilsands operations. Not surprisingly, news of the blitz grabbed front-page headlines in the Calgary Herald and attracted an enthusiastic audience at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. But then things started to go awry.
An ecologist who had been mining government documents disclosed that
164 animals - including black bears, foxes and deer - had been killed over the past eight years at major oilsands' operations. Very embarrassing news for the industry, especially in light of ongoing coverage of the trial in Edmonton where Syncrude is defending itself against charges by both federal and provincial prosecutors that were laid after 1,600 ducks drowned in the company's tailings ponds last year. The same ducks coated in black goo that turned up on our television screens as Alberta's deputy premier was returning home from a visit to Washington designed to calm lawmakers' anxiety about Alberta's so-called dirty oil.
MORE:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/
794248--oilsands-a-sitting-duck-for-critics
- - - -
Gillian Steward is a Calgary writer and journalist, and former managing editor of the Calgary Herald. Her column appears every other week.
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(9) EU YIELDS TO CANADA ON TAR SANDS IN TRADE TALKS, MARCH 25
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=3137
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
Reuters reports that, “The European Union has yielded to Canadian demands it remove possible trade barriers to polluting oil sands to avoid further damage to ties, according to sources and leaked documents.”
“Canadian Ambassador Ross Hornby told a top official at the European Union’s executive in a letter seen by Reuters… that draft EU standards to promote greener fuels are too unwieldy and will harm the market for its oil sands… Several sources said Canada had raised the issue frequently during trade talks with the EU.”
“Hornby confirmed he had written such a letter, which was released by the Commission under freedom of information laws.”
“Europe seems to have taken the advice. A recent draft EU paper on fuel standards, seen by Reuters, drops all reference to Canadian oil sands or tar sands, in sharp contrast with drafts from last year.”
For information on our campaign against the Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, please go to http://www.canadians.org/trade/issues/EU/index.html.
You can read about our tar sands campaign work at http://www.canadians.org/energy/issues/ ... index.html.
The full Reuters article is at http://money.canoe.ca/money/business/ca ... s/2010/03/
20100324-113234.html.
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(10) BLOOMBERG BUSINESS REPORT ON THE CHINESE INVESTMENT IN THE TAR SANDS, APR 12
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-12/
sinopec-to-buy-syncrude-stake-for-4-65-billion-update1-.html
Bloomberg
Sinopec to Buy Syncrude Stake for $4.65 Billion (Update3)
April 12, 2010, 4:16 PM EDT
By Edward Klump 1
April 12 (Bloomberg) -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia’s biggest refiner, agreed to buy ConocoPhillips’s stake in oil-sands producer Syncrude Canada Ltd. for $4.65 billion to help feed the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
Sinopec, as the Beijing-based company is known, will buy about 9 percent of unlisted Syncrude, Houston-based ConocoPhillips said today in a statement.
Spending by Chinese companies on mining and energy acquisitions reached a record $32 billion last year. ConocoPhillips said in October it planned to sell $10 billion of assets over two years to help cut debt. Sinopec joins domestic rival PetroChina Co. in acquiring stakes in Canadian producers of oil locked in sand.
“China is moving more and more and more toward wanting to and having a desire to secure natural resources,” said Robbert Van Batenburg, head of equity research at Louis Capital Markets LP in New York. “For them to get a greenfield operation in the oil sands in Canada is going to be much more difficult, so this is probably the most viable.”
Oil sands are deposits of bitumen, an extra-heavy oil that must be treated for use in refineries to produce gasoline and diesel fuels.
Fuel Demand
China joins South Korea, Japan and India in their quest to secure overseas resources to drive their economies. The International Energy Agency on March 12 raised its forecast for fuel-demand growth in developing countries, led by China and India, to 41.2 million barrels a day and cut its prediction for Europe and the U.S. “While China is willing to pay anything for an oil asset, the Indians won’t because corporate interest determines,” Van Batenburg said. Indian companies aren’t going to overpay for an asset “if it doesn’t make any sense,” he said.
State-controlled PetroChina won approval from the Canadian government in December to buy a stake in Athabasca Oil Sands Corp.’s MacKay and Dover oil-sands projects for C$1.9 billion ($1.9 billion).
China Petrochemical Corp., Sinopec’s parent, bought Calgary-based Addax Petroleum Corp. for C$8.3 billion last year to add oil reserves. Sinopec said on March 29 it will pay $2.5 billion to buy a stake in an Angolan field from its parent to boost crude-oil production.
MORE:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-12/
sinopec-to-buy-syncrude-stake-for-4-65-billion-update1-.html
- - - - -
--With assistance from Cathy Chan in Hong Kong, Ryan Woo in Singapore, Jim Polson in New York, Wang Ying in Beijing and Joe Carroll in Chicago. Editors: Kim Jordan, Susan Warren.
To contact the reporter on this story: Edward Klump in Houston at eklump@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Susan Warren at susanwarren@bloomberg.net.
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(11) SITE C DAM PROJECT ON THE PEACE RIVER RELATED TO THE TAR SANDS
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=3174
This article also points to what is behind much of the destruction:
- The Americans are fast running themselves out of water in the West. Along with the water goes the ability to generate hydro-electricity at the Hoover and Glen Canyon Dams (water and electricity for about 25 million people in Nevada, California, Arizona, etc.). The projections by scientists from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography are a 50/50 chance that water levels will be too low to generate hydro-electricity by 2017 and a 50/50 chance that Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the reservoirs behind the two dams, will be dry by 2021.
- All of which creates the opportunity for monied interests to make lots of money if they can appropriate control of Canadian water and electricity for themselves, for sale south of the border. They will take us down, along with the American west, instead of implementing actual solutions to the problems. Their actions clearly create the conditions for more and more violence.
- They destroy peace and good governance, all in the name of money. I’d like to string them up by their private parts.
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Email from:
Sandra Finley
Saskatoon SK S7N 0L1
306-373-8078
sabest1@sasktel.net
From: Sandra Finley
Sent: Monday, April 19, 2010 9:55 PM
WE ARE ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH THE TAR SANDS:
- There is huge Corporate, Government and University SUPPORT FOR expansion of the Tar Sands.
- There is an international UPRISING AGAINST the expansion of the Tar Sands.
We need to put this squarely on the table and deal with it. Before the collision happens.
THE INTERESTS AGAINST EXPANSION are updated below in this email.
The Corporate-Government-University Tar Sands interests are not going to stop.
In the event that the forces opposed to Tar Sands expansion become too great a threat to this Corporate agenda, what then?
Where does that leave us? Personally, I will defend the land. I otherwise doom my children and other beings on this planet. The Government nor the Corporations have been given a mandate to destroy.
I will defend. Look at this: Canadian soldiers are sent to Afghanistan. We pay the taxes to make it possible. That area of the world is turning into a very large war zone, with bombs being dropped now on Yemen, and then on Iran, if the oil interests can figure out a way to pull it off. The propaganda machines tell us it is being done to defend democracy and for human (women’s) rights, etc. It is being done to secure access and ownership rights to oil.
You can figure it out: If people in Canada fight against the Tar Sands (as is being done), to defend our democracy, our water supplies, to prevent ourselves from being poisoned even more (cancers, etc.), to be able to provide for ourselves from the land which is dying from acid rain from the Tar Sands, to mention nothing of preventing acceleration of climate change - - well then, our own soldiers and American soldiers will be brought in to “quell the rebellion”.
People in Iran, whose oil they also want control of, will be doing exactly what we in Canada are now doing - - defending against the oil corporations and their quislings. The propaganda machines will paint them as terrorists. They are people no different from me.
The Troop Exchange Agreement is in place (Feb 14, 2008). Any little excuse, manufactured or otherwise, will be used. But before that, an RCMP anti-terrorist squad will be assigned, as has been done for the Encana Pipeline incidents in B.C..
If WE are effective in our fight against the Tar Sands, and there is every reason to believe we will be - - there are literally thousands of people already engaged in one form or another, we will potentially have the police, the courts and the military lined up against us. Only SOLDIERS can fight for democracy – which is propaganda not truth.
We will be maligned, the same as Ludwig Wiebo in Alberta (more on that story in the 3rd email). The truth will not be mentioned here in Canada nor in the U.S., anymore than it is mentioned in relation to Iraq and Afghanistan and Iran: the troops are assigned to protect the interests in oil. The people fighting for democracy are ourselves.
The email below is by no means a complete inventory of the Resistance to the Tar Sands. It is a sampling to give a sense of the number and commitment of the people. It is “at this point in time”. There has been no attempt to provide the lengthy list of actions that have been on-going for years now – the lobbying, pleading, the presentations, the escalation to non-violent resistance.
In the material below you will see a massive effort by First Nations people. I am going to send a cheque to some of them. It is simply not true that they have lots of their own money. I have included some web links and some contact information in case there is someone or some group you might be able to help with a donation. Their work is very effective; we need to stand solidly behind them.
It is the same in every ethnic group: there are those who follow the dollar and there are those who understand our dependence upon the Earth. It is convenient for the corporatocracy if we are kept in vertical silos on the basis of ethnicity. The truth is that the division is horizontal: it cuts across ethnic lines. I have more in common with First Nations, Oriental, Arab, Muslim, South American, Indian, etc. people who are fighting “the good fight” than I have with White people who worship at the foot of the consumer God, killing the Planet in their ignorance. Our success is dependent upon the successes of each other. Whites have access to much more money than First Nations people do. First Nations people might seem to be more directly affected but it’s only in the short term. In the long term, all of our children will suffer. I am extremely grateful to the First Nations people with whom we work side-by-side.
It’s okay if you don’t have money to help; you have memory and you know people. You, or someone you know, will know people in the police, military and justice systems. It is extremely important to draw them into this conversation. We need to work together; there has to be dialogue if we are to stop the collision before it happens. An ounce of prevention: the last thing we need is for citizens to be lined up against our own police, military and judges.
Working on the dialogue is easy: make a special effort to pass this email along so that it gets into the hands of police officers, military personnel and members of the judiciary. Thanks!
/Sandra
- - - -
Cathy writes: “ Greenwash is a form of "the big lie". The more often people hear it and it goes uncontested, the more likely they are to believe it. Will the tar sands and the nuclear industry save the environment? Are corporations the answer? ”
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CONTENTS
(1) MARCH 23, B.C. FIRST NATIONS “WE WILL PROTECT OURSELVES AND THE INTERESTS OF FUTURE GENERATIONS WITH EVERYTHING WE HAVE. .. THIS IS WHERE ENBRIDGE HITS A WALL”
(2) APRIL 9, ALBERTA FIRST NATIONS TAKE LEGAL STAND ON OIL SANDS
(3) THE DOGWOOD INITIATIVE TO STOP ENBRIDGE PIPELINE AND OIL TANKERS ON THE WEST COAST
(4) COALITIONS and CITIZEN ACTION GROUPS TO STOP THE TAR SANDS AND ENBRIDGE’S “NORTHERN GATEWAY PIPELINE”
(5) RISING WATER DEMANDS IN TAR SANDS THREATEN FAMOUS CANADIAN HERITAGE RIVER, THE CLEARWATER
(6) OIL COMPANY EXECUTIVE FLIES TO FORT CHIPEWYAN TO SILENCE OPPOSITION, THE ‘BLOODY OIL’ CAMPAIGN
(7) TAKING ON TARMAGEDDON, NEW INTERNATIONALIST, APRIL 2010 - WITH THANKS TO CHIEF DALE AWASIS
(8) OILSANDS A SITTING DUCK FOR CRITICS, GILLIAN STEWARD, APRIL 13
(9) EU YIELDS TO CANADA ON TAR SANDS IN TRADE TALKS, MARCH 25
(10) BLOOMBERG BUSINESS REPORT ON THE CHINESE INVESTMENT IN THE TAR SANDS, APR 12
(11) SITE C DAM PROJECT ON THE PEACE RIVER, RELATED TO THE TAR SANDS. THE PROTESTS HAVE STARTED THERE, TOO.
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(1) MARCH 23, FIRST NATIONS “WE WILL PROTECT OURSELVES AND THE INTERESTS OF FUTURE GENERATIONS WITH EVERYTHING WE HAVE. .. THIS IS WHERE ENBRIDGE HITS A WALL”
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: George Poitras <poitras.george@gmail.com>
Sent: Tue, March 23, 2010 9:49:54 PM
Subject: BC & AB First Nations Will Not Allow Enbridge Pipeline & Tanker Traffic
First Nations Say They Will Not Allow Pipelines and Oil Tankers Carrying Alberta's Tar Sands Oil in British Columbia
"This is where Enbridge hits a wall"
http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Environ ... ridgeWall/
VANCOUVER, March 23 /CNW/ - First Nations stood as a unified block today - on the 21st anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill - to announce their opposition to a proposed Tar Sands pipeline that would bring expanded amounts of Tar Sands oil from Alberta to British Columbia, where the oil would be shipped by oil tankers to overseas markets, notably China.
"We will protect ourselves and the interests of future generations with everything we have because one major oil spill on the coast of British Columbia would wipe us out," said Gerald Amos, Director, Coastal First Nations, an alliance of nine First Nations. "This bountiful and globally significant coastline cannot bear an oil spill. This is where Enbridge hits a wall."
Coastal First Nations from Vancouver Island to the BC/Alaska border are unanimous in their opposition and are joined by the vast majority of First Nations affected along the pipeline route from Kitimaat to Alberta. These First Nations - whose territories are all directly impacted by the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline - stood in unity today to voice their opposition. The Coastal First Nations issued a declaration from their First Nations governments:
...in upholding our ancestral laws, rights and responsibilities, we declare that oil tankers carrying crude oil from the Alberta Tar Sands will not be allowed to transit our lands and waters.
The Athabasca Chipewyan Cree First Nation located near Alberta's Tar Sands also offered their support with Chief Allan Adam saying, "From experience I know that any industrial development and potential pollution within traditional territories of the First Nations not only jeopardizes the land, the people and wildlife today, but for generations to come... I do not support doing business with Enbridge now and in the future."
To date no First Nation in Canada - and no municipality - has publicly supported Enbridge's proposed pipeline, which would increase Tar Sands oil production by 30 per cent. Tar Sands oil produces three times more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional oil.
"Nothing threatens our way of life more than contaminated water and destruction of wildlife. Today, we invite First Nations around the world to join us in solidarity in our fight against this pipeline development and to a put a stop to oil tanker traffic," said Terry Tegee, Vice President, Carrier Sekani Tribal Council.
Also today, an unprecedented grouping of 150 First Nations groups, businesses, environmental organizations, and prominent Canadians - including Dr. David Suzuki, Margaret Atwood and Neve Campbell - ran a full-page ad in today's Globe and Mail with the headline 'This was Exxon's gift to Alaska. B.C. Can Expect the same from Enbridge.'
For further information: Art Sterritt, Executive Director, Coastal First Nations: (604) 868-9110 or (604) 696-9889; Gerald Amos, Director, Coastal First Nations: (250) 632-1521 or (604) 696-9889; Terry Tegee, Vice President, Carrier Sekani Tribal Council: (250) 640-3256
--
George J. Poitras
Mikisew Cree First Nation
"It would be easier just to fold our hands and not make this fight..., to say, I, one man, can do nothing. I grow afraid only when I see people thinking and acting like this. We all know the story about the man who sat beside the trail too long, and then it grew over and he could never find his way again. We can never forget what has happened, but we cannot go back, nor can we just sit beside the trail."
- Poundmaker, Cree Chief
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Coastal First Nations office is located in downtown Vancouver.
United Kingdom Building
Suite 1051 – 409 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC Canada
V6C 1T2
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(2) Alberta First Nations Take Legal Stand on Oil Sands
http://rabble.ca/news/2010/04/
alberta-first-nations-take-legal-stand-oil-sands
April 9, 2010 MEDIA NEWS RELEASE Peace River Alberta
Two more Alberta First Nations are seeking the assistance of the Supreme Court of Canada in defending their Aboriginal and Treaty rights in the face of mounting oil sands development in Alberta. The Supreme Court of Canada has granted intervenor status to Duncan's First Nation (DFN) and Horse Lake First Nation (HLFN), in a case that may have major legal implications for the development of oil sands, pipelines, oil sands
infrastructure projects and other major projects.
MORE: http://rabble.ca/news/2010/04/
alberta-first-nations-take-legal-stand-oil-sands
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(3) THE DOGWOOD INITIATIVE TO STOP ENBRIDGE NORTHERN GATEWAY PIPELINE AND OIL TANKERS ON THE WEST COAST
http://dogwoodinitiative.org/
Artist Robert Bateman is just one of the prominent Canadians working on the Dogwood Initiative.
Please ask if you would like a copy of the poster “Destined for Disaster, Northern Gateway Pipeline”.
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(4) COALITIONS and CITIZEN ACTION GROUPS TO STOP THE TAR SANDS
These are just some of the groups. Not all are Canadian. Not in any order.
Does the Government think that these hundreds of thousands of people are working together to stop the tar sands, just for the fun of it?
Note the following statement by Marcel Coutu, Chairman of Syncrude on his recent cross-Canada tour to promote the Tar Sands:
“Don’t believe those who say Canada’s oil sands are one of the world’s biggest sources of pollution. They are trying to scare you while, frankly, what they are really doing is fundraising. “
At some point, after people have exhausted all the channels open to them to protect their land, water, air, the health of their people, and the climate they will take up arms to defend.
And when they do, let them not be called “terrorists”.
This is supposed to be a democracy. The Government, the corporatocracy, is deliberately creating the conditions for violence.
List of Groups:
Greenpeace
The Council of Canadians – more than 100,000 members in just this one Canadian group.
Sierra Club
David Suzuki Foundation
Duncan’s First Nation
Horse Lake First Nation
Carrier Sekani Tribal Council
Athabasca Chipewyan Cree First Nation
“an unprecedented grouping of 150 First Nations groups, businesses, environmental organizations, and prominent Canadians” put an ad in the Globe & Mail
Coastal First Nations http://coastalfirstnations.ca/
Indigenous Environmental Network http://www.ienearth.org/
Tar Sands Watch (Polaris Institute) http://www.tarsandswatch.org/
STOP http://stoptarsands.wordpress.com/
Nature Canada http://www.naturecanada.ca/advocate/bird.html
Oil Sands Truth http://oilsandstruth.org/maps-tar-sands-development
World Wildlife Fund http://www.wwf.org.uk/news_feed.cfm?340 ... nds-threat
Facebook Group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2375244025
RainForest Action Network http://ran.org/campaigns/freedom_from_o ... tar_sands/
Environmental Defence environmentaldefence.ca/reports/tarsands.htm
Forest Ethics http://www.forestethics.org/tar-sands
Natural Resources Defence Council http://www.nrdc.org/energy/dirtyfuels_tar.asp
Dirty Oil Sands http://www.dirtyoilsands.org/about
Honor The Earth http://www.honorearth.org/
Friends of the Earth http://foe.org/
Dogwood Initiative http://dogwoodinitiative.org/
Corporate Ethics International http://corpethics.org/
EarthWorks http://www.earthworksaction.org/
Global Community Monitor http://gcmonitor.org/
South Dakota Tar Sands Pipeline http://tarsandspipelines.wordpress.com/
CitizenShift http://citizenshift.org/stop-tar-sands? ... _nid=22361
AVAAZ http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_tar_sands_ ... K_TF_TRACK
Tree Hugger http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/06 ... states.php
Raven http://www.raventrust.com/
Mobilization for Climate Justice http://www.actforclimatejustice.org/201 ... tar-sands/
UK Tar Sands Network Tar Sands In Focus http://www.no-tar-sands.org/
Petition http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/no-new ... velopments
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(5) RISING WATER DEMANDS IN TAR SANDS THREATEN FAMOUS CANADIAN HERITAGE RIVER, THE CLEARWATER.
http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2010/04/07/clearwater/
(Nexen figures very large in this report. The Clearwater River is mostly in Saskatchewan. Can we expect opposition party efforts to prevent the taking of the Clearwater? No. There is no effective political opposition in Saskatchewan to the tar sands. It is very unfortunate that the NDP (the opposition party) elected Dwain Lingenfelter to the leadership position. He was deputy premier in the Roy Romanow NDP Government, left that position to become a vice-president of Nexen in Calgary for 8 years and then came back to become NDP Party leader. In the same vein, Alberta is a one-party state. Federally, the Conservatives under Harper and the Liberals under Ignatieff are both corporate Tar Sands supporters, although there is a massive lobbying campaign to try and get “Iggy” off the corporate Tar Sands bandwagon.)
You know what they’re doing to the Athabasca River. Now this:
Alberta’s Clearwater River (INSERT: this is SASKATCHEWAN’S Clearwater River!!)
http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2010/04/07/clearwater/
Lake Ontario Waterkeeper April 7th, 2010
Tar sands water demand threatens pristine Canadian Heritage River: The Clearwater River
(TORONTO) — Opti-Nexen, one of the largest steam plant operators in the oil sands, wants to withdraw 17,000 cubic meters of water a day from Alberta’s Clearwater River. The Clearwater is a pristine, culturally significant wilderness river near Fort McMurray. The Clearwater received “Heritage River” designation in recognition of the its unspoiled beauty and its historical importance as a connecting link between the Churchill and Mackenzie river systems in the fur trade era.
Opti-Nexen’s daily water taking would be roughly equal to a city of 50,000 people. In contrast to a city, Opti-Nexen would not return the water to the Clearwater after using it. Opti-Nexen’s request is unprecedented. Most oil sands operators that melt deep deposits of bitumen with steam get their water from salt or freshwater aquifers. No water for steam plants is currently removed from the Clearwater or nearby Athabasca rivers.
“The Canadian Heritage Rivers Board designated the Clearwater River one of Canada’s leading rivers because it is remote and pristine and a precious part of Canadian history. If Opti-Nexen is allowed to start taking water from this river, what does that say about our priorities?” asks Ruth Kleinbub, a long-time advocate for the Clearwater River.
This pristine river originates in Saskatchewan and runs into Alberta where it empties into the Athabasca River at Fort McMurray. It was designated a Heritage River first by Saskatchewan in 1987 and later by Alberta in 2004. Historically, the Clearwater River was at the centre of the 18th century fur trade and was part of the voyageur route to the Arctic. The explorers Peter Pond, Alexander Mackenzie and Sir John Franklin canoed this legendary river. It is one of the few western rivers that remain as the voyageurs and Cree and Beaver nations once paddled it. The request for Clearwater River water is the result of Opti-Nexen’s failure to meet water-use targets. The company initially predicted that it would need two barrels of steam to produce one barrel of bitumen. In actual practice, it requires six barrels. Opti-Nexen is now scrambling to find a new source of water for its upgrader, and it hopes to draw upon the Clearwater River.
“We are deeply concerned about the example this water taking could set for the rest of the country. Canada’s environmental laws are supposed to protect the environmental and cultural integrity of the nation’s waterways. If the Clearwater River water taking is approved without public consultation and without independent scientific review, then any
Canadian river is vulnerable. If a river like the Clearwater does not get the best protection possible, then there is no hope at all for less pristine areas,” says Mark Mattson, an environmental lawyer and full-time Waterkeeper based in Toronto.
Opti-Nexen confirmed earlier this week that it plans to sell some of its heavy oil properties and will focus on projects like the Opti-Nexen Long Lake project. Long Lake is just one of many steam plants facing water challenges in Alberta. The total area under lease for oil development in Alberta’s north is more than 80,000 square kilometres.
Contacts
Ruth Kleinbub: long-time resident who fought for the river’s protection (Fort McMurray): 780-791-2736
Mark Mattson: environmental lawyer and co-founder of several Waterkeeper organizations, including Lake Ontario
Waterkeeper (Toronto): 416-861-1237
More Background
Backgrounder: Oil Sands Steam Plant Industry & the Clearwater River
Opti-Nexen is one of the largest steam plant operators in the oil sands (also known as SAGD: Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage).
Opti-Nexen wants to withdraw 17,000 cubic meters of water a day the Clearwater River. One cubic meter of water is equal to 1,000 liters. The average Canadian uses 343 liters a day. Therefore Opti-Nexen wants to remove enough water from a protected Canadian Heritage River to sustain nearly 50,000 Canadian households every day.
The Clearwater River is a pristine river. It originates in Saskatchewan and runs into Alberta where it empties into the Athabasca River at Fort McMurray. It was designated a Heritage River first by Saskatchewan in 1987 and by Alberta in 2004 (more information).
Historically, the Clearwater River was at the centre of the 18th century fur trade and was part of the voyageur route to the Arctic (more information). The explorers Peter Pond, Alexander Mackenzie and Sir John Franklin canoed this legendary river. It is one of the few western rivers that remain as the voyageurs, and Cree and Beaver nations once paddled it (more information).
Opti-Nexen’s request is without precedent. According to the National Roundtable On the Environment most steam plants now draw their water from salty or freshwater aquifers. But no water for steam plants is now removed from the Athabasca or Clearwater rivers (more information).
Opit-Nexen’s troubled Long Lake project, like the majority of industry’s steam plants, has failed to meet its water targets and has now doubled its water demand. It has also failed to achieve bitumen production goals. The company initially predicted that it would need two barrels of steam to produce just one barrel of bitumen. Now it requires six barrels (more information).
According to its 2008 Sustainability Report, fresh water withdrawals increased from 735,000 cubic meters in 2007 to 1,890,000 cubic meters in 2008 due to increases in bitumen production (more information). Statoil has also expressed concerns about “water management challenges” and shortages for its SAGD operation (additional information as
referenced by: John Kus, Extra Heavy Oil in Canada, TEKNA Conference, Stavanger, Norway, January 23, 2008).
A 2009 report, commissioned by JOGMEC (Japan Oil Gas and Metals National Corporation) on the problems encountered by steam plants, notes that all projects, with the exception of two companies, have exceeded original water estimates or steam to oil ratios by often-extreme volumes. Some companies have used as much as 14 barrels of steam to produce one barrel of bitumen (more information).
In an exhaustive 2009 report on groundwater, the Council of Canadian Academies concluded that steam plants (also known as in situ) could ultimately use more water than mining operations:
Since more than four-fifths of the total bitumen reserves in Alberta are accessible only by in situ methods, the demand for groundwater for in situ production could be as great as or greater than the demand for surface water for oil-sands mining, unless new extraction processes are adopted. (p. 210) View background information as a PDF file.
Additional documents: NEXEN1 NEXEN2
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(6) OIL COMPANY EXECUTIVE FLIES TO FORT CHIPEWYAN TO SILENCE OPPOSITION, THE ‘BLOODY OIL’ CAMPAIGN
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: George Poitras
Sent: Wed, March 17, 2010 11:50:48 PM
Subject: Canadian Governments Visit to London Greeted by Tar Sands Protests
Hello friends.
I'm slowly re-emerging from the hiatus of my previous email campaign.
Many of you know that I voluntarily left the Mikisew Cree First Nation at the end of November 2009. What some of you don't know are the circumstances surrounding my abrupt decision for the same. Well, it turned out that our lobby efforts in the United Kingdom in August 2009, which many have characterized as our "Bloody Oil" campaign, generated so much international media attention. We dubbed it the "Bloody Oil" campaign because by that time it was apparent that tarsands oil companies in collaboration with the Alberta and Canadian governments were nowhere near offering any genuine assistance to the community of Fort Chipewyan in finding resolutions to many of our environmental and health issues. So hence, Bloody Oil in the hands of the oil companies and negligent governments.
Because of this very successful campaign in the UK, one of the oil companies executives flew to Fort Chipewyan and attempted to force the hand of my First Nation to "silence or terminate" my employment with the Mikisew because they didn't like that I travelled internationally, on Mikisew time, and that by doing so I generated so much negative publicity on the tarsands industry. Apparently we are not to speak publicly if we observe water quality issues, health impacts, or worse our people dying too frequently of cancers. This they said, was not consistent with the companies "vision" and that if Mikisew didn't support their vision there would be repercussions. And there were repercussions. Many Mikisew employees lost their jobs on this particular companies site within weeks.
I chose to leave because I would not be silenced.
Today I have relocated from Fort McMurray and am taking on the activism work full time. Many of you may know that whilst I was with the Mikisew, my day time job had nothing to do with the advocacy work that I did on behalf of Fort Chipewyan. Despite the companies suggestion that I travelled and did the activism work on Mikisew time, it was actually all on my vacation time, outside of work hours, etc. All the advocacy work that I embarked on in the past four years while in Fort McMurray was on my personal and voluntary time.
I'm happy to be back and look forward to advancing Fort Chipewyan's issues even stronger. Below is the news of the day!
- - -
PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 17.03.2010
Canadian Government's visit to London greeted by Tar Sands protests
Photo opportunity: 8:30am, Thursday 18 March, Canada House, Trafalgar Square, London
A high-level delegation from Canada will be greeted tomorrow by protesters with banners that read: “Canadian Tar Sands – Climate Crime”, outside Canada House in Trafalgar Square. The protest, on Thursday 18 March, is part of a growing campaign by UK groups against the tremendous human and ecological devastation caused by extracting oil from Canada's tar sands – and is taking place in solidarity with First Nations and Canadian environmental justice organizations. The Canadian delegation is being hosted by UK Trade and Investment, a government department that exists to promote the interests of British industry.
“The Canadian and British governments should know that people in the UK are very concerned about the tar sands,” said Alice Hargreaves of the UK Tar Sands Network which has organised the protest along with members of Rising Tide and Camp for Climate Action. “The tar sands are the world's most destructive project. Canada is ripping up an area larger than England, creating sprawling toxic lakes and ever-expanding carbon emissions. This environmental horror story is violating indigenous peoples' rights – they are losing their traditional ways of life, and some are getting cancer from the pollution. The tar sands is a project that needs to be stopped, yet British companies like Shell, BP and RBS are involved, and with this event, UK Trade and Investment is actively promoting further British involvement.”
The Canadian government is on a multi-country tar sands promotion tour, seeking to ease the growing concerns of investors, by arguing that 'carbon capture and storage' (CCS) technology can reduce the enormous amount of carbon emissions caused by tar sands extraction. Yet this unproven technology can never 'green' the tar sands, argue the protesters, and the delegation has already met with similar protests in Norway
“Carbon capture in the tar sands is more of a smokescreen than a silver bullet,” said Clayton Thomas-Muller of the Indigenous Environmental Network. “It is an untested, expensive, long-lead-time technology that has more holes than it does solutions. Only a small portion of carbon emissions from the tar sands can ever be captured using CCS, and it will not prevent the destruction of the boreal forest, or the pollution flowing into local water systems. Our governments shouldn’t be fostering technologies that allow toxic developments like the tar sands to continue, but should be investing in protecting the health of all our communities and building a green, just economy for the future.”
(North America) Clayton Thomas-Muller
Indigenous Environmental Network- 001-613 789 5653
http://www.ienearth.org/tarsands.html
(UK) Suzanne Dhaliwal of the UK Tar Sands Network: Phone: 07530415274
www.tarsandsinfocus.wordpress.com Email: tarsandsinfocus@gmail.com
--
George J. Poitras
Mikisew Cree First Nation
- - - -
INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK - CANADIAN INDIGENOUS TAR SANDS CAMPAIGN
Clayton Thomas-Muller
294 Guigues Ave.
Ottawa Ontario K1N 9H8
Canada
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(7) TAKING ON TARMAGEDDON, NEW INTERNATIONALIST, APRIL 2010 - WITH THANKS TO CHIEF DALE AWASIS
. . terrible what is happening here in canada
http://www.newint.org/features/2010/04/ ... tar-sands/
April 2010 • Issue 431
Taking on Tarmageddon
The tar sands are the most destructive project on earth – and the campaign to shut them down is gathering momentum. Jess Worth reports from the thick of it. - - -
(This is an excellent piece on the Tar Sands – I recommend you click on the link. It is too large a file to include here.)
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(8) OILSANDS A SITTING DUCK FOR CRITICS, GILLIAN STEWARD, APRIL 13
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/
794248--oilsands-a-sitting-duck-for-critics
Published On Tue Apr 13 2010
By Gillian Steward, Columnist
The petroleum industry launched a new public relations offensive last week designed to polish up the tarnished image of oilsands operations. Not surprisingly, news of the blitz grabbed front-page headlines in the Calgary Herald and attracted an enthusiastic audience at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. But then things started to go awry.
An ecologist who had been mining government documents disclosed that
164 animals - including black bears, foxes and deer - had been killed over the past eight years at major oilsands' operations. Very embarrassing news for the industry, especially in light of ongoing coverage of the trial in Edmonton where Syncrude is defending itself against charges by both federal and provincial prosecutors that were laid after 1,600 ducks drowned in the company's tailings ponds last year. The same ducks coated in black goo that turned up on our television screens as Alberta's deputy premier was returning home from a visit to Washington designed to calm lawmakers' anxiety about Alberta's so-called dirty oil.
MORE:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/
794248--oilsands-a-sitting-duck-for-critics
- - - -
Gillian Steward is a Calgary writer and journalist, and former managing editor of the Calgary Herald. Her column appears every other week.
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(9) EU YIELDS TO CANADA ON TAR SANDS IN TRADE TALKS, MARCH 25
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=3137
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
Reuters reports that, “The European Union has yielded to Canadian demands it remove possible trade barriers to polluting oil sands to avoid further damage to ties, according to sources and leaked documents.”
“Canadian Ambassador Ross Hornby told a top official at the European Union’s executive in a letter seen by Reuters… that draft EU standards to promote greener fuels are too unwieldy and will harm the market for its oil sands… Several sources said Canada had raised the issue frequently during trade talks with the EU.”
“Hornby confirmed he had written such a letter, which was released by the Commission under freedom of information laws.”
“Europe seems to have taken the advice. A recent draft EU paper on fuel standards, seen by Reuters, drops all reference to Canadian oil sands or tar sands, in sharp contrast with drafts from last year.”
For information on our campaign against the Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, please go to http://www.canadians.org/trade/issues/EU/index.html.
You can read about our tar sands campaign work at http://www.canadians.org/energy/issues/ ... index.html.
The full Reuters article is at http://money.canoe.ca/money/business/ca ... s/2010/03/
20100324-113234.html.
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(10) BLOOMBERG BUSINESS REPORT ON THE CHINESE INVESTMENT IN THE TAR SANDS, APR 12
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-12/
sinopec-to-buy-syncrude-stake-for-4-65-billion-update1-.html
Bloomberg
Sinopec to Buy Syncrude Stake for $4.65 Billion (Update3)
April 12, 2010, 4:16 PM EDT
By Edward Klump 1
April 12 (Bloomberg) -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia’s biggest refiner, agreed to buy ConocoPhillips’s stake in oil-sands producer Syncrude Canada Ltd. for $4.65 billion to help feed the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
Sinopec, as the Beijing-based company is known, will buy about 9 percent of unlisted Syncrude, Houston-based ConocoPhillips said today in a statement.
Spending by Chinese companies on mining and energy acquisitions reached a record $32 billion last year. ConocoPhillips said in October it planned to sell $10 billion of assets over two years to help cut debt. Sinopec joins domestic rival PetroChina Co. in acquiring stakes in Canadian producers of oil locked in sand.
“China is moving more and more and more toward wanting to and having a desire to secure natural resources,” said Robbert Van Batenburg, head of equity research at Louis Capital Markets LP in New York. “For them to get a greenfield operation in the oil sands in Canada is going to be much more difficult, so this is probably the most viable.”
Oil sands are deposits of bitumen, an extra-heavy oil that must be treated for use in refineries to produce gasoline and diesel fuels.
Fuel Demand
China joins South Korea, Japan and India in their quest to secure overseas resources to drive their economies. The International Energy Agency on March 12 raised its forecast for fuel-demand growth in developing countries, led by China and India, to 41.2 million barrels a day and cut its prediction for Europe and the U.S. “While China is willing to pay anything for an oil asset, the Indians won’t because corporate interest determines,” Van Batenburg said. Indian companies aren’t going to overpay for an asset “if it doesn’t make any sense,” he said.
State-controlled PetroChina won approval from the Canadian government in December to buy a stake in Athabasca Oil Sands Corp.’s MacKay and Dover oil-sands projects for C$1.9 billion ($1.9 billion).
China Petrochemical Corp., Sinopec’s parent, bought Calgary-based Addax Petroleum Corp. for C$8.3 billion last year to add oil reserves. Sinopec said on March 29 it will pay $2.5 billion to buy a stake in an Angolan field from its parent to boost crude-oil production.
MORE:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-12/
sinopec-to-buy-syncrude-stake-for-4-65-billion-update1-.html
- - - - -
--With assistance from Cathy Chan in Hong Kong, Ryan Woo in Singapore, Jim Polson in New York, Wang Ying in Beijing and Joe Carroll in Chicago. Editors: Kim Jordan, Susan Warren.
To contact the reporter on this story: Edward Klump in Houston at eklump@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Susan Warren at susanwarren@bloomberg.net.
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(11) SITE C DAM PROJECT ON THE PEACE RIVER RELATED TO THE TAR SANDS
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=3174
This article also points to what is behind much of the destruction:
- The Americans are fast running themselves out of water in the West. Along with the water goes the ability to generate hydro-electricity at the Hoover and Glen Canyon Dams (water and electricity for about 25 million people in Nevada, California, Arizona, etc.). The projections by scientists from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography are a 50/50 chance that water levels will be too low to generate hydro-electricity by 2017 and a 50/50 chance that Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the reservoirs behind the two dams, will be dry by 2021.
- All of which creates the opportunity for monied interests to make lots of money if they can appropriate control of Canadian water and electricity for themselves, for sale south of the border. They will take us down, along with the American west, instead of implementing actual solutions to the problems. Their actions clearly create the conditions for more and more violence.
- They destroy peace and good governance, all in the name of money. I’d like to string them up by their private parts.
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Email from:
Sandra Finley
Saskatoon SK S7N 0L1
306-373-8078
sabest1@sasktel.net
- Oscar
- Site Admin
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WHY WE’D BETTER LEARN FROM THE GULF OIL SPILL
by Oscar » Wed May 19, 2010 3:43 pm
WHY WE’D BETTER LEARN FROM THE GULF OIL SPILL
BY Jim Harding
Saskatchewan Sustainability
Published in the United Newspapers of Saskatchewan May 14, 2010
Saskatchewan’s economy is second only to Alberta’s in oil and gas export. The fossil fuels mostly go south to the US, which, along with China, is the biggest energy glutton on the planet. This is an inherently unsustainable energy system and the blowback comes in many natural and human-made forms. People in the Gulf of Mexico are just recuperating from Hurricane Katrina, an extreme storm likely linked to the global build-up of greenhouse gases. Hopefully the oil gushing from British Petroleum’s (BP’s) botched deep sea drilling will be a big wake up call for Americans. Facing intense industry and Republican lobbying prior to this catastrophe, Obama lifted the ban on off-shore drilling. California’s Republican Governor has now called for a complete ban on all off-shore drilling.
The Gulf disaster began April 20th with an explosion and fire at BP’s Deepwater Horizon well. Two days later, the platform sunk, leaving seventeen crew injured and another eleven missing. By early May it came out that BP greatly underestimated the spill and at least 5,000 barrels were leaking daily. More recent estimates are much higher. By mid-May at least four million gallons had already leaked. After attempts to seal the leaks failed BP lowered a huge structure onto the unstable seabed to try to contain the leak, but this also failed; the gas, crystallizing in such frigid water, plugged the outlet. Then a pipe was inserted into the well to try to pump some leaking oil into tankers. With rough weather, skimmer vessels haven’t been effective and the oil slicks can’t be burned, and it’s uncertain whether the hundreds of miles of inflatable booms will be able to keep oil from reaching the fragile coastline. Even before any oil was visible, coastal people were complaining of sickening fumes wafting across the water.
AN IMPOSSIBLE CATASTROPHE
This is another ecological catastrophe that wasn’t to happen. The AP reported that BP’s 2009 Environmental Impact analysis said the chances of such an accident were “virtually impossible”, adding that because the rig was 48 miles out to sea any spill would be dispersed. BP was wrong on the probability, and their back-up shut-off valve totally failed. The Gulf Restoration Network claims that BP lacked the technology required to deal with drilling at such depths. BP however continues to promote the ecocidal ethic that “the solution to pollution is dilution”.
Corporations, and governments wanting to give them free reign can’t see the world in ecological terms; profitability not sustainability is their bottom line. And it’s in their interest to oversimplify risk and downplay full costs. Though BP says it will pay for clean-up, its lawyers will fight to displace the full ecological costs. Company officials are already trying to shift responsibility onto their rig operator, Transocean. Haliburton, once headed by Dick Cheney, which profited so much from the war on Iraq, is also involved.
The Gulf is a very bad place for such a spill. There is a massive shoreline along the half-circle that forms the Gulf, with some of the richest biodiversity (e.g. the Everglades) in the Americas. Also the “loop” current can take oil around Florida and into the Gulf Stream, which goes towards Canada’s coastline. The thousands of volunteers who frantically try to reduce the damage to their homeland will be exposed to extremely toxic crude oil fumes. By mid-May the spill had already formed a slick 200 by 100 km, threatening birds, dolphins, shrimps, oysters, crabs and fish. The Gulf fishery is the most abundant source of seafood for all of the U.S. so this spill is probably destined to be economically as well as ecologically worse than the Exxon Valdez spill of 11 million gallons off Alaska in 1989.
WATER: THE CANADIAN CONNECTION
Saskatchewan’s political leaders of both parties have steadily moved our economy to greater dependence on fossil fuels. And we’re among the highest per capita carbon emitters on the planet – 74 tonnes last year. While we are not engaged in offshore drilling, the companies we deal with are. BP could soon be operating in our back yard, with its planned $1.5 billion Sunrise tar sands project in Alberta. And water is not only threatened by offshore drilling; the tar sands are under growing global criticism for their contamination of waterways. To produce one barrel of oil requires 2 to 4 barrels of water, and 90% of the waste water must be contained in toxic tailing ponds.
Federal Environment Minister Prentice has cynically tried to use the Gulf disaster to make the tar sands seem more environmentally sound. And BP claims its proposed steam-assisted tar sand extraction will contaminate less land, and that the use of aquifers will affect fewer waterways. But this too is largely untested technology and some industry proponents are even advocating the use of small nuclear reactors to produce the steam. And do we really want BP “experimenting” with our aquifers? There are signs of a rebellion brewing among some unconvinced stockholders. The lobby group Fair Pensions which is trying to democratize international investment wants disclosure of more information about BP’s Sunrise project. Unfortunately, many shareholders place short-term earnings above sustainability, and have supported a 40% increase in pay for BP’s CEO, to total $4 million annually, as a reward for lowering costs while increasing oil production. Corporate cost-cutting to increase profit-margins often means more risks of catastrophes such as we now see in the Gulf. If Obama succeeds in getting BP to pay costs, beyond the $75 million cap presently on its liability, BP’s profits will shrink, as they should.
BP distracts public attention from ecological risks by exaggerating job opportunities with its megaprojects. But a job on an ocean oil rig or in the tar sands, dangerously exploiting a non-renewable toxic resource, is never equivalent to a job harvesting a renewable resource. All those who make a living off the massive fishery in the Gulf now have their source of income threatened, and the jobs from the oil rig are also gone. Protecting the Gulf ecology and fishery by not allowing inherently dangerous off-shore drilling will ensure far more jobs into the future. The same principle holds when comparing jobs from the tar sands with sustainable jobs provided by protecting ecology. Sustainability requires that we do the jobs’ math accurately.
Executives were celebrating BP’s safety record just prior to the methane bubble coming up from the ocean floor and exploding. This is a wake-up call for us all, whether we live close to a fishery or to a proposed tar sands project. Our response needs to go beyond party politics; sustainability will and should alter the nature of political priorities. Party politics needs to be rejuvenated with participatory politics; corporate-backed governments need to be replaced by citizen-backed ones. And soon, for the planet and all life that depends upon its quality of water depends on this.
http://jimharding.brinkster.net
BY Jim Harding
Saskatchewan Sustainability
Published in the United Newspapers of Saskatchewan May 14, 2010
Saskatchewan’s economy is second only to Alberta’s in oil and gas export. The fossil fuels mostly go south to the US, which, along with China, is the biggest energy glutton on the planet. This is an inherently unsustainable energy system and the blowback comes in many natural and human-made forms. People in the Gulf of Mexico are just recuperating from Hurricane Katrina, an extreme storm likely linked to the global build-up of greenhouse gases. Hopefully the oil gushing from British Petroleum’s (BP’s) botched deep sea drilling will be a big wake up call for Americans. Facing intense industry and Republican lobbying prior to this catastrophe, Obama lifted the ban on off-shore drilling. California’s Republican Governor has now called for a complete ban on all off-shore drilling.
The Gulf disaster began April 20th with an explosion and fire at BP’s Deepwater Horizon well. Two days later, the platform sunk, leaving seventeen crew injured and another eleven missing. By early May it came out that BP greatly underestimated the spill and at least 5,000 barrels were leaking daily. More recent estimates are much higher. By mid-May at least four million gallons had already leaked. After attempts to seal the leaks failed BP lowered a huge structure onto the unstable seabed to try to contain the leak, but this also failed; the gas, crystallizing in such frigid water, plugged the outlet. Then a pipe was inserted into the well to try to pump some leaking oil into tankers. With rough weather, skimmer vessels haven’t been effective and the oil slicks can’t be burned, and it’s uncertain whether the hundreds of miles of inflatable booms will be able to keep oil from reaching the fragile coastline. Even before any oil was visible, coastal people were complaining of sickening fumes wafting across the water.
AN IMPOSSIBLE CATASTROPHE
This is another ecological catastrophe that wasn’t to happen. The AP reported that BP’s 2009 Environmental Impact analysis said the chances of such an accident were “virtually impossible”, adding that because the rig was 48 miles out to sea any spill would be dispersed. BP was wrong on the probability, and their back-up shut-off valve totally failed. The Gulf Restoration Network claims that BP lacked the technology required to deal with drilling at such depths. BP however continues to promote the ecocidal ethic that “the solution to pollution is dilution”.
Corporations, and governments wanting to give them free reign can’t see the world in ecological terms; profitability not sustainability is their bottom line. And it’s in their interest to oversimplify risk and downplay full costs. Though BP says it will pay for clean-up, its lawyers will fight to displace the full ecological costs. Company officials are already trying to shift responsibility onto their rig operator, Transocean. Haliburton, once headed by Dick Cheney, which profited so much from the war on Iraq, is also involved.
The Gulf is a very bad place for such a spill. There is a massive shoreline along the half-circle that forms the Gulf, with some of the richest biodiversity (e.g. the Everglades) in the Americas. Also the “loop” current can take oil around Florida and into the Gulf Stream, which goes towards Canada’s coastline. The thousands of volunteers who frantically try to reduce the damage to their homeland will be exposed to extremely toxic crude oil fumes. By mid-May the spill had already formed a slick 200 by 100 km, threatening birds, dolphins, shrimps, oysters, crabs and fish. The Gulf fishery is the most abundant source of seafood for all of the U.S. so this spill is probably destined to be economically as well as ecologically worse than the Exxon Valdez spill of 11 million gallons off Alaska in 1989.
WATER: THE CANADIAN CONNECTION
Saskatchewan’s political leaders of both parties have steadily moved our economy to greater dependence on fossil fuels. And we’re among the highest per capita carbon emitters on the planet – 74 tonnes last year. While we are not engaged in offshore drilling, the companies we deal with are. BP could soon be operating in our back yard, with its planned $1.5 billion Sunrise tar sands project in Alberta. And water is not only threatened by offshore drilling; the tar sands are under growing global criticism for their contamination of waterways. To produce one barrel of oil requires 2 to 4 barrels of water, and 90% of the waste water must be contained in toxic tailing ponds.
Federal Environment Minister Prentice has cynically tried to use the Gulf disaster to make the tar sands seem more environmentally sound. And BP claims its proposed steam-assisted tar sand extraction will contaminate less land, and that the use of aquifers will affect fewer waterways. But this too is largely untested technology and some industry proponents are even advocating the use of small nuclear reactors to produce the steam. And do we really want BP “experimenting” with our aquifers? There are signs of a rebellion brewing among some unconvinced stockholders. The lobby group Fair Pensions which is trying to democratize international investment wants disclosure of more information about BP’s Sunrise project. Unfortunately, many shareholders place short-term earnings above sustainability, and have supported a 40% increase in pay for BP’s CEO, to total $4 million annually, as a reward for lowering costs while increasing oil production. Corporate cost-cutting to increase profit-margins often means more risks of catastrophes such as we now see in the Gulf. If Obama succeeds in getting BP to pay costs, beyond the $75 million cap presently on its liability, BP’s profits will shrink, as they should.
BP distracts public attention from ecological risks by exaggerating job opportunities with its megaprojects. But a job on an ocean oil rig or in the tar sands, dangerously exploiting a non-renewable toxic resource, is never equivalent to a job harvesting a renewable resource. All those who make a living off the massive fishery in the Gulf now have their source of income threatened, and the jobs from the oil rig are also gone. Protecting the Gulf ecology and fishery by not allowing inherently dangerous off-shore drilling will ensure far more jobs into the future. The same principle holds when comparing jobs from the tar sands with sustainable jobs provided by protecting ecology. Sustainability requires that we do the jobs’ math accurately.
Executives were celebrating BP’s safety record just prior to the methane bubble coming up from the ocean floor and exploding. This is a wake-up call for us all, whether we live close to a fishery or to a proposed tar sands project. Our response needs to go beyond party politics; sustainability will and should alter the nature of political priorities. Party politics needs to be rejuvenated with participatory politics; corporate-backed governments need to be replaced by citizen-backed ones. And soon, for the planet and all life that depends upon its quality of water depends on this.
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