It was four years ago when Corey Wells stumbled upon what he calls an “incredibly salty” wetlands region by Fort MacMurray. A hydrologist, Wells says while the region looked like many other wetlands in Alberta this one has a higher saline content than sea water. Saline spring wetlands are not unusual, it’s just they are usually […]
Review of oil sands ops not needed
It was a unanimous decision. NAFTA’s North American Free Trade Agreement) environmental commission will not be looking into the oil sands tailings ponds. The decision came despite the fact staff with NAFTA’s Commission on Environmental Co-operation (CEC) recommended doing the opposite. In a written ruling, the CEC stated the reason there will not be an investigation is because of […]
Don’t even take it out of the ground
The Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry crude oil from the oil sands to the U.S. Gulf Coast, isn’t just an infrastructure project. It’s also a symbol for the fight over the future of energy. Producing oil from Alberta’s tar sands emits more pollution than traditional oil drilling, so many environmentalists want that crude left in […]
Comment: Three Pinocchios – not a fairytale
Over the past months and right after the Senate defeated legislation authorizing the Keystone XL pipeline, President Obama said the pipeline was just to move Canadian oil through the US to the Gulf Coast for shipment overseas. He has also said he is concerned about its environmental impacts and the small number of jobs that […]
Comment: Why shoot ourselves in the foot?
Alberta Environment Minister Kyle Fawcett seems to be warming to the idea of carbon offset markets — where greenhouse gas emitters buy credits from other sources to compensate for their own output — after returning from the recent United Nations-sponsored climate change conference in Peru. It’s tempting to say Fawcett should stay home in future, if this is […]
From Russia with love-the answer to fracking concerns?
Something new from Russia may make fracking superfluous. Unlike hydraulic fracturing, Plasma Pulse Technology doesn’t use chemicals, water or pressurization. PPT uses vibrations, or electrically generated plasma impulses to reduce viscosity, increase permeability and improve flow of oil and gas to the surface for extraction. There is a small tubular device on the end of […]
Comment: Are metal levels in Athabasca River really being affected by oil sands operations?
Canada’s Athabasca oil sands are big business. Around half of the nation’s oil production – nearly two million barrels per day – is extracted in Alberta. Ever since oil extraction began here in 1967, there has been controversy over the levels of pollution it causes. Now a study reveals the mining has had negligible impact […]
Comment: How $40/barrel oil could impact the country
What does Canada’s economy look like with oil prices at $40 a barrel? Certainly it won’t be the energy superpower envisioned by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. If $40 a barrel still seems a ways off, consider that the benchmark price for oil sands crude is already trading in that price range. What’s more, if production […]
Comment: Prosperity in Canada relies on healthy oil industry
It’s been 30 years since Mancur Olson, wrote The Rise and Decline of Nations. The premise is the longer a society enjoys political stability, the more likely it is to develop powerful special interest groups that erode economic prosperity. His words have proven prescient as we witness Europe’s debt-burdened stagnation and degeneration of the U.S. […]
Comment: If it’s not a lie, does that make it the truth?
Senator John Thune, (Republican-South Dakota) said one of the first acts of the new Senate will be to force President Barack Obama’s hand on the Keystone XL pipeline. The project has been in the works since 2008 and its current version involves a 875-mile pipeline that would run from Morgan, Montana to Steele City, Nebraska. […]
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