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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Clean up of spill in northern Alberta a challenge
Bitterly cold weather is impacting a crude oil spill clean up effort about 27 kilometres from Red Earth Creek in northern Alberta. The Alberta Energy Regulator says 337 barrels (60,000 litres) poured from a Canadian Natural Resources pipeline into muskeg. There are no reports of impact to wildlife. An incident report by the regulator states that a mechanical […]
Comment: Opposition to oilsands pipelines is having an impact
The grassroots resistance against the Alberta oil sands and its pipelines is having an impact. A recent publication by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, titled “Material Risks: How Public Accountability is Slowing Tar Sands Development,” stated production revenues from the oil sands were down $30.9 billion between 2010 to 2013. It also […]
List of Canadian pipelines on hold
Mounting opposition from environmentalists have delayed a number of oil industry projects, here are the top four. 1) Keystone XL Keystone XL is a proposed 1,897-kilometre pipeline that would carry crude oil from Hardisty, Alta., to Steele City, Neb., where it would link up with other pipelines that run to the Gulf Coast and the […]
Key questions about the Keystone XL pipeline debate
Most people have heard of the Keystone XL pipeline. To many though it’s not clear why there’s so much controversy about the project. The basics are simple: The proposed pipeline to be built by TransCanada would carry 830,000 barrels of oil per day from the oil sands down to Nebraska. Supporters contend it will create jobs and bolster the flow of oil from […]
Forests at risk so oil can flow
The world’s last remaining forest wilderness is rapidly being lost – and much of this is taking place in Canada, not in Brazil or Indonesia where deforestation has so far made the headlines. A new satellite study reveals that since 2000 more than 104 million hectares of forests – an area three times the size […]
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