Green Options » canadian tar sands

What’s the Real Story Behind the Enbridge Pipeline?

Ruedigar Matthes — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:16:26 +0000

With the spotlight shining on clean energy, the stage has been set for the U.S. to rid itself of a harmful addiction to foreign oil. The stars are aligned and the cards have been dealt. Soon we’ll have kicked the dirty habit, right?

Sarah Palin seems to think so. Perhaps you’ll remember her proposal to tap the natural gas supply found under the pristine Alaskan wilderness. As Governor of Alaska she “fought to bring about the largest private-sector infrastructure project in North American history . . . a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence.”

Football Field Sized Trucks Head to Canadian Tar Sands with Superloads

Jennifer Lance — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 04:37:08 +0000

People in Montana have been noticing some big rigs on their highways, really big rigs.

Special trucks the size of a football field are carrying equipment cargo in “superloads” to the Canadian Tar Sands for oil extraction.

The Billings Gazette reports on the massive size of the trucks:

How big? One load that is coming up from the port of Houston and began its passage through Montana on Wednesday is 20 feet wide, slightly more than 20 feet tall and 290 feet long. It has 90 tires on 24 axles and weighs 917,000 pounds - so heavy that two trucks are attached to the rear to help push it along.

Developing Oil from Canadian Tar Sands Could Kill 160 Million Migratory Birds by 2038

Timothy B. Hurst — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 09:23:38 +0000

Extraction and refining heavy oil from Canadian tar sands will have increasingly devastating impacts on migratory bird populations, according to a new study.

According to a new report, the cumulative impact of developing Canadian tar sands over the next 30–50 years could be as high as 166 million birds lost, including future generations. Written by scientists from the Natural Resources Defense Council, Boreal Songbird Initiative, and Pembina Institute, the peer-reviewed paper suggests that avian mortality from continued development of Canada’s tar sands would provide a serious blow to migratory bird populations in North America.

“This report is yet another wake up call to the government in Alberta, as it confirms that the cumulative impact of oil sands development is on an unsustainable trajectory,” said Pembina Institute’s Simon Dyer, a contributing author to the report.