Tar Sands

First Nations Blockade Camp Ups the Ante

January 8, 2014 Erin Flegg, www.vancouverobserver.com Resist! Enbridge, Energy, Environment, First Nations, Tar Sands

With the announcement of the National Energy Board’s ruling in favour of Enbridge’s Northern pipeline, and the fall of yet another government environmental safeguard, the organizers of the anti-pipeline blockade camp in Northern BC are more committed than ever to holding their ground. Along with partner Forest Action Network (FAN), they’ve put out a call for more volunteers, and FAN director Zoe Blunt says they’ve received a flood of applications in the past week from people eager to travel to the camp and help out. Blunt, who has been to the camp several times, said she had been involved in fighting tankers on the coast when she realized she needed to start higher up the chain. If there are no pipelines, she said, there can be no tankers. “We’ve found kind of a choke point here in the Morice River Valley, and if we can slow it down, close it off, stall it, it’s buying time for another kind of outcome.” That could mean decisions made by the courts or by the commodities markets. “If the economy contracts again, these pipelines are a lot less likely to go through.”

Statement From Tar Sands Activist Facing ‘Terrorism Hoax’ Charges

January 7, 2014 Moriah Stephenson, www.gptarsandsresistance.org Resist! Energy, Environement, Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Tar Sands

Activism that is attempting to protect land and lives in Oklahoma is not terrorism. Charging us with “terrorism hoax” for hanging up a glittery banner is insulting, inconsiderate, and disrespectful to all of those who have actually experienced terrorist violence. TransCanada Corporation has been encouraging the police to charge environmental activists with varying charges that contain the word “terrorism” in order to scare and silence dissent. My hometown is older than Oklahoma statehood and is now being destroyed by the oil and gas industry. In rural Oklahoma, where people go to see stars at night, I have seen the brightness of fracking flares dim out the stars. It is heartbreaking to think that we have reached a point in which I could face ten years in prison for peacefully hanging up a banner. Ultimately, this is an issue of free speech. A corporation is using scare tactics to try to silence my story and my voice. If nothing else, it is unfair for TransCanada and Devon to engage the government in silencing free speech through the threat of “terrorism” charges.

Tar Sands Facing Aboriginal Legal Onslaught In 2014

January 5, 2014 Canadian Press, www.cbc.ca Resist! Climate Change, Environment, Tar Sands

All six First Nations in the oilsands area have requested a statutory review of the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan, the government's attempt to balance development and environmental values. Those same bands, along with many others, have also rejected the province's plans to centralize and control aboriginal consultation. One major band — the Fort McKay First Nation — has pulled out of the Joint Oilsands Monitoring program, the showpiece federal-provincial effort to monitor environmental change in the oilsands. Even the Lubicon Cree First Nation are back in court, with another try in a decades-long attempt to win a reserve and get some royalties on energy extracted from what they say is their land.

Oil Regulation Being Privatized In Alberta, Canada

December 23, 2013 Sheila Pratt, www.edmontonjournal.com Educate! Corporatism, Government, Oil and Gas, Tar Sands

More than 75 environment officers who watched over oil industry activities left the provincial environment department this fall, to take higher paying jobs with the new industry-funded Alberta Energy Regulator. Another 75-plus are expected to leave in the spring. In mid-November, the department also began handing over to the regulator thousands of files on oil industry activity pertaining to the Public Lands Act, according to documents obtained by the Journal. This shift in staffing and the moving of years of files out of a government department to the new arm’s length regulator are key steps in the government’s plan, announced last spring, to create a more streamlined approval process for oil companies that wanted “one window” to get permits for new projects. Previously, companies had to apply to the environment department for some permits and to the old regulator, the now defunct Energy Resources Conservation Board.

Top Pipeline Regulator: Lack of Oversight ‘Keeps Me Up At Night’

December 22, 2013 Cole Stangler, www.inthesetimes.com Educate! Energy, Environment, Oil and Gas, Tar Sands

In 2013, there have been dozens of leaks and explosions on gas pipelines in sparsely populated areas—in rural Wyoming, Texas, Missouri, Louisiana andWest Virginia, to name a few—without any loss of life. But such accidents in crowded areas can be deadly. In September 2010, a gas pipeline explosion in the San Francisco suburb of San Bruno killed eight, injured 58 and leveled several blocks. The following year, five people died in a similar explosion on a pipeline in Allentown, Pa. Since most pipeline operators have to meet a bare minimum of safety requirements, critics have often charged the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) with failing to properly oversee the hundreds of thousands of interstate pipelines that fall within its jurisdiction. It’s no secret that the small-budget agency based in the Department of Transportation—whose 151 inspectors are tasked with covering more than 2 million miles of pipeline across the country—has its fair share of troubles in fulfilling its regulatory mandate. Help keep this reporting possible by making a donation today. But while PHMSA has enough trouble looking after its existing jurisdiction, a high-ranking agency official recently expressed major concern about something that remains outside of her agency’s watch entirely. More than 200,000 miles of energy pipelines aren’t subject to any federal or state regulation at all: the so-called “gathering lines” that transport mostly gas, but some oil, directly from wells to processing sites. “What keeps me up at night? Gathering lines,” Linda Daugherty, PHMSA’s deputy associate administrator for field operations,told a crowd of safety advocates at the Pipeline Safety Trust’s annual conference in New Orleans last month. “There’s a whole lot of gathering lines out there that no one is inspecting. There are no safety standards applicable to those lines, and no safety agency or regulator is looking at them.”

One Year: 45 Fossil Fuel Disasters

December 21, 2013 Emily Atkin, www.thinkprogress.org Educate! Coal, Energy, Environment, Media, Oil and Gas, Tar Sands

While coal, oil, and gas are an integral part of everyday life around the world, 2013 brought a stark reminder of the inherent risk that comes with a fossil-fuel dependent world, with numerous pipeline spills, explosions, derailments, landslides, and the death of 20 coal miners in the U.S. alone. Despite all this, our addiction to fossil fuels will be a tough habit to break. The federal Energy Information Administration in July projected that fossil fuel use will soar across the world in the come decades. Coal — the dirtiest fossil fuel in terms of carbon emissions — is projected to increase by 2.3 percent in coming years. And in December,the EIA said that global demand for oil would be even higher than it had projected, for both this year and next. Here is a look back at some of the fossil fuel disasters that made headlines in 2013, along with several others that went largely unnoticed.

The Texas Farmer Taking On the Keystone Pipeline

December 21, 2013 Anna Simonton, www.yesmagazine.org Resist! Energy, Environment, Tar Sands

The Canadian fossil fuels giant recently announced that it will inject an initial 3 million barrels of oil into the newly completed southern leg of the pipeline over the coming weeks. Activists are calling on regulators to halt the process, citing inspections that revealed numerous flaws in the infrastructure. While that could stall the project, a few pending court battles with Texas landowners are presenting a broader challenge to TransCanada’s plans. One of those landowners is East Texas farmer Julia Trigg-Crawford, who in November petitioned to appeal a ruling in TransCanada’s favor. If her appeal is accepted, her case will be the first on this issue to be heard by the Texas Supreme Court. The trouble for Crawford started in 2008, when TransCanada offered her $7,000 for a lifetime easement across her pasture. This would give the company complete control over the land without owning it outright. She consulted with her father and siblings, all of whom have a stake in the farm. They decided to refuse. Crawford says no amount of money would have changed her mind. Her family’s decision was based on a strong connection to the land her grandfather purchased in 1948, she says, and concern for the indigenous artifacts that can be found all over the property.

Polar Bear Protest To Follow POTUS

December 21, 2013 Jose DelReal, www.politico.com Educate! Climate Change, Tar Sands

It’s nearly Christmas, and Frostpaw the Polar Bear is coming to town. To Oahu, that is. The Center for Biological Diversity’s chief mascot, Frostpaw, has followed President Barack Obama on various vacations and to other high profile events, using the costume to draw attention to the organization’s anti-Keystone pipeline message. The next stop is the First Family’s upcoming Christmas vacation in Hawaii, where Frostpaw will stand in stark contrast to the beaches and palm trees. “We want to keep the issue in front of him and the American people,” said the Center’s co-founder and Director of Policy Peter Galvin. “People really respond to the polar bear. [It] is one of the most potent symbols of climate change and it introduces a visual element to the issue and gets people to think about it. The contrast in certain locations, like Hawaii or Nebraska, is really effective.”

Maine City Passes Tar Sands Moratorium After Referendum Loss

December 18, 2013 Michael Conathan, www.thinkprogress.org Educate! Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Tar Sands

After last November’s ballot referendum to prevent the flow of Canadian tar sands oil through a 70 year-old pipeline failed by a razor-thin margin in November, supporters vowed to continue the fight. On Monday night, they won a major victory when the city council voted 6-1 to impose a six month moratorium on any development or project that would lead to the loading of tar sands oil onto ships at South Portland’s waterfront. The Portland-Montreal pipeline was completed in 1941, and since then has delivered fuel, primarily home heating oil, from the waterfront in Portland into Canada. This activity has made Portland the second-largest oil port by volume on the east coast. But with North American oil production on the rise, particularly in Canada’s heartland, the dynamics of the crude oil market are changing.

First Use Of Terrorism Law Against KXL Protesters For Glitter-Terror

December 17, 2013 Kevin Gosztola, www.dissenter.firedoglake.com Resist! Energy, Environment, Keystone, Tar Sands

On December 13, several people entered Devon Tower in downtown Oklahoma City to protest Devon, an energy company involved in natural gas and oil production that involves fracking. They are also invested and involved in tar sands mining in Canada. Devon Energy CEO John Richels sits on TransCanada’s Board of Directors. In an act of nonviolent civil disobedience, two individuals locked themselves with a bike lock inside one of the multiple revolving doors that lead into the atrium of Devon Tower. Two other individuals unfurled a banner from the second floor. The banner had the Mockingjay emblem on it from The Hunger Games and a slogan read, “The odds are never in our favor.” Simultaneously, another banner was unfurled that indicated support for indigenous activists in Canada who have been fighting to prevent energy extraction on their land. According to attorney Douglas Parr, who is representing the two individuals who unfurled The Hunger Games banner, glitter “fell off the banner” and on to the floor of the atrium.

Breaking: Earth First! Activists Lock Down In Tar Sands Protest

December 13, 2013 Staff, gptarsandsresistance.org Resist! Tar Sands

Activists lock down inside Devon Tower in protest of Tar Sands extraction and plans to frack the Eagle Ford Shale. Six people have been released from police custody, bringing the total amount of folks arrested to four, with no word on charges. If you can donate to our bail fund please do at http://gptarsandsresistance.org/donate/ Early Friday morning, two activists with Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance (GPTSR) and Cross Timbers Earth First! locked themselves inside a revolving door at the Devon Tower in protest of Devon’s involvement in toxic tar sands extraction and fracking, as well as plans to increase fracking in the Eagle Ford Shale. Simultaneously, a banner displaying a Mockingjay from the popular Hunger Games series was unfurled from the second story, reading: “The Odds are Never in Our Favor.” Imagery from the Hunger Games was employed to highlight the parallel between industrial sacrifice zones in real life, and the resource colonies (Districts) that are subjected to state and economic violence in the series. This action coincides with two days of trial for folks in the Mi’kmaq Warrior Society who were arrested while preventing natural gas exploration on their traditional lands.

Kalamazoo Activist Could Face Federal Charges

December 13, 2013 Erin Flegg, www.vancouverobserver.com Educate! Climate Change, Corporatism, Enbridge, Energy, Environment, Tar Sands

On June 24—his 35th birthday—Wahmhoff climbed into a section of Enbridge’s Line 6B pipeline. When he got out 10 hours later, he was arrested and charged with resisting and obstructing a police officer and trespassing. Tomorrow will be his last pre-trial court appearance before his case goes to trial at the beginning of the New Year. Along with three other Michigan activists, known at the Felonious Four, Wahmhoff could be facing more than two years in prison, but he says that so far court proceedings have gone well. At his most recent pre-trial in October, one of the lead witnesses, a Michigan detective, went on record saying that Wahmhoff had been very cooperative and a pleasure to work with, a statement that could go a long way toward refuting the charge of resisting arrest.

No Arrests After Climate Activists Crash Meeting

December 12, 2013 Staff, www.earthfirstjournal.org Resist! Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Tar Sands

All protestors are free after being contained inside the Omega Morgan office by a line of police. See below for a first-hand account: “The cops were stunned as we proceeded to implement consensus process after they asked us to leave. One cop delivered our letter and press release to the CEO. After about ten minutes of process, the Hillsboro chief of police got impatient and insisted that we leave immediately. “On our way out, we saw a line of cop cars starting at the door and leading all the way to the end of the parking lot. I counted 19 cop cars. Someone else counted 27 cop cars.

Michigan Coalition Against Tar Sands Exposes Enbridge

December 12, 2013 MI Coalition Against Tar Sands, www.commondreams.org Educate! Corporatism, Environment, Food and Agriculture, Tar Sands

Scientists and residents are questioning how chemicals shockingly similar to those used in the BP Deepwater Horizon gulf oil spill, and Exxon Valdez tanker spill disasters, would end up in the Kalamazoo River from Marshall, Michigan to more than 40 miles downriver. In the aftermath of the 2010 Kalamazoo oil spill Enbridge was fined for each gallon of oil recovered. Chemical dispersant breaks up oil into unrecoverable particles. Both Enbridge and the EPA have denied that any dispersants were used. However, since August, samples collected from the Kalamazoo River have been analyzed and found to contain chemical signatures similar to Corexit 9527, Corexit 9727A, and Corexit 9500. Corexit 9527, 9727A, 9500 are rare and are ingredients in a group of chemical oil dispersants marketed as Corexit. Corexit was used in the BP oil spill and has had carcinogenic, respiratory, and hemorrhaging effects on residents, clean-up workers, and wildlife.

Preliminary Deal Reached For New Major Tar Sands Pipeline

December 12, 2013 Jaisal Noor, www.therealnews.com Educate! Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Tar Sands

Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Jaisal Noor in Baltimore. The two Canadian western provinces of Alberta and British Columbia have struck a deal to create a pipeline to get tar sands oil to Canada's west coast. The issue of tar sands has been hotly contested across the country and has been opposed by Canada's First Nations communities, as well as environmental groups. Now joining us to discuss this is Yves Engler. He's a Canadian commentator and author. His most recent book is The Ugly Canadian: Stephen Harper's Foreign Policy. And previously he published The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy. Thank you so much for joining us.

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