Tar Sands

36 Risk Arrest At John Kerry’s Boston Office Against KXL

October 9, 2013 Staff, ecowatch.com Resist! Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Tar Sands

Thirty-six people risked arrest on October 8th while staging a peaceful sit-in at the State Department’s office in Secretary Kerry’s hometown of Boston in opposition to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. More than 200 supporters also rallied at Monday’s event in support of those risking arrest. For the second time this year, the State Department refused to arrest grandparents, scientists, President Obama and Secretary Kerry supporters and other anti-Keystone XL protesters even though both entrances to the building were blocked. The State Department’s refusal to arrest may be a signal that growing public opposition will play a role in the agency’s upcoming recommendations to the White House regarding TransCanada’s application for a presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.

Stop Enefit! No Oil Shale Campout: Oct 25-27

October 4, 2013 Utah Tar Sands Resistance, www.tarsandsresist.org Resist! Energy, Environment, Fracking, Tar Sands

We with the Utah Tar Sands Resistance aren’t all about tar sands, you know. Eastern Utah has become a sacrifice zone for the Western United States in terms of destructive, toxic fuel extraction, and we’re standing up to say “No!” to extreme energies in the Uintah Basin–and that includes oil shale. Enefit, an Estonian government-owned company with some half-baked ideas about mining for oil shale in Eastern Utah (in order to produce Kerogen), is bringing the usual lines about “ minimizing land disturbance,” “ reclamation” of the land, and their “commitment to environmental stewardship.”

Defeating Dirty Energy: 5 Inspiring Examples of David Beating Goliath

October 3, 2013 George Black, www.onearth.org Resist! Energy, Environment, Food and Agriculture, Tar Sands

Okay, so we’re all depressed. The planet is going to hell in a bucket, Congress is a train wreck, the fossil fuel lobby is stomping us into the ground, the Keystone XL pipeline means game over for climate change. Right? No, wrong. And here’s why. I’ve never been a Pollyanna, but all over the world I see remarkable things happening. In one multi-billion dollar mega-project after another, David is standing up to Goliath—and winning. These projects run the whole gamut of dirty and destructive development, from coal and oil to open-pit mines and giant dams. In many cases, they involve stories I’ve reported on in the past few years forOnEarth. . . So what about the Goliaths? How have they reacted to this chain of events, all of them unfolding in just a matter of months?

Coalitions March In 200 Cities Against Keystone Pipeline

September 29, 2013 Peter Rugh, www.occupy.com Resist! Energy, Environment, Tar Sands

“Tar sands development, fracking, mountain top removal for coal, deep water drilling for oil are all part of a new wave, a paradigm shift toward extreme energy,” said filmmaker Josh Fox in Manhattan, who joined one of 200 “Draw the Line” rallies held across the country Saturday. “All of the people who are on the front-lines are banding together, whether it's in the 34 states that are under the threat of fracking or the first nations communities that are suffering chemical poisoning in their water and their air from tar sands development or the communities that are in the way of the Keystone XL Pipeline.” Saturday's demonstrations represented a large, festive and renewed display of the climate movement that has so far kept the Keystone XL at bay despite powerful financial interests pushing for its construction. Some critics of Draw the Line mobilizations argue that even if the Keystone XL is not built, Alberta tar sands oil will still be extracted and exported either by rail or through Canada's Eastern and Western ports.

International Women’s Earth & Climate Summit Declares Time For Action

September 27, 2013 Staff, www.occuworld.org Organize! Climate Change, Environment, Tar Sands

The first International Women’s Earth and Climate Summit was held in Suffern, NY from September 20- 23. Over 100 invitation-only participants came from 35 countries equally divided between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. The summit’s purpose, explained co-founder Osprey Orielle Lake, was to bring women together who are in strategic positions to implement the critical solutions that are needed to address the world’s pressing climate challenges. “Nature will not wait while politicians debate,” she stated. ”Women around the world are facing the impacts of a changing climate every day, and we are coming together to say ‘Enough is enough’ she said. “It is time for action that addresses the roots of this crisis and fosters just solutions.”

Extreme Energy Extraction – The Frightening Ways We’re Destroying Our Country For Fossil Fuels

September 24, 2013 Tara Lohan, www.alternet.org Educate! Energy, Environment, Fracking, Tar Sands

To ensure a continued supply of hydrocarbons – and the continued prosperity of the giant energy companies – successive administrations have promoted the exploitation of these extreme energy options with a striking disregard for the resulting dangers. By their very nature, such efforts involve an ever-increasing risk of human and environmental catastrophe – something that has been far too little acknowledged. This summer my partner and I took a three-month roadtrip across North America. We didn’t head for the national parks or wild and scenic areas, though we did pass through some beautiful scenery. Instead, our itinerary focused on the places that have been the most impacted by extreme energy extraction.

Acting Like A Movement

September 19, 2013 Tim DeChristopher, www.michigacats.org Organize! Enbridge, Tar Sands

I know from experience that a jury trial is a fantastic organizing opportunity, but it takes resources to be able to take advantage of that opportunity. Their next court date is September 18th, and there will be plenty more. This will be a long process, and we will have to have their backs the whole way. Their ability to mobilize support and present a strong legal defense will be crucial to the future of our movement. If we continue undermining the power structure that is wrecking the climate, we can expect more draconian responses like this one in the future. Now is the time to send a message that this is a big, interconnected movement that will not back down. Most importantly, this is an opportunity to define what kind of movement this will be. Those who will take the next bold actions that will continue to be necessary need to know that this movement doesn't leave people behind. Let this be a movement that holds people.

Green Dream or Tar Sands Nightmare?

September 17, 2013 Tom Weis, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! Energy, Environment, Tar Sands, Video

While beltway greens debate whether President Obama will or won't approve a permit for Keystone's prospective northern leg in 2014, TransCanada has been busy building the actual southern leg of Keystone XL, which is now 90% constructed and targeted for completion by the end of this year. Here's the inconvenient truth about Keystone XL: TransCanada DOES NOT NEED THE PIPELINE'S NORTHERN LEG to begin pumping hundreds of thousands of barrels of toxic tar sands daily through America's breadbasket for export overseas. They will accomplish this by simply connecting Keystone XL's southern leg to Keystone I (the orange line on the map shown here) built by TransCanada in 2010.

Victory: Judge Halts Tar Sands ‘Megaloads’ Through Nat’l Forest

September 16, 2013 Andrea Germanos, www.commondreams.org Resist! Energy, Environment, Native Indians, Tar Sands

Marking at least a temporary victory for the Nez Perce Tribe and environmental activists, a federal judge on Friday halted shipments of giant tar sands equipment dubbed 'megaloads' that pass through a national forest in Idaho. The ruling is a continuation of a three-year battle to protect "a scenic Idaho roadway that cuts through the homeland of the Nez Perce Tribe and runs alongside two federally protected rivers," Reuters reports. “This is a win for all who cherish the esthetic, spiritual and recreational values of the Lochsa and Clearwater Rivers,” Kevin Lewis, Conservation Director of Idaho Rivers United, which filed the lawsuit along with the Nez Perce to stop the shipments, said in a statement.

Saturday, Sept. 21–Draw A Line Against Tar Sands

September 12, 2013 Eric Moll , www.TarSandsBlockade.org Resist! Energy, Environment, Tar Sands

It’s time to Draw the Line. On Saturday, September 21, thousands of people around the country will take action against Keystone XL and tar sands. The size and scope of these actions – over a hundred around the country – will show how much our movement has grown since the fight against Keystone XL began. The day of action was called by 350.org and is supported by a national coalition of organizations, including Tar Sands Blockade, but it's people like you who will make it powerful and make it real. If you’re not already plugged in, Draw the Line is a great opportunity to meet like-minded activists in your hometown and start planning your own actions.

New Series Of Stories: The Enbridge Effect

September 10, 2013 Marty Burke, www.grangehallpress.com Educate! Enbridge, Energy, Environment, Tar Sands

The courts already allowed them to postpone my hearing date from June of this year to Sept of this year. I fully expect the court to allow them to postpone it again. It’s sheer ludicrousy. How can it be legal? How can it be happening? How can our legal system allow a company with annual sales in the tens of billions to systematically rob individuals of just compensation? Never mind the dehumanizing effect Enbridge has on thousands upon thousand of individuals and families. They even get to offset their costs of doing business on the backs of real people, families, communities. It truly is numbing and it truly is a nightmare. How can it happen in America? Who would let such a thing happen to us? Who would put themselves in our shoes?

Obama’s Keystone XL Tradeoff: Expedite All Other Pipelines

September 7, 2013 Steve Horn, www.mintpressnews.com Educate! Energy, Environment, Tar Sands

The day before, March 21, Obama flew on Air Force One to a pipe yard in Cushing – the “pipeline crossroads of the world” – for a special stump speech and photo-op announcing the executive order and memorandum. Dubbed the Gulf Coast Pipeline Project by TransCanada – 95 percent complete and “open for business” in the first quarter of 2014 – the 485-mile tube will ship 700,000 barrels of tar sands crude per day from Cushing to Port Arthur, where it will then reach Gulf Coast refineries and be exported to the global market. It will eventually have the capacity to ship 830,000 barrels per day. The subject of a large amount of grassroots resistance from groups such as Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance and the Tar Sands Blockade, the Gulf Coast Pipeline Project – when push comes to shove – is only the tip of the iceberg.

Tar Sands A Dirty Outcome Of Free Trade Failures

September 4, 2013 Patrick Tsai, www.iatp.org Resist! Energy, Environment, Indigenous Rights, Tar Sands, TPP

Sovereignty can only be described as absent in cases where Canada is unable to provide its own natural resources to its own people in need. Still other NAFTA provisions can be used to force tar sands bitumen across the border. Articles within NAFTA’s chapter 11, often referred to as investor-state provisions, could potentially be used by TransCanada to push through Keystone XL, avoiding public debate and environmental regulation. Investor-state provisions allow corporations to bring lawsuits against governments if they perceive unfair treatment or loss of projected revenue. As of March 2013, over 100 cases have been brought about using NAFTA’s chapter 11. The threat of costly legal action deters governments from creating laws and regulations that promote regional development and public safety.

Enbridge Crude Oil Pipeline Across Minnesota Faces Fresh Opposition

September 2, 2013 David Shaffer, www.startribune.com Resist! Enbridge, Energy, Environment, Tar Sands

Anti-pipeline activists who in July disrupted the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission as it approved a cross-state pipeline expansion say they’ll be back this week, demanding to be heard on another upgrade. Enbridge, the Calgary-based operator of the 1,000-mile “Alberta Clipper” pipeline, plans to boost its capacity another 40 percent to 800,000 barrels per day. In July, it won PUC approval for a smaller capacity increase. The expanded line from Hardisty, Alberta, to Superior, Wis., would import more oil from Canada’s tar sands region. Environmental activists who oppose the expansion cite Enbridge’s safety record and concerns about increasing greenhouse gas linked to climate change. “Enbridge is responsible for the largest on-land spill,” said Tom McSteen, lead convener for the anti-tar sands group MN350.

Native Americans Take Lead In Tar Sands Resistance

September 1, 2013 IPS, www.iede.co.uk Organize! Energy, Environment, Native Indians, Tar Sands

Native American tribes in the United States have taken the lead in opposing the expansion of the Athabasca Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada, engaging in civil disobedience to the point of arrest and attempting to physically block shipments of construction equipment from passing through their native lands. Native opposition is based on concern over the environmental destruction associated with the expansion and with the related Keystone XL Pipeline. The pipeline would convey oil from the tar sands through Canada and the United States to southeastern Texas. As previously reported by IPS, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation says the expansion of the world's third largest crude oil deposit so far has caused significant damage to the ecosystem, including the disappearance of bugs, decline in the numbers of migratory birds, elevated rates of certain types of cancers, and the possible extinction of caribou herds.

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