Article by Todd Babiak in the Edmonton Journal. “This is a moment unlike any other in the short history of the oilsands, and Coutu’s trip to Vancouver is only the latest in a series of signs that the energy industry, the provincial and federal governments and my colleagues in the media can no longer credibly, or even incredibly, dismiss scientists and environmentalists as Alberta haters and kooks.” Read article
Article by Andrew Nikiforuk at The Tyee. “Saudi oil barons may beat their women and whip foreign workers, but Canada happily employs aboriginals in open pit mines. Nigeria hangs its critics, but Canada just accuses them of being Greenpeace scum. Venezuela censors its media, but Ottawa will bring peace to the planet with the world’s most expensive oil.” This is an excellent article. Read article
Five minute highlight video on the recent Vancouver events held to showcase the work of the International League of Conservation photographers in the Great Bear Rainforest. Some of the world’s top nature photographers journeyed this month to the north an and central coast of Canada to capture its incomparable yet fragile beauty – now threatened by a proposal from Enbridge to bring an oil pipeline from the Tar Sands and supertankers to BC’s wild coast.
Article by Armen Keteyian from CBS News. An exclusive investigation into complaints of deceptive practices by Canadian energy giant Enbridge. Read article
Article (with pictures) in the Boston Globe. “The total amount of oil spilled is still not clear, though China Central Television earlier reported an estimate of 1,500 tons (400,000 gallons), as compared to the estimated 94 – 184 million gallons in the BP oil spill off the Louisiana coast.” Read article
Article by Joshua Schneyer and Selam Gebrekidan from Reuters. “Enbridge Inc shut down the largest of its three major oil pipelines due to a leak in Illinois on Thursday, reducing supply on the main transit route for Canadian crude into the United States. Canada is the largest oil exporter to the United States and Enbridge’s pipelines carry the lion’s share of that crude.” Read article
Article by Erwin Seba and Joshua Schneyer from Reuters.
“Assuming a steady flow-rate of up to 600 barrels per hour, or 14,400 barrels per day, Enbridge’s latest spill may rank among the ten largest U.S. pipeline spills of the past decade, according to U.S. government data.”
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Also on this topic: Factbox: History of Enbridge’s pipeline spills in the U.S.
Article by Andrew Nikiforuk in The Tyee. “Despite repeated government claims that the world’s largest energy project doesn’t contaminate the Athabasca River, a new scientific study released today shows that air pollution from the oil sands industry combined with extensive watershed destruction has released a highly toxic brew of heavy metals into northern waterways.” Read article
Article by Tom Zeller Jr. in the New York Times. “The Royal Bank of Canada, responding to intense pressure from environmental advocates denouncing the bank’s financing of oil sands projects, hosted 18 international banks in Toronto in February for ‘a day of learning’ on the “regulatory, social and environmental issues” surrounding the oil sands.” Read article