MetaFilter posts tagged with alberta and environment

I drink it up. Everyday. I drink the blood of lamb from Bandy's tract.

KokuRyu — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:49:57 -0800

Oil sands will pollute Great Lakes The environmental impacts of Alberta's oil sands will not be restricted to Western Canada, researchers say, but will extend thousands of kilometres away to the Great Lakes, threatening water and air quality around the world's largest body of fresh water. *****Report: How the Oil Sands Got to the Great Lakes Basin***** (pdf) Policy makers around the lakes, in both Canada and the U.S., are largely unaware that the tar sands will lead to massive industrial development in their region, and consequently have no strategy to minimize the environmental impacts. In (its) new (POWI) report (NOTE: see the pdf link above), the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies says the massive refinery expansions needed to process tar sands crude, and the new pipeline networks (Keystone, Alberta Clipper)for transporting the fuel, amount to a “pollution delivery system” connecting Alberta to the Great Lakes region of Canada and the U.S. ...As many as 17 major refinery expansions around the lakes are being considered for turning the tar-like Alberta bitumen into gasoline and other petroleum products. While not all will be undertaken, enough of them will be to have a regional environmental impact. There has been one major dispute in the U.S. over a tar sands-related refinery expansion, at a British Petroleum facility at Whiting, Ind. The company proposed a $3-billion refinery modernization that would raise discharges of two pollutants by about 35 per cent and 54 per cent respectively. But it backed down and pledged not to increase the pollutants after a public outcry.

Ducks in Alberta died a crude death

KokuRyu — Thu, 01 May 2008 07:29:43 -0800

Ducks die a crude death. Alberta's oilsands (previously) (map) have a new emblem -- hundreds of ducks coated and killed in oily toxic sludge. About 500 birds landed and died in an oil sands pond. The pond full of toxic sludge sits along a major flight path for migrating waterfowl. News of the dying ducks wasn't disclosed until Alberta deputy premier Ron Stevens completed meetings with government and business officials in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. His five-day trip is part a new $25-million marketing campaign to counter negative perceptions of the oilsands and sell the province as a source of secure and environmentally sustainable energy. More news reports. Previously on MetaFilter.

Shifting Sands

chunking express — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 08:25:41 -0800

Shifting Sands. A great series from the Globe and Mail on the Alberta Tar Sands: An Empire Made of Goo, Black gold, Texas tea, The hollowing out of small Atlantic towns, Where rich and poor Albertas collide, Norway the gold standard for managing oil wealth, The climatic costs of rapid growth.

Mud, Sweat and Tears

chunking express — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 07:21:50 -0800

"The vast tar sands of Alberta in Canada hold oil reserves six times the size of Saudi Arabia's. But this 'black gold' is proving a mixed blessing for the frontier town of Fort McMurray, fuelling both prosperity and misery. As the social and environmental toll mounts, Aida Edemariam reports on the dark side of a boom town" - Mud, Sweat and Tears.

mcwetboy — Sun, 06 Oct 2002 11:19:13 -0800

As the Alberta government ratchets up its campaign against the Kyoto Protocol (and the Canadian government's support thereof), two environmental groups release a report that argues that Canadians could cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent and save $30 billion a year in the process by 2030 (PDFs of the report summary and full report). And, if reducing emissions starts at home, you can apparently cut your own energy bills and emissions in half simply by stopping leaks and drafts in your house.