Pipelines – The Oil Sands Dilemma

The scenario that is playing out related to proposed pipelines development is not that dissimilar to the logging protests in the earlier 90’s in B.C.

Most people in this debate are of the opinion pipelines are a bad deal.

Pipelines are Good

Pro-supporters continue to push for the projects based on the jobs created.

We also hear about the magnitude of economic opportunity spinoffs for all of Canada and the United States.

The forest sector used similar arguments in the early 90’s with a negative outcome.

Well, before you laugh and say that the forest sector is not the oil and gas sector, hold onto one thought:

“the forest sector was once the lifeblood of the province of British Columbia”, no different than the Alberta oil sands.

Continue reading Pipelines – The Oil Sands Dilemma →

I came across this article in the Vancouver Sun written by Stephen Hume which I find very interesting when it comes to the argument of where we may be putting our oceans at risk from oil.

Read article »

The interesting point in his article brought forward a comparison of where sources of oil in our oceans originate, and based on an analysis completed by scientists for the Smithsonian Institution, it was surprising to know that:

• 5% comes from oil tanker traffic (referred to as Big Spills) and
• runoff from urban centres contributed to over 50% – referred to as Down the Drain (not including hydrocarbon generated from vehicles which would push it up to 65%.- referred to as Up in Smoke)

Continue reading Oil Pollution in Our Oceans →

We welcomed the news announced on in July 2012 by Ken Hughes, the Alberta Minister of Energy regarding a pipeline safety review.

The Energy Minister Ken Hughes said his department has asked the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) to hire an independent third party to do the pipeline safety audit.

Continue reading Alberta Pipeline Safety Review →