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The Keystone XL Pipeline is NOT about the Need for Oil

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The beautiful Athabasca river runs through the Alberta tar pit (in the background) and is at risk of becoming a dead river. THIS WAS POSTED BACK IN 2014, BUT IT'S STILL RELEVANT TODAY One of the most important facts that is missing in the national debate surrounding the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is this – Keystone XL will not bring any more oil into the United States.   The idea that Keystone XL will improve U.S. oil supply is a documented scam being played on the American people by Big Oil, its friends in Washington DC., and especially the Koch Brothers, who will benefit the most by it's approval, own oil leases to 1.5 million acres of the Canadian tar sands.  Keystone pipeline: Obama bashes project while in Myanmar Speaking at a press conference while in Myanmar, Obama offered perhaps his harshest assessment to date of the controversial pipeline. “Understand what this project is: It is providing the ability of Canada to pump their oil, send it th

Who Really Benefits from the Keystone Pipeline project?

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Though President Obama has not made a final decision on whether he will green light the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline, it will no doubt create a firestorm, especially with the environmentalists, if he does. Labeled the Dirtiest Pit on the Planet, the Alberta tar sands During a recent survey, when asked about the Keystone Pipline project, most people didn't know much about it except that it will generate a lot of jobs and reduce US reliance on Mideast and Venezuelan imports.  They knew less about the kind of crude oil it would transport, or the environmental consequences, and none realized it was a mining procedure and not conventionally drilled.  And proponents want to keep it that way. The dumbing down process at its best. Back in 2010, in our November edition , and before it became politically newsworthy, we published an article, "The Dirtiest Pit on the Planet." It discribed the Alberta tar sands oil field as one giant nightmare. This is the oil the K

Tar-sands industry loses $17.1 billion thanks to public opposition

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Here’s some good news for your tar-sands blues: Grassroots activism makes a difference! $17.1 billion of difference, in fact. According to a new report produced by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis and Oil Change International, oil companies and investors looking to gain from Alberta’s tar sands lost a whopping $30.9 billion between 2010 and 2013. WHY? People are becoming aware what's been happening out there and a lot more aware of these issues now than in the past. There has been more pressure on the government to address the environmental concerns, the health issues and indigenous rights violations. Just three years ago most people had never heard of the Alberta Tar Sands, and those that did, didn't really know what it was, what type of oil it produced, or how it was refined. Here are 10 top facts about the Alberta Oil Sands .  You decide if this is in your best interest, or another buck or two for big oil and the Koch-Sucker Brothers. O

The Dirtiest Pit on the Planet

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  Just for fun, I asked 12 people  if they ever heard of the Alberta Tar Sands? One out of the 12 heard about it, but didn't know what or where it was. I then asked if they ever heard of Keystone Pipeline? Five heard about it, but again didn't know exactly where it was. Two of the five heard it would provide jobs and none knew what kind of sludge it would be transporting or where.  I continued with my probing questions and asked if they ever heard of Dancing With the Stars, the Kardashians? It's always amazing to me, how little we know about the stuff we should, and how much we know about the mindless and the useless. So much for my survey. Here's some more fun stuff to think about   The Athabasca River in Canada was one the cleanest rivers in the world, but due to the run off from Alberta's oil sands hardly anything lives in it now because of acidification. The growing levels of acid rain consequentially leading to an increase in water contami

Open the Spigots. Rex Tillerson Confirmed as the Next Secretary of State.

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The U.S. Senate voted to confirm ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as the next secretary of state.   Tillerson needed a simple majority — 51 senators — for confirmation. The final vote was 56 in favor, 43 against. Three Democrats voted in favor of Tillerson, including Senators Joe Manchin, Heidi Heitkamp, and Mark Warner. Angus King, an Independent who caucuses with the Democrats, also voted in for Tillerson. It was Tillerson's contacts with Russia and strongman Vladimir Putin that raised alarms among some Republicans. Among other things, Tillerson was given the Order of Friendship award by Putin. This is a real setback for the clean-energy movement and a boon for the fossil fuel and dirty energy industry. It sends a real wake-up call to the people who really matter. So wake up!! Alberta's Tar Sands Revisited Most people have heard about the Keystone XL pipeline and the millions of jobs it will create and the many other benefits it will provide humanity. However, most peo

Would Keystone pipeline unload "carbon bomb" or job boom?

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If the pipeline is approved and the fuse lit, climate scientist James Hansen says it's: "Game over for climate." Environmental opponents don't mince words on the Keystone XL pipeline. Some call it the "fuse to the biggest carbon bomb on the planet" because of the carbon emissions from the oil it will carry. Backers say the Canada-to-U.S. pipeline could lower U.S. dependence on unstable foreign sources of oil and create thousands of jobs. Yes, it could create jobs — but not as many as some claim. The State Department estimates that during construction, the project would create 3,900 one-year construction jobs and 38,200 indirect ones, but during operation, only about 50 jobs. Keystone's owner, Calgary-based TransCanada, says the pipeline would generate about 9,000 construction jobs. But hardly any permanent jobs in the U.S. The State Department's review says the 1,179-mile pipeline, which would carry heavy oil sands from Hardisty, Alb

Meet The Family The Tar Sands Industry Wants To Keep Quiet

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By Emily Atkin There is an abandoned house in Alberta, Canada, where Alain Labrecque used to live. Tucked in the farming community of Peace River, it is a place brimming with personal history, rooted to his grandfather’s land where his parents and eight aunts and uncles grew up, and where Alain’s own children were born.  Now, Alain’s property and the surrounding area are primarily home to large, black cylinders of oil. As a family with a rich history of working for and benefiting from the oil industry, never in their wildest dreams did Karla and Alain think they would be the ones fighting this fight. “You’ve gotta understand, I’ve worked for oil sands, I was a contractor,” Alain said in an interview with ThinkProgress. “I’ve never been negative toward oil. Never thought this would happen.”    READ >

The Seventh Fire

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If fossil fuels pipelines like the Dakota Access, Keystone, and Line 3 are about “energy security,” how about we put our money where our mouth is?  The Dakota Access Pipeline is a $3.9 billion clusterfuck; Enbridge’s Line 3 project is an even worse hemorrhage at $7 billion. That money could buy you a pipeline for a Canadian corporation to get some filthy tar sands oil to market and bake the planet– or you could erect 580 two-megawatt wind turbines, install 716,000 five-kilowatt systems on that many homes, and retrofit another 283,000 homes for efficiency. That’s energy security. READ MORE >>