Alberta Tar Sands Pipelines

President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will meet Friday and “clean energy” is reportedly on the agenda according the the Canadian Broadcasting Company.  More likely to come up however is dirty energy from tar sands.  A decision on the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is probably only weeks away after all. The maligned project would lock the U.S. into decades of dirty tar sands oil from Canada. Tar sands emits far more pollution than conventional crude and its toxic tailings regularly kill wildlife.... Read more »

OTTAWA'S National Arts Centre is set to showcase prairie talent this spring, but many local artists are sitting it out in protest over one of the event's major sponsors, Enbridge.

More than 40 local musicians, writers, filmmakers, dancers and performance artists have signed a petition and are boycotting the Prairie Scene event, set to be held April 26-May 8. It has to do with the financial support of Enbridge, a Canadian pipeline company that made headlines last July after its 6B pipeline ruptured in Michigan, spilling an estimated one million gallons of tar sands crude into the Kalamazoo River and forcing state officials to declare a state of emergency.

According to a story in the Jan. 31 online edition of the Michigan Messenger, the river remains closed and the company is stalling over compensation for residents of the area affected by the spill.... Read more »

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is divided over a proposed pipeline that would ease U.S. reliance on oil from politically unstable regions but boost dependence on crude from Canada’s environmentally unfriendly oil sands.

The State Department may begin deciding as early as next month whether the US$7-billion Keystone XL pipeline would be necessary to bolster U.S. energy security. The oil would cut dependence on imports from Venezuela and Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia.

The Environmental Protection Agency, however, is worried about the greenhouse gas emissions from production of Alberta’s tarry oil sands and that the oil bounty could undermine U.S. plans to make cars more efficient and to electrify more vehicles in coming decades.... Read more »

UNLIKELY: STATE GREENLIGHTS, EPA DISAGREES

After a potential environmental impact review with public comment, the State Department will work on a "national interest determination."

In this process, Clinton's department will weigh the importance of the line for U.S. energy security. The process would be open to comment by agencies such as the EPA and the Department of Energy.

The EPA will likely question whether the line strengthens energy security as an expected decline in fuel demand could mean some of the Canadian oil would be refined for export.... Read more »

Despite public promises to compensate residents for losses associated with the summer oil spill, in Calhoun county court Enbridge is arguing that it is not legally liable for damages from the spill.

Last July a pipeline rupture on Enbridge’s 6B pipeline spilled an estimated million gallons of Canadian tar sands crude into the Kalamazoo River system. The oil traveled 30 miles down the rain-swollen river, coating the floodplain.

Officials declared a state of emergency, recommended evacuation because of unsafe levels of benzene in the air, and closed the Kalamazoo River to all activity by the public.

In numerous public statements Enbridge CEO Pat Daniels apologized for the spill and promised to take responsibility for the cleanup and address the needs of the affected people and businesses.... Read more »