tar sands

Critical List: Canada’s pushing tar-sands oil; cutting methane also helps cut climate change

In 110 meetings over less than two years, the Canadian government tried to convince Europe to delay or derail legislative changes that could affect the imports of tar sands oil. Basically, Canada doesn’t want Europe to know how carbon-heavy the oil is, because that could affect U.S. and European imports. So they’re pushing it as environmentally friendly. Because hey, if you don’t know how dirty something is, maybe it’s clean!

We often talk about cutting carbon, but here's a reminder that cutting gases like methane and nitrous oxide can also slow climate change.

The EPA found that, left to their own devices, companies don't tell consumers that their processes release or their products contain chemicals harmful to children.

Judge: Tar-sands equipment can't travel on Montanan backroads

A group of Montanans, Idahoans, Oregonians, and Washingtonians struck a blow against ExxonMobil and its push to extract carbon-soaked oil from Canada's tar sands this week. The Northwesterns weren't upset about the environmental impact of the tar sands, exactly, but they were upset that an Exxon subsidiary wanted to haul oversized loads of oil-extraction equipment from the Port of Vancouver, Wash., over small winding highways in environmentally valuable areas, to the Canadian border.

They asked a judge to stop the company from using those roads. And on Tuesday, he did.

Critical List: Yellowstone pipe could have carried tar-sands oil; L.A. survived Carmageddon

The Yellowstone River spill could have included heavier, more corrosive tar-sands oil, federal officials said. This type of oil eats through pipes more quickly, and if ExxonMobiil was using those pipes to transport tar-sands oil, that decision could have contributed to the spill.

Carmageddon = over. And it turns out that, given the choice to avoid the freeway by plane or bike, it’s faster to bike.

It's not the best idea to buy meat from Japan right now. Just saying.

Your fish oil tablets are destroying marine ecosystems.

Keystone XL pipeline would screw over farmers, threaten aquifer

The Keystone XL tar-sands pipeline, which would cut through family farms and aquifers, is leak-prone and won't come with a solid cleanup strategy.

Will North America be the new Middle East?

All Obama has to do is say yes or no to the climate-killing Keystone XL pipeline.

Bill McKibben: Blame Canada!

Bill McKibben has it in for Canada. In a new article in The New Republic, he calls it "one of the earth's most irresponsible nations," admonishes liberals that they need to find a new country to dream of emigrating to, and stops just short of calling Canadians (and Americans, but what else is new) giant hypocrites.

What's pissing McKibben off? Tar sands, of course.

Join us in civil disobedience to stop the Keystone XL tar-sands pipeline

We want you to come to Washington in the hottest and stickiest weeks of the summer and engage in civil disobedience that will likely get you arrested.

Perilous pipeline: Will Hillary Clinton give the OK to a massive tar-sands pipeline?

Oil refineries outside Channelview. Do we really need to add a tar-sands pipeline to the mix?Photo: KM&G-MorrisWill Hillary Clinton put the desires of a giant oil corporation ahead of the needs and health of low-income communities and communities of color? Will anyone else in the Obama administration stand up and stop her? With the State […]

Carbon President: Why does Obama keep OK’ing big fossil-fuel projects?

The future’s looking hot.Photo: The White HouseThis essay was originally published on TomDispatch and is republished here with Tom’s kind permission. In our globalized world, old-fashioned geography is not supposed to count for much: mountain ranges, deep-water ports, railroad grades — those seem so 19th century. The Earth is flat, or so I remember somebody […]