Kestone Pipleline: Looking for Truth

[Barbaro]

I've been googling and reading different viewpoints from many sources and I'm looking for any objective info on the Keystone Pipeline and its recent rejection.

How many jobs will be created?

Jobs in what country?

Is it true most of the oil goes to China?

Who benefits?

Are the environmentalist claims accurate?

Are the oil companies claims accurate?

As usual, it seems the entire MSM is full of B.S.

And as usual, there seems to be some much propaganda that I can't figure out what is accurate.

Any one have some good sources of info on this?

[keehah]

Up here, this is being spun with more emphasis on a Northern Gateway alternative to drain Alberta to China that will cut across BC and oil up the coast.

Harper will clear the decks on oil; TORONTO SUN (http://www.torontosun.com/2012/01/20/harper-will-clear-the-decks-on-oil)

“Action is eloquence” CORIOLANUS — Act III, Scene II, William Shakespeare.

There’s been a lot of talk in the past week about Canada’s oil sands and the struggle this country is having just getting its produce to market...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-finance-minister-breaks-ranks-to-bash-pipeline-critics/article2299617/

With the pipeline regulatory hearings just getting under way this week, the federal government has ramped up a campaign to brand opponents as radical environmentalists backed by foreign interests, accusing some environmental organizations of seeking to hijack the hearings and kill the project through tactical delays.

“Well, I think they've got a point,” Mr. Falcon told reporters. “I think we have to be very worried about the fact that foreign money is going into lobbying efforts against British Columbia and Canada's economic interests.”

...“Obviously, whenever you have major public hearings like this there's going to be an element of theatre associated with it. This is British Columbia, after all. If we had anything less than that, I'd be shocked and surprised.”

Big to little oil does what it wants round these parts. :(

After than, I'm not sure if its part of the 2012 WTF!?!, or just a play to get America back.

[keehah]

Save our earth's oil!

[keehah]

Slate: Saudi Arabia. Nigeria. Venezuela. Canada?
Is our neighbor to the north becoming a jingoistic petro-state? (http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/01/canadian_tar_sands_is_our_neighbor_to_the_north_be coming_a_jingoistic_petro_state_.html)

Jan. 20, 2012,

It’s well known that America’s dependence on foreign oil forces us to partner with some pretty unsavory regimes. Take, for instance, the country that provides by far the largest share of our petroleum imports. Its regime, in thrall to big oil interests, has grown increasingly bellicose, labeling environmental activists “radicals” and “terrorists” and is considering a crackdown on nonprofits that oppose its policies. It blames political dissent on the influence of “foreigners,” while steamrolling domestic opposition to oil projects bankrolled entirely by overseas investors. Meanwhile, its skyrocketing oil exports have sent the value of its currency soaring, enriching energy industry barons but crippling other sectors of its economy.
Yes, Canada is becoming a jingoistic petro-state.

OK, so our friendly northern neighbor isn’t exactly Saudi Arabia or Venezuela. But neither is it the verdant progressive utopia once viewed as a haven by American liberals fed up with George W. Bush. These days Canada has a Dubya of its own. And judging by a flurry of negative press from around the world—the latest: Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other African leaders are taking out newspaper ads accusing Canada of contributing to famine and drought on the continent—it seems anti-Canadianism could be the new anti-Americanism.

Stephen Harper, the son of an oil-company accountant, built his political career in Alberta, a province whose right-wing tendencies and booming energy sector make it Canada’s equivalent of Texas. Harper took over the Conservative Party in 2004 and became prime minister two years later on a platform that evoked Bush’s “compassionate conservatism.” In 2009, he quelled a Bush-esque Afghan-detainee abuse scandal by sending the parliament home to forestall further investigation. The Canadian economy weathered the financial crisis unusually well, thanks to strong banking regulations and booming oil sales to China, and in May 2011 Harper’s party won a majority for the first time. It has celebrated by veering rightward and doubling down on its oil bets.

Already in possession of the world’s second-largest oil reserves behind Saudi Arabia, Canada under Harper is aiming to more than double its output by 2035. Most of the new crude will come from the tar sands of northern Alberta, which are lousy with oil-rich bitumen. But extracting and refining that bitumen is lousy for the environment. It requires strip and open-pit mining, and the refining process is unusually energy-intensive. Producing one barrel of oil takes two tons of tar sands and several barrels of water...

[Barbaro]

Kehah,

Thank you for the article and comments.

I noticed that your location is the "Juna De Fuca" plate.

I am originally from Western WA.

Thanks for the info, I'll pursue it further.

[Barbaro]

Kehah,

Thank you for the article and comments.

I noticed that your location is the "Juna De Fuca" plate.

I am originally from Western WA.

Thanks for the info, I'll pursue it further.

[keehah]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/environmentalists-departure-sheds-light-on-tension-felt-by-green-groups/article2313991/

Mr. Frank was one of the country’s loudest voices against Gateway. He spent three years as a part-time press officer for ForestEthics before being hired, in early October, as senior communications and media manager. His responsibilities included devising and executing strategies for the group’s anti-oil-sands campaign – and it was his work that brought much Gateway opposition to the attention of national media.

Late Monday, he was let go, after serving notice he intended to go public with allegations that a PMO official, in a meeting with a Tides executive, had pressured the group to end its support of ForestEthics. On Tuesday, Mr. Frank released a signed affidavit alleging the threats against ForestEthics and documenting internal conversations at ForestEthics that suggested jobs at the group might be at risk.

But Mr. Frank did not attend the PMO meeting in question, which took place Nov. 15. He relied, instead, upon second- and third-hand reports, and both the PMO and Tides shot back against his allegations. In an e-mail, PMO press secretary Andrew MacDougall said the government “denies making any of the statements referenced in the reports.” Tides Canada president Ross McMillan said Mr. Frank’s descriptions of the meeting were “inaccurate.”

It’s clear, however, that the PMO meeting stirred new concern for Tides, a charity, about its support of ForestEthics. Indeed, Tides requested the meeting after it came under increasing public scrutiny in light of the Gateway review. At the meeting, the two sides discussed what was allowable advocacy conduct for a charity, which can legally spend no more than 10 per cent of its budget on non-partisan political activities. A PMO official articulated the Harper government’s view of Canada’s national interest – which includes supporting Gateway – and pointed to ForestEthics as an example of a group acting against the government of Canada and the people of Canada.

But Tides itself had already been examining its relationship with ForestEthics, which has taken an increasingly public stance against oil-sands projects. Employees at Tides had documented instances where ForestEthics had transgressed, or skirted the line on the restrictions on charitable activities.

Sheltering mother earth should not be a crime.