Created by Powderhouse Productions in 2005 for the National Geographic Channel’s MegaStructures series, this 48-minute reasonably neutral documentary reveals an intimate view of on-site tar sands extraction and transportation, facilities construction, and bitumen production processes at Syncrude’s vast mine near Fort McMurray in northeastern Alberta, Canada.  Many of the structures visible during development of a competing Shell Oil upgrader plant reflect Korean-made ExxonMobil/Imperial Oil components currently moving as megaloads through the U.S. Northwest.

(Link provided by Ethan Nilsson)

We don’t need the pipelines, megaloads, or tar sands to give us more jobs.

1) “Across a range of clean energy projects, including renewable energy, transportation, and energy efficiency, for every million dollars spent, 16.7 green jobs are created.  That is over three times the 5.3 jobs per million dollars that are created from the same spending on fossil-fuel industries.”

Searching for Green Jobs for the Coalfields

2) “Despite generating $546 billion in profits between 2005 and 2010, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, and BP together reduced their U.S. workforce by 11,200 employees during that time.”

Big Oil Companies Make Huge Profits with Taxpayer Support but Cut Jobs Anyway

3) Researchers at Cornell University put a lot of time and energy into examining the subject of jobs and the Keystone XL pipeline.  Share their findings by downloading a free pdf document from this page:

Cornell University Economists Debunk Keystone XL Economic Claims

(Information compiled by Sharon Cousins.)

We don’t need the tar sands oil to give us “enough” oil or to free us from oil connections in the Middle East.

1) We have so much oil that the USA is exporting oil.  If we need more, we can export less.

U.S. Awash in Oil and Lies, Report Charges

For more in-depth information, click on “new report” to download a detailed pdf document.

2) We may not need dirty oil from the ground at all pretty soon.  We can pull excess carbon dioxide out of thin air and recycle it into carbon neutral fuel.

Enzyme Holds the Key to Renewable Hydrocarbons

3) We can also have ethanol without starving Africa or triggering frenzied corn speculation.  Many plants that can grow on land not suitable for major food crops can be used to make ethanol.  Agave is just one of them.

Mexico & Agaves: Moving from Tequila to Ethanol

4) Hemp offers many possibilities for cleaner and sustainable fuels.

Hemp Fuel

(Information compiled by Sharon Cousins.)

Filmed at TEDxVictoria on November 19, 2011, photographer Garth Lenz shares shocking pictures of the environmental devastation of Alberta tar sands mining projects and the beautiful and vital ecosystems they jeopardize.  For almost twenty years, Garth’s photography of threatened wilderness regions, ecological destruction, and impacts on indigenous peoples has appeared in the world’s leading publications.  His recent images from the boreal region of Canada have helped lead to significant victories and large new protected areas in the Northwest Territories, Quebec, and Ontario.  Garth’s major touring exhibit about the tar sands premiered in Los Angeles in 2011 and recently appeared in New York.  Garth is a fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers.