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Neil Young blasts oilsands expansion, launches fundraising tour
Last edited Sun Jan 12, 2014, 08:30 PM - Edit history (2)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/neil-young-blasts-oilsands-expansion-launches-fundraising-tour-1.2493638[URL=
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Canadian rocker Neil Young blasted the Canadian government, saying it's "completely out of control" when it come to the environment and oilsands expansion, as he kicked off his Honour the Treaties tour in Toronto today.
The singer, speaking to reporters before his Massey Hall concert, said he supports First Nations in their fight against expanding oilsands projects in Alberta because of their destructive impact on the environment.
"I see a government completely out of control, and money is number one. Integrity isn't even on the map," he said.
Young said he toured one of 50 oilsands sites with his son and was shocked at "the ugliest thing I've ever seen. It`s the greediest, most destructive and most disrespectful demonstration of something that has run amok."
A spokesman from the Prime Minister's Office defended Canada's natural resource sector, saying it is a fundamental part of the country's economy.
The tour is in support of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) and its fight against Shell Canada's Jackpine mine, approved by regulators last month, as well as other First Nations fighting oilsands projects.
..more...
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Jackpine Mine will destroy wetlands and wildlife, First Nations say
http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/jackpine-mine-will-destroy-wetlands-and-wildlife-first-nations-say-1.2455963
The largest known reservoir of crude bitumen in the world is about to get even bigger, but Alice Rigney is in no mood to celebrate.
Potentially damaging Jackpine oilsands mine expansion OK'd by Ottawa
Rigney was raised in Northern Alberta on the Athabasca River that now runs directly through multiple oil sands projects.
"That river is our lifeline and has been for thousands of years. It has always sustained us with fish, food, water and travel – everything,” said Rigney.
Rigney grew up watching traditional hunting, fishing and trapping grounds transform into what she now calls the tar sands. She is now part of an Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations (ACFN) Elders council, fighting those developments.
“If they destroy that, what will become of us? Are we going to become refugees on our own land? Where am I going to go?”
..more..
18 replies
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Thanks for posting this G-j. Is he coming to America? Damn, he's looking good! 
I'm not so sure it's going to solve the problem myself
, but I sure hope this information on what these people think it means to clean something up somehow becomes a part of his tour's message.
"World Nuclear Assoc. - Representing the people and organizations of the global nuclear profession"
Alberta Tar Sands
Nuclear Power in Canada Appendix 2
(Updated February 2010)
In Canada, notably northern Alberta, there is major production of synthetic crude oil from bitumen extracted from tar sands. Alberta's tar sands are one of the largest hydrocarbon deposits in the world. Production from them is expected to grow strongly, but may limited by the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during extraction and upgrading of the bitumen. Open pit strip mining remains the main extraction method, but two in situ techniques are likely to be used more in future: cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) and steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). These methods inject steam into the formation to heat the bitumen, allowing it to flow and be pumped to the surface.
<snip>
Nuclear power could make steam and electricity and use some of the electricity for high-temperature electrolysis for hydrogen production. (Heavy water and oxygen could be valuable by-products of electrolysis.) The steam supply needs to be semi portable as tar sand extraction proceeds, so relatively small reactors which could be moved every decade or so may be needed. One problem related to the provision of steam for mining is that a nuclear plant is a long-life fixture, and mining of tar sands proceeds across the landscape, giving rise to very long steam transmission lines and consequent loss of efficiency.
Alberta Tar Sands
Nuclear Power in Canada Appendix 2
(Updated February 2010)
In Canada, notably northern Alberta, there is major production of synthetic crude oil from bitumen extracted from tar sands. Alberta's tar sands are one of the largest hydrocarbon deposits in the world. Production from them is expected to grow strongly, but may limited by the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during extraction and upgrading of the bitumen. Open pit strip mining remains the main extraction method, but two in situ techniques are likely to be used more in future: cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) and steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). These methods inject steam into the formation to heat the bitumen, allowing it to flow and be pumped to the surface.
<snip>
Nuclear power could make steam and electricity and use some of the electricity for high-temperature electrolysis for hydrogen production. (Heavy water and oxygen could be valuable by-products of electrolysis.) The steam supply needs to be semi portable as tar sand extraction proceeds, so relatively small reactors which could be moved every decade or so may be needed. One problem related to the provision of steam for mining is that a nuclear plant is a long-life fixture, and mining of tar sands proceeds across the landscape, giving rise to very long steam transmission lines and consequent loss of efficiency.
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Country-Profiles/Countries-A-F/Appendices/Nuclear-Power-in-Canada-Appendix-2--Alberta-Tar-Sands/
Toshiba Nuclear Reactor For Oil Sands To Be Operational By 2020: Reports
The Huffington Post Canada | Posted: 01/18/2013 2:27 pm EST | Updated: 01/18/2013
Toshiba Corporation has developed a small nuclear reactor to power oil sands extraction in Alberta and hopes to have it operational by 2020, according to news reports from Japan.
The Daily Yomiuri reports Toshiba is building the reactor at the request of an unnamed oilsands company.
The reactor would generate between one per cent and 5 per cent as much energy as produced by a typical nuclear power plant, and would not need refueling for 30 years. It would be used to heat water in order to create the steam used to extract bitumen from the oil sands.
Toshiba has completed design work on the reactor and has filed for approval with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Nikkei.com reported. The company is expected to seek approval from Canadian authorities as well...
The Huffington Post Canada | Posted: 01/18/2013 2:27 pm EST | Updated: 01/18/2013
Toshiba Corporation has developed a small nuclear reactor to power oil sands extraction in Alberta and hopes to have it operational by 2020, according to news reports from Japan.
The Daily Yomiuri reports Toshiba is building the reactor at the request of an unnamed oilsands company.
The reactor would generate between one per cent and 5 per cent as much energy as produced by a typical nuclear power plant, and would not need refueling for 30 years. It would be used to heat water in order to create the steam used to extract bitumen from the oil sands.
Toshiba has completed design work on the reactor and has filed for approval with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Nikkei.com reported. The company is expected to seek approval from Canadian authorities as well...
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/01/18/toshiba-oil-sands-reactor_n_2505738.html
I've never been able decide who's harmony I like better, CSN&Y or The Band.
http://www.cbc.ca/q/blog/2014/01/13/neil-young-oilsands-occupation/
Listen: http://www.cbc.ca/q/popupaudio.html?clipIds=2429818174
Legendary musician Neil Young is mounting a rally cry against "the ugliest environmental disaster" that he has ever seen or "could even comprehend". In an exclusive interview with Jian Ghomeshi, the storied wanderer offers an unfiltered condemnation of the Alberta oilsands, brushes off his critics, and stands by his controversial comparison of Fort McMurray to atomically-devastated Hiroshima.
"I always felt that Canada was a different place, where the values were different and where we cherish the natural surroundings that we're in. But my visit to Alberta changed a lot of that for me," he told Jian.
Last night in Toronto, Young kicked off the Honour the Treaties tour -- a series of benefit concerts raising money to fight an expansion project at the oilsands in northern Alberta.
Young has partnered with the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, who argue proposed developments at the Jackpine Mine will violate treaties and wreak harm on local wetlands. Alongside jazz singer Diana Krall, Young hopes to raise money for the ACFN's legal defense fund.
The video version of Jian's interview with Neil Young will air Wednesday night on The National.
Listen: http://www.cbc.ca/q/popupaudio.html?clipIds=2429818174
Legendary musician Neil Young is mounting a rally cry against "the ugliest environmental disaster" that he has ever seen or "could even comprehend". In an exclusive interview with Jian Ghomeshi, the storied wanderer offers an unfiltered condemnation of the Alberta oilsands, brushes off his critics, and stands by his controversial comparison of Fort McMurray to atomically-devastated Hiroshima.
"I always felt that Canada was a different place, where the values were different and where we cherish the natural surroundings that we're in. But my visit to Alberta changed a lot of that for me," he told Jian.
Last night in Toronto, Young kicked off the Honour the Treaties tour -- a series of benefit concerts raising money to fight an expansion project at the oilsands in northern Alberta.
Young has partnered with the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, who argue proposed developments at the Jackpine Mine will violate treaties and wreak harm on local wetlands. Alongside jazz singer Diana Krall, Young hopes to raise money for the ACFN's legal defense fund.
The video version of Jian's interview with Neil Young will air Wednesday night on The National.