Responsible Actions A Plan For Alberta S Oil Sands Implementation Plan March 2010

This implementation plan reinforces that priority items are acted upon and that effective planning is undertaken for longer-term actions. To support consistency in approach throughout the Government of Alberta and to avoid overlap and duplication, the implementation plan is being coordinated with provincial and regional initiatives. Specifically, this plan provides guidance to the Government of Alberta's Land-use Framework's regional plans with respect to responsible and sustainable development in the oil sands areas.

In 2009, the Alberta government developed a 20-year strategic plan called Responsible Actions: A Plan for Alberta's Oil Sands, which will ensure that Alberta's leading resource will provide secure, reliable energy to North America and beyond for decades to come. Responsible Actions is a gateway to economic progress at both national and local levels, and will provide for a better quality of life for people across Canada. The plan demonstrates leadership by creating effective policy responses to ensure effective planning and management of the province's valuable oil sands resource. This progress report provides updates on the progress made in 2011 in support of six different strategies.--Includes text from document.

At 170 billion barrels, Canada's Oil Sands are the third largest reserves of developable oil in the world. The Oil Sands now produce about 1.6 million barrels per day, with production expected to double by 2025 to about 3.7 million barrels per day. The Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) in northeastern Alberta is the largest of the three oil sands deposits. Bitumen in the oil sands is recovered through one of two primary methods – mining and drilling. About 20 per cent of the reserves are close to the surface and can be mined using large shovels and trucks. Of concern are the effects of the industrial development on the environment. Both human-made and natural sources emit oxides of sulphur and nitrogen, trace elements and persistent organic compounds. Of additional concern are ground level ozone and greenhouse gases. Because of the requirement on operators to comply with the air quality regulatory policies, and to address public concerns, the not-for-profit, multi-stakeholder Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) has since 1997 been closely monitoring air quality in AOSR. In 2008, WBEA assembled a distinguished group of international scientists who have been conducting measurements and practical research on various aspects of air emissions and their potential effects on terrestrial receptors. This book is a synthesis of the concepts and results of those on-going studies. It contains 19 chapters ranging from a global perspective of energy production, measurement methodologies and behavior of various air pollutants during fossil fuel production in a boreal forest ecosystem, towards designing and deploying a multi-disciplinary, proactive, and long-term environmental monitoring system that will also meet regulatory expectations. Covers measurement of emissions from very large industrial sources in a region with huge international media profile Validation of measurement technologies can be applied globally The new approaches to ecological monitoring described can be applied in other forested regions

This book makes the case for the development and implementation of environmental and sustainability rating systems (ESRSs) in new industry contexts, including energy, heavy and light industries, manufacturing, transportation, mining, and oil and gas.

"Costly Fix addresses core questions about the Alberta oil sands boom that started in the 1990s: Why did this flood of investment pour into the oil sands of northern Alberta? What role has government played with respect to the oil sands rush, and why? Who benefited and who or what has paid the costs of exploiting the oil sands? By analyzing the interest, ideas, and institutions involved in the oil sands boom, Ian Urquart charts its development from the beginning to the present. In this process, we learn about the state's role in making the oil sands profitable, the environmental dimensions of oil sands development, and First Nations' roles in both opposing and supporting the industry. The final chapter examines the extent to which Alberta's new NDP government, in its first eighteen months, altered the legacies they inherited from the Progressive Conservatives on royalties, tailings reservoirs, and climate change."--

Tar sands "development" comes with an enormous environmental and human cost. But tar sands opponents-fighting a powerful international industry-are likened to terrorists; government environmental scientists are muzzled; and public hearings are concealed and rushed. Yet, despite the formidable political and economic power behind the tar sands, many opponents are actively building international networks of resistance, challenging pipeline plans while resisting threats to indigenous sovereignty and democratic participation. Includes contributions from Winona LaDuke, Clayton Thomas-Muller, Harsha Walia, Jeremy Brecher, Crystal Lameman, Melina Laboucan-Massimo, Yves Engler, Cherri Foytlin, Macdonald Stainsby, Yudith Nieto, Greg Albo, and Brian Tokar, and more. The editors' proceeds from this book will be donated to frontline grassroots environmental justice groups and campaigns.