Blog

Read the latest insights and analysis from the experts at Oil Change International.

The tar sands train that couldn’t

Tar sands-by-rail is a major issue in the debate on Keystone XL. In this first of a series of blogs on the issue, we look at the ongoing failures of the first tar sands unit train terminal.

Subsidy Spotlight: Paying the Price of Tar Sands Expansion

From tar sands refinery subsidies in Whiting, Indiana and cash-strapped Detroit to petcoke covering the neighborhoods of Southeast Chicago, this subsidy spotlight explores the human impact of government subsidies gone haywire.

First Nations Challenge Shell’s Tar Sands Mine Expansion

In a case that will be watched keenly worldwide, a Canadian Federal Court will today start reviewing the approval last December of the expansion of Shell’s controversial Jackpine tar sands mine in Alberta.

Europe Buckles to Canadian Bullying on Climate

A proposal to label the dirty tar sands as more polluting than conventional oil has been spectacularly abandoned by the European Commission after a four year lobbying campaign by the Canadians.

Oil “Glut” Signals Trouble for Shale and Tar Sands

There has been a huge amount written over the last few days about the plummeting oil price. One British newspaper is warning of an “oil war” as the price of Brent crude “tanks” on the back of oversupply in the market.

Enbridge Intends to Take Enormous Subsidy for Alberta Clipper Tar Sands Pipeline

Enbridge is side-stepping environmental regulations and corporate taxes in attempts to increase Canadian tar sands exports through the United States.

The Largest Climate March. Ever.

On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take part in what the organisers are promising to be the largest climate march ever in New York.

“If All Else Fails, Let’s Go North”

We can’t go South, we can’t go West, we can’t go East, so, hey, lets’ go North”. That is the latest thinking of the Canadians in their increasingly desperate attempts to export the dirty, carbon intensive tar sands from Alberta.

Wrong side of the tracks: the tar sands-by-rail pipe dream

Our latest report presents new analysis that confirms that shipping tar sands bitumen by rail cannot possibly meet the tar sands industry’s reckless production growth plans. The report’s conclusions demonstrate that the U.S. Department of State’s analysis of rail’s ability to replace the Keystone XL pipeline failed to consider key data and evidence and drew conclusions that are both misleading and dangerous for the American public.

State Underestimated Keystone Climate Emissions by 4X

A new scientific study argues that the State Department has seriously underestimated the climate emissions from Keystone XL. The study concludes that the pipeline could produce four times more greenhouse gases than the State Department calculated.