Category Archives: Oil Sands

Understanding the role of, and opportunities for, Canadian fossil fuels in our net zero future

Posted on August 3, 2022 by Blair

In my review of Seth Klein’s A Good War, I took issue with the author’s statement that in order to fight climate change we need to eliminate the fossil fuel industry. I have repeatedly pointed out how ridiculous that claim … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil Sands, Pipelines, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

The GHG intensity of the Canadian oil industry – what the scientific research actually says

Posted on January 15, 2021 by Blair

Uncertainty is a fact of life in science. Understanding and communicating uncertainty is an essential element of the scientific pursuit. Uncertainty in research comes from the fact that, in most situations, we don’t have perfect information and can’t be absolutely … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Oil Sands, Uncategorized | 10 Comments

More chemically-uninformed fear-mongering about the Trans Mountain Pipeline – this time about the dangers of diluted bitumen

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Blair

In my last post, I presented details of how activists were misrepresenting the health risks of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) project due to their lack of chemical expertise. In that post, I noted that it represented another of … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil Sands, Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Once again a group of health professionals gets the science wrong on diluted bitumen and the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project

Posted on October 23, 2018 by Blair

By now, my opinion of physicians and health care professionals wandering into the field of environmental policy are well known. As I have written previously: While I trust MDs on matters relating to my health and wellness, I will stick … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil Sands, Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

More on the Southern Resident Killer Whales – this time on truthiness about acoustic threats and survivorship bias

Posted on September 27, 2018 by Blair

Well it has been a busy week on the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) Project file with the NEB initiating their review of tanker traffic. In all the news surrounding the plan to update the marine assessment one topic that caught … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Oil Sands, Pipelines, Uncategorized | 17 Comments

No, Kinder Morgan did not say that the Trans Mountain would cost $9.3 Billion to complete

Posted on August 8, 2018 by Blair

By now I should really be used to the bad reporting associated with the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMEP). Daily, I see reporters simply repeating talking points presented by Dogwood and Greenpeace employees who are paid to produce a constant … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Climate Change, Oil Sands, Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

On politicians shading the truth about diluted bitumen

Posted on May 1, 2018 by Blair

One of the most frustrating parts of the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) pipeline debate is dealing with all the misinformation out there. I can’t count the number of people who have assured me that the TMX is only about exporting … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Oil Sands, Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 15 Comments

No, the Trudeau government did not ignore the science when approving the Trans Mountain Pipeline

Posted on April 18, 2018 by Blair

As my readers know, I care deeply about the quality of science used in environmental decision-making so the latest anti-pipeline activist meme crossing my desk caught my attention. The meme suggests that the Trudeau government ignored the peer-reviewed science in … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Oil Sands, Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 12 Comments

On dilbit, oil spill response and political gamesmanship

Posted on February 9, 2018 by Blair

As many of my readers know my day job involves investigating and remediating contaminated sites. My particular specialty is the investigation and remediation of petroleum hydrocarbon impacts [and before anyone asks, no I have never worked for Kinder Morgan nor … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil Sands, Pipelines, Trans Mountain | 32 Comments

More scare chemistry: on the use of “solvents” in extracting oil sands

Posted on June 6, 2017 by Blair

As a Chemist I am often asked to comment on “scare chemistry” stories. That would be stories that use the public’s lack of knowledge of chemistry to scare us into doing something that may not be good for us. This … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Oil Sands, Uncategorized | 18 Comments