Category Archives: Oil Sands

Factoids, truthiness and the promulgation of misinformation in the oil sands debate

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Blair

This morning I opened up my twitter account and the “while you were away” feature had an interesting tweet highlighted. It was from the National Observer which reports itself to be: “a new publication founded by the Vancouver Observer’s award-winning … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil Sands | 3 Comments

More on Oil Spills: Some Toxicological Calculations and What if it were Dilbit?

Posted on April 11, 2015 by Blair

I have been asked a number of questions, both on Twitter and via email, regarding my post on the English Bay fuel spill and so I have written up this follow-up to my last post. In particular, I was asked … Continue reading →

Posted in Chemistry and Toxicology, Oil Sands, Pipelines | 7 Comments

A non-specialist’s guide to how spilled hydrocarbons react in water

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Blair

After the spill today in English Bay (at the Port of Vancouver) I have been asked by numerous people to explain what happens when petroleum hydrocarbons spill into water. Anyone with an internet connection can get any number of descriptions … Continue reading →

Posted in Chemistry and Toxicology, Oil Sands, Pipelines | 4 Comments

On the economic and environmental folly of trying to “strangle the oil sands”

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Blair

I was in a discussion online with Dr. Andrew Weaver, “BC Green Party MLA for Oak Bay Gordon Head. Deputy Leader, BC Green Party. Lansdowne Professor, University of Victoria” and Eric Doherty, “Transportation planner & @TankerFreeBC Transportation Campaigner”, on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil Sands | 9 Comments

On Killer Whales, the Brontosaurus and the Tar Sands

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Blair

When I was a child, growing up in Coquitlam in the 1970’s, our family had a membership at the Vancouver Aquarium. One of our favourite things was going to see the “killer whales”. We loved to go see Skana and … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil Sands | 6 Comments

How Big and Small Numbers Influence Science Communication: Understanding Fuel Spill Volumes

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Blair

This weekend I got a tweet from a friend who wanted everyone on her twitter list to be deeply concerned about the remaining oil from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (more on that later). In reading … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil Sands, Pipelines, Risk Assessment Methodologies | 7 Comments