TransCanada clings to Keystone myths

May 23, 2012By Lorne StockmanBlog Post, Featured

Yesterday we co-published a report with NRDC and Forest Ethics that busted the myth that the Keystone XL pipeline would lower gasoline prices for U.S. and Canadian consumers. It is actually more likely to raise prices by diverting oil from refineries in the Midwest, which are focused on serving the domestic market, to refineries on … Read More

Gas Price Reality Check

March 21, 2012By Lorne StockmanBlog Post, Featured

Two items out today have reinforced what we have known all along about gas prices and domestic drilling. The first provides strong statistical evidence that there is no correlation between domestic drilling in the United States and gas prices. The second shows that gasoline prices in Canada, a net exporter of crude oil, follow the same volatile … Read More

North Dakota’s oil boom from space

March 9, 2012By Lorne StockmanBlog Post, Featured

It has been mentioned often that the mining of tar sands in Alberta, Canada can be seen from space. Recent composite images from the Air Force’s Meteorological Satellite, brought to our attention by the great work at Skytruth.org, show another new form of North American oil production and its extensive reach and impact. The red area in the image is … Read More

Rising gas prices, Keystone XL and the real solutions

February 24, 2012By Lorne StockmanBlog Post, Featured, Research & Opinions 9 Comments

with Steve Kretzmann Much is being written and said about rising gas prices, Obama’s energy policies in general and the Keystone XL pipeline in particular. While the President’s opponents repeat ad infinitum the “Drill Baby Drill” mantra, it has been interesting to note that much of the mainstream press has been skeptical. And so they … Read More

East Coast refinery shut downs are a symptom of the tar sands oil rush

February 16, 2012By Lorne StockmanBlog Post, Featured 7 Comments

 …in the long term, what the industry has affected is not increased security via Canadian oil to the gulf coast, but a concentration of the nation’s refining capacity in the heart of the nation’s hurricane corridor.  The lessons of 2005 have clearly not been heeded. Pennsylvania labor activists marched on Capitol Hill yesterday in protest … Read More

Keystone XL benefits from taxpayer subsidies

February 8, 2012By Lorne StockmanBlog Post, Research & Opinions, Separate Oil and State 43 Comments

 Sen. Mitch McConnell claimed recently that the Keystone XL Pipeline “doesn’t require a penny of our taxpayer money all the president has to do is approve it.” But our research reveals many places that the pipeline project benefits from taxpayer subsidies. The refineries that are linked to the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline as committed … Read More