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U.S. retailers boycott Canadian oil sands

The Vancouver Sun -- CALGARY — The Canadian oilsands suffered another public relations blow after two major U.S. retailers announced they were shunning fuel from there in favour of greener gasoline for their fleets.

Organic foods grocery chain Whole Foods Market and household accessories chain Bed Bath & Beyond said Wednesday they were actively seeking alternatives to oil-sands fuels to reduce their carbon footprints.

Wednesday’s announcements underscored the need for Alberta’s oil patch to step up their communications campaign and dispel misconceptions around their operations, said federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice.

“The oilsands, at the end of the day, are an essential part of the overall supply-demand balance in North America,” Mr. Prentice told the Calgary Herald.

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Submitted Mar 11, 2010 By: sphere68

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LetemEatCake Champion Author Oklahoma City Posts:2,800 Points:439,170 Joined:Mar 2008	Message Posted: Mar 14, 2010 7:28:24 PM Ignore LetemEatCake Report Abuse djgunrunner.... Maybe in 20 years we will get hungry enough for hot dogs, not Canadian hot dogs, US hot dogs. We have plenty of American sources for Tar Sands if push comes to shove. But, we also have more and more alternative energy coming on line every day...20 years in the future with this technology could very well mean we don't want or need hot dogs at all. [Edited by: LetemEatCake at 3/14/2010 9:29:05 PM EST]
djgunrunner Champion Author Salt Lake City Posts:4,824 Points:1,385,640 Joined:Apr 2005	Message Posted: Mar 13, 2010 8:53:36 PM Ignore djgunrunner Report Abuse I is just like someone who is a picky eater and refuses to eat a hot dog. Let them get hungry enough and they will love a hot dog but someone else may eat it first.
LetemEatCake Champion Author Oklahoma City Posts:2,800 Points:439,170 Joined:Mar 2008	Message Posted: Mar 13, 2010 8:49:20 PM Ignore LetemEatCake Report Abuse pliskin from Syracuse... I am surprised that you are keeping your family warm with Fuel Oil rather than NG. As to getting to work, the US is not starving for our own Oil. We have it, for how long is the question. I am getting the feeling that you think without Canadian Oil Sands, we will all suffer an intolerable death by freezing in our own homes, and will be walking to work, five miles uphill in hip-deep snow daily. This is simply not the case. Your comments are dramatic, but not the case. The Tar Sands supply only a small percentage of US imported Oil, and because of it viscosity, (called extra-heavy crude) it is converted into synthetic oil (syncrude) by bitumen upgraders, or refined directly into petroleum products by very specialized refineries. Gasoline is not the only result of refining. Valero and Conoco-Phillips both have refineries. Oil shale's track record is less than encouraging - promising much and delivering little. Primary reason for the failure of oil shale lies in its poor quality as a fuel. Coal seams a few feet thick are worth mining, sometimes at depths exceeding 1,000 feet, because coal contains lots of energy. Dense forms of energy like coal and crude oil invented prosperity; they are industrial oxygen. If coal is good, oil is better. Petroleum contains 50% more energy than the best coal, twice that of the hardest oak. There’s a lot of “grunt” in a gallon of gasoline, enough to propel a 3,000 pound car thirty miles. Pound per pound, oil shale contains just one-tenth the energy of crude oil, one-sixth that of coal, and one-fourth that of recycled phone books. Other downsides of all this are that oil shale production creates more than four times as much greenhouse gases as conventional oil production, it uses vast quantities of water (which are not always available where the shale is), and wastes something like 40% of its initial energy in production. Oil shale production is expensive, a net energy loser, wasteful and environmentally hazardous. It is only now, when conventional oil prices are high, that oil shale production has come to the discussion table. It will no doubt make an insignificant contribution to the oil shortfall in the future but it is no panacea. It’s like the lead-into-gold type of deal. How can one wonder why these companies are boycotting?
pliskin Champion Author Syracuse Posts:3,204 Points:980,035 Joined:Apr 2005	Message Posted: Mar 13, 2010 5:29:02 PM Ignore pliskin Report Abuse I'd still rather support our neighbors to our north than worry about 2 store such as Bed, Bath and Beyond much less whoever the organic Whole Foods Market chains are. They're not going to help keep my family warm or get me to work when our oil supplies run down and before alternatives are found. Let them cry to Al Gore and step off of Canada and the oil sands until they can come up with a better alternative other than whining!
Ducky_NS Sophomore Author Halifax Posts:235 Points:183,225 Joined:Feb 2007	Message Posted: Mar 12, 2010 11:31:07 AM Ignore Ducky_NS Report Abuse I'd like to know how they can tell what the source was for a given gal of gas? Unless they can it is all talk and no action.
popeye2009 Sophomore Author Ottawa Posts:172 Points:164,345 Joined:Sep 2009	Message Posted: Mar 12, 2010 6:22:33 AM Ignore popeye2009 Report Abuse I don't shop at WFM. Alberta oil sands are cleaner everyday. I am forced to pay 5 cents for a pastic bag now and that money is claimed to be collected for the good of the world. Not so, follow the money, its perfect profit company scam, a "green" scam. Green scammers are getting rich doing this everywhere and many buy it. The same with the Provincial eco tax that was quietly added now on TV's ($10+) (electronics in general), batteries, oil, oil filters, paint ($3), tires($15), all goes to money starving government and not to the environment.
CiVX Champion Author Oakland Posts:3,140 Points:534,535 Joined:Feb 2009	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 11:35:14 PM Ignore CiVX Report Abuse GOOD!GOOD!GOOD!
NHLiveFree Champion Author New Hampshire Posts:4,014 Points:670,570 Joined:Jun 2008	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 10:43:46 PM Ignore NHLiveFree Report Abuse Kudos to Whole Foods Market and BBB. Unfortunately most of BBB's junk comes from China, so I hope they consider boycotting Chinese goods next. Canada's Environment Minister Prentice is amazing. It sounds like the fox was placed in charge of the henhouse!!!
1Casey Champion Author Albany Posts:2,147 Points:999,225 Joined:Jun 2004	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 6:59:29 PM Ignore 1Casey Report Abuse Everyone has to consider the environment. Remember to conserve.
Bert2010 Sophomore Author Columbus Posts:235 Points:107,165 Joined:Feb 2010	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 6:49:43 PM Ignore Bert2010 Report Abuse I very seldom buy at WF anyway. And BBB only occasionally. But they do seem to be cutting their nose off to spite their face. Not a well thought out position if you ask me.
dinahf Champion Author Kansas City Posts:9,130 Points:1,403,410 Joined:Apr 2006	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 6:49:07 PM Ignore dinahf Report Abuse My guess is that many people on this Gasbuddy site( I've been on here for four years)..do not really care much about the environment..not enough to really give a hoot if the oil sand region, which used to be forested,...looks like a lifeless deserted moonscape now! Most of you probably don't buy organic and don't like to recycle much.You don't shop at Whole Foods or Bed,Bath,Beyond anyway. Your boycott of those stores won't mean very much compared to theirs...it's the "principal of the thing"..not for the profits alone..... [Edited by: dinahf at 3/11/2010 8:52:25 PM EST]
Jo120 Champion Author Arizona Posts:3,464 Points:1,313,955 Joined:Mar 2005	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 6:47:48 PM Ignore Jo120 Report Abuse Two retailers shouldn't make any difference.
tnsilvertip Champion Author Tennessee Posts:1,199 Points:444,890 Joined:Oct 2005	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 6:40:59 PM Ignore tnsilvertip Report Abuse Downright silly. I don't shop at BB&B much but it seems a lot of their goods come from China. China is a big polluter and not very nice to their workers. Maybe they should boycott China and buy/sell American.
goodbuy Champion Author Michigan Posts:3,163 Points:537,560 Joined:May 2005	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 6:36:57 PM Ignore goodbuy Report Abuse Guess I will no longer shop at Bed Bath & Beyond. They are overpriced anyway.
snewwee Champion Author Detroit Posts:4,994 Points:1,015,080 Joined:Sep 2007	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 6:36:41 PM Ignore snewwee Report Abuse They will until the price of oil is right.
NotTom Champion Author New Hampshire Posts:2,399 Points:728,085 Joined:Aug 2005	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 6:34:49 PM Ignore NotTom Report Abuse Oil Sands are here until we convert to Algae BioDiesel and CNG
mark1962 Champion Author Albany Posts:1,531 Points:332,645 Joined:Sep 2009	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 6:33:51 PM Ignore mark1962 Report Abuse They clearly are not thinking smart. I guess cost is not that important!
Cyberkedi Champion Author Atlanta Posts:9,306 Points:1,570,510 Joined:Aug 2005	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 6:32:41 PM Ignore Cyberkedi Report Abuse Maybe if Canada ends its damned seal slaughter--
dinahf Champion Author Kansas City Posts:9,130 Points:1,403,410 Joined:Apr 2006	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 6:32:31 PM Ignore dinahf Report Abuse I have to disagree...I think it is extremely good that Whole Foods and Bed, Bath, and Beyond.. are taking this small step. Alot of small steps in the right direction add up to a large step in the right direction.Those oil companies are decimating the environment up there...who says they have the right to do so???>> If they find a way to extract the oil from the sands without killing the trees, polluting the water and kiling off the wildlife....then we all should be for that effort... it's short-sighted to use the earth up and not "put back"....
LGStas Veteran Author Atlanta Posts:322 Points:184,680 Joined:Jun 2008	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 6:24:47 PM Ignore LGStas Report Abuse great, lets offend more people
Rooster922 Veteran Author Wilmington Posts:405 Points:94,480 Joined:Jan 2009	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 6:21:42 PM Ignore Rooster922 Report Abuse starfighter08 I wholly agree with you . . lots of morons. It always comes down with lies or omission of facts to capitalized on the uninformed. I believed oil sand or tar sand or extra heavy oil requires a huge amount of energy to refined. This process generates two to four times the amount of greenhouse gases per barrel of final product as the production of conventional oil
POLELANE Champion Author Ohio Posts:6,334 Points:721,270 Joined:Mar 2008	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 6:21:41 PM Ignore POLELANE Report Abuse dell man; can you fix our ram? otherwise your response today is spot on.
DellMan Champion Author Omaha Posts:1,917 Points:442,925 Joined:Apr 2008	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 6:16:16 PM Ignore DellMan Report Abuse This sound like something the Obama rumor mill would put out to try and force US companies to "Buy American". It would be better if he just let the US oil companies drill in the US and then there wouldn't be a need for the Canadian oil.
4warned Champion Author Michigan Posts:4,248 Points:1,258,910 Joined:Nov 2006	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 6:16:13 PM Ignore 4warned Report Abuse Sounds like a bad move to me. North America needs to become energy independent and the oil sands are part of that right now.
mvosevich Champion Author St. Louis Posts:4,325 Points:874,610 Joined:Aug 2004	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 6:12:15 PM Ignore mvosevich Report Abuse Neither of those retailers is doing well here.
DEG Champion Author Las Vegas Posts:12,833 Points:2,549,155 Joined:Jul 2003	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 6:10:12 PM Ignore DEG Report Abuse Those retailers are just cutting off their noses to spite themselves. I believe that it is in my interest to not shop at these retailers. [Edited by: DEG at 3/11/2010 8:10:48 PM EST]
30mpg80 Champion Author Lexington Posts:1,360 Points:513,020 Joined:Nov 2008	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 6:03:22 PM Ignore 30mpg80 Report Abuse Only two retailers whose total fuel adds up to just a bit more than zero. Disregard their 'politically correct' nonsense.
netman044 Champion Author Texas Posts:3,844 Points:646,060 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:57:32 PM Ignore netman044 Report Abuse I would rather import from our neighbors to the north than from half way around the world.
la90042 Champion Author Los Angeles Posts:2,402 Points:505,405 Joined:Nov 2008	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:54:37 PM Ignore la90042 Report Abuse its a start - need more domestic use overall.....
SSchmidty Champion Author Illinois Posts:4,341 Points:821,295 Joined:Mar 2008	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:53:22 PM Ignore SSchmidty Report Abuse Alright!!! ... finally some true intelligence articulated, beat feet fast .... find another fuel source.
Bhmf4 All-Star Author Alabama Posts:508 Points:406,170 Joined:Oct 2008	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:52:48 PM Ignore Bhmf4 Report Abuse All oil from our neighbor to the north should be good for all of us. Yes we need to develop all energy sources in an environmentally safe manor, but we need the oil.
starfighter08 Champion Author Illinois Posts:1,013 Points:160,125 Joined:Sep 2008	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:52:21 PM Ignore starfighter08 Report Abuse Carbon footprint??? What a buch of balony. Anyone who's following this alledged "Global Warming" is a moron.
jorja13 All-Star Author British Columbia Posts:620 Points:106,555 Joined:Aug 2008	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:52:14 PM Ignore jorja13 Report Abuse We don't have either of those stores here, but if we did I wouldn't shop there. I'm hoping this backfires on them because this is a bunch of green bulls**t!
signwiz Champion Author Indiana Posts:1,101 Points:939,125 Joined:Feb 2006	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:50:37 PM Ignore signwiz Report Abuse When the easy oil drys up, sand will rein.
divebomber Champion Author Nebraska Posts:1,234 Points:846,705 Joined:Jun 2007	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:49:05 PM Ignore divebomber Report Abuse Where is the free market system?
nimpy Champion Author Indianapolis Posts:4,127 Points:894,770 Joined:Oct 2007	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:45:01 PM Ignore nimpy Report Abuse I suppose this makes sense
WilW Champion Author Atlanta Posts:7,357 Points:1,725,345 Joined:Aug 2004	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:41:09 PM Ignore WilW Report Abuse BB&B stock is on a downslide. Why listen to them?
methaneman All-Star Author Minnesota Posts:839 Points:797,635 Joined:May 2002	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:40:42 PM Ignore methaneman Report Abuse 2 retailers that should not get deliveries when gas is in high demand!
comet64 Champion Author Illinois Posts:1,250 Points:258,825 Joined:Feb 2006	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:34:29 PM Ignore comet64 Report Abuse boycott the overnment until they put us back to work
brus282 Champion Author North Carolina Posts:4,626 Points:943,225 Joined:Aug 2007	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:33:07 PM Ignore brus282 Report Abuse we will all boycott Whole Foods Market and Bed Bath & Beyond, no further purchases from either company, put that in your green pipe and smoke it
bbreff Champion Author Atlanta Posts:5,184 Points:1,641,070 Joined:Jun 2005	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:28:42 PM Ignore bbreff Report Abuse Politics - Blah
uptherefiners Champion Author Chicago Posts:1,167 Points:273,975 Joined:Jun 2006	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:27:50 PM Ignore uptherefiners Report Abuse well maybe I'll just boycott Whole Foods Market and Bed Bath & Beyond
outlaw329 Champion Author Austin Posts:2,801 Points:464,845 Joined:Aug 2008	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:27:00 PM Ignore outlaw329 Report Abuse Boycott the camel jockeys not our neighbor who we would rather helping then what we have hurting us.
swrestler Champion Author Grand Rapids Posts:1,210 Points:596,235 Joined:Oct 2008	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:25:11 PM Ignore swrestler Report Abuse Now we need to Boycott The arabs.....
humblepie Champion Author Toledo Posts:7,995 Points:1,397,965 Joined:Mar 2006	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:15:06 PM Ignore humblepie Report Abuse bed bath and beyond selling gas ????????? who'd a thunk it ?
emptytank08 All-Star Author Pennsylvania Posts:568 Points:611,575 Joined:Aug 2008	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:14:18 PM Ignore emptytank08 Report Abuse I would rather have oil from Canada
ToyotaGuy08 Rookie Author Medford Posts:96 Points:334,595 Joined:Aug 2008	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:12:32 PM Ignore ToyotaGuy08 Report Abuse But they are okay buying oil from the Middle East?
georgeo Champion Author California Posts:2,521 Points:102,835 Joined:May 2009	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:10:33 PM Ignore georgeo Report Abuse Sounds like a purely symbolic act.
pgerassi Champion Author Milwaukee Posts:5,964 Points:1,170,245 Joined:Apr 2007	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:06:06 PM Ignore pgerassi Report Abuse Yes refined oil is hard to track.
vegaland Champion Author Houston Posts:2,403 Points:501,795 Joined:May 2006	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 5:00:15 PM Ignore vegaland Report Abuse Unless they create their own fuel, it's pretty hard to track a given barrel of oil through the market. It just gets all mixed up together. I suppose they could drill their own oil, build their own refinery and control it that way. But that would be expensive.