PIPELINE NEWS
The Current: Federal court rejects petition against Cameron Parish LNG facility
Wisconsin Public Radio: Air monitoring shows no hazardous levels of gases after leak on Enbridge’s Line 5
Indian Country Today: Collision causes pipeline leak near Bad River Reservation, shuts down Line 5
WILX: Michigan Supreme Court ruling reignites Line 5 pipeline debate
WAFF: Proposed North Alabama pipeline raises concerns among landowners
East Texas Banner: Low Turnout at Deweyville Carbon Capture Meeting
Bloomberg: Alaska Pipeline Aims to Renew Land Rights Early Under Trump
U.S. Energy Information Administration: Eight petroleum liquids pipeline projects have been completed since the start of 2025
Reuters: Enbridge, KKR form $1.95 billion JV to fund Westcoast gas pipeline expansions
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Canadian Press: The president says the U.S. doesn’t need anything from Canada. Exports say otherwise.
E&E News: Power plant endangerment repeal enters White House review
Utility Dive: Trump’s energy policy could cost US 540 GW of renewables, says NRDC
Center for Western Priorities: Commenters overwhelmingly oppose BLM’s rollback of oil and gas rule, analysis finds
Press release: Putting Drinking Water First: Weakening Clean Water Act Limits on Oil and Gas Wastewater Pollution Threatens Drinking Water
STATE UPDATES
Politico: California’s emissions authority is cracking
Alaska Beacon: Alaska officials respond to mystery spill near idled Cook Inlet oil platform
EXTRACTION
Inside Climate News: The Biggest Carbon Polluters Are to Blame for Half of U.S. Western Water Lost to Climate Change, ‘Groundbreaking’ Paper Says
Carbon Credits: Alberta Carbon Price Barely Raises Oil Sands Costs, Study Finds
OPINION
EnergyNow: Is it Time for an Industry Rebrand of “Oil Sands”?
PIPELINE NEWS
The Current: Federal court rejects petition against Cameron Parish LNG facility
Natalie McLendon, 8/27/26
“A federal appeals court has upheld the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of a major liquid natural gas project in Cameron Parish,” The Current reports. “On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected a consolidated lawsuit brought by environmental groups and local commercial fishermen, led by For a Better Bayou, denying their petitions for review of the commission’s approval. The plaintiffs argued that FERC didn’t sufficiently account for the impact the facility, which is already under construction, would have on the local environment and the commercial seafood industry that depends on it. “FERC is required to evaluate the full scope of the potential harm from a project, and they failed to do that here,” Roddy Hughes, Sierra Club Campaign Organizing Strategist, told the Current. “Construction of the CP2 export facility has already been an unmitigated disaster for the health and livelihoods of the local community.” “...The court, however, ruled that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission acted lawfully when it approved Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass 2 LNG terminal and CP Express pipeline in Louisiana, and agreed with FERC that the project “would have a ‘moderate, but not significant impact on commercial fishing.’” “...This decision is a blow for the climate and the communities surrounding this project,” Gillian Giannetti, senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council said in a press release.”
Wisconsin Public Radio: Air monitoring shows no hazardous levels of gases after leak on Enbridge’s Line 5
Danielle Kaeding, 8/26/26
“Haz-mat teams and emergency response crews are still monitoring a gas leak that began Tuesday morning on Enbridge’s Line 5 oil and gas pipeline in northern Wisconsin,” Wisconsin Public Radio reports. “...Enbridge has said a parked, unoccupied semi truck rolled into an open excavation site on a Line 5 valve project, striking the pipe and releasing natural gas liquids… “No one was injured. As a precaution, a nearby rural home was evacuated. The section of pipe was immediately isolated. Local emergency response crews remain on site. Line 5 is shut down as the response continues,” Enbridge spokesperson Juli Kellner told WPR. Ashland Fire Chief Stuart Matthias told WPR Iron County asked the department’s haz-mat team to assist with the response. The team conducted air quality monitoring in a one-mile radius around Enbridge’s site. Matthias told WPR they collected readings using a five-gas meter that detects levels of oxygen, combustible gases, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide and volatile organic compounds. “The monitoring that we did today did not show any hazardous gases or anything within a flammable limit outside of the incident area,” Matthias told WPR. Matthias told WPR minuscule readings of a volatile organic compound were observed about a mile downwind, but nothing at levels of concern for human health… “Enbridge did not respond Wednesday when asked to confirm whether the pipe is still leaking.”
Indian Country Today: Collision causes pipeline leak near Bad River Reservation, shuts down Line 5
Amelia Schafer, 8/26/26
“Construction on a controversial oil-pipeline in northern Wisconsin resulted in a leak of natural gas liquids Tuesday less than five miles east of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians Reservation,” Indian Country Today reports. “Drone footage shared on social media by a Bad River tribal member depicted large white plumes of smoke emitting from the rupture, which required the 600-mile-long pipeline to be shut down. Line 5 remained shut down Wednesday afternoon as a result of the incident, according to a spokesperson for Enbridge, the Canadian energy company operating the pipeline. It is unclear when the pipeline will begin to operate again.”
WILX: Michigan Supreme Court ruling reignites Line 5 pipeline debate
Jaden Hawkins, 8/26/26
“Protesters gathered on the state Capitol steps Wednesday amid renewed debate over the 70-year-old Line 5 oil pipeline. Organizers said a recent Michigan Supreme Court decision has given new momentum to opposition efforts,” WILX reports. “Members of the Indigenous community and environmental advocates attended the rally to raise concerns about the Line 5 twin oil pipelines and the proposed Great Lakes tunnel. “The water that we have on the earth is the only water we have. We cannot make or grow more water. And, so to threaten that, threatens our very existence,” said Winnay Wemigwase, of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians… “Brian O’Mara, an environmental consultant with Agate Harbor Advisors LLC who has worked on tunnel projects before, said oil does not belong in them. “I’ve seen what can go wrong on these tunnels; they do flood, they do collapse. I’ve seen fires, I’ve seen explosions and I’ve seen people get killed in them, because engineers made mistakes, and shortcuts were taken by contractors,” O’Mara said… “They are urging people to pressure state lawmakers to take action against the project.”
WAFF: Proposed North Alabama pipeline raises concerns among landowners
Anjolina Fantaroni, 8/26/26
“A planned natural gas pipeline through North Alabama is raising concerns among landowners along its proposed route, which would run from north of Florence east to Hollywood,” WAFF reports. “More than 50 people attended a meeting Wednesday night to learn more about the proposed project and what it could mean for their property. Officials say surveys and environmental studies could continue for the next three years, and no construction schedule has been set. Madison County landowner Lynn Hardiman, whose farm has been in her family for 206 years, said she is concerned about the proposed route. “It’s just concerning because it looks like we’re being penalized for not selling and developing our land because it looks like it’s the easiest route for them to take,” Hardiman said. Hardiman said she does not want a 44-inch natural gas pipeline running through her property. “They’ll mess up the integrity of our property. And I kept thinking about my grandparents and how their whole goal for our property was ‘keep it in the family. Keep it undisturbed,’” Hardiman said.”
East Texas Banner: Low Turnout at Deweyville Carbon Capture Meeting
Jay Sharp, 8/27/26
“Attendance was sparse Tuesday night at a highly publicized public meeting on carbon capture and sequestration held at Deweyville School. ExxonMobil and the Gulf Coast CCS Alliance hosted the event, which featured informational booths intended to explain the proposed carbon capture process to area residents,” the East Texas Banner reports. “More than 20 ExxonMobil representatives, along with representatives from the Texas Oil and Gas Association, Lamar Institute of Technology, the University of Texas and other organizations and companies, were on hand to answer questions… “The company also conducted a demonstration in the school parking lot showing a simulated carbon dioxide pipeline leak. The display produced a large cloud from a mock pipeline section, and volunteers were allowed to test air quality near the release and throughout the cloud. During the demonstration, an ExxonMobil representative said it is safe to work near a carbon dioxide pipeline leak measuring up to 4,000 parts per million for 8 hours without additional safety gear.”
Bloomberg: Alaska Pipeline Aims to Renew Land Rights Early Under Trump
Jennifer A Dlouhy, 8/26/26
“The owners of the 800-mile Trans Alaska Pipeline System are seeking to renew its federal land authorization more than seven years before it expires, a move that could capitalize on President Donald Trump’s enthusiasm for US oil production,” Bloomberg reports. “At stake are essential rights-of-way that would enable three decades of additional operation for the pipeline that’s a vital conduit for North Slope crude. The early maneuver could ensure the Trump administration will make that determination rather than the president’s successor in the White House. The US Interior Department on Wednesday said it is launching a formal review of the reauthorization application from Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., which operates TAPS, on behalf of owners Hilcorp Energy Co., ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil Holdings Corp. The process will begin with an environmental review, as the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management gives the public 15 days to weigh in on the scope of the government’s analysis. If Alyeska’s bid is successful, it would result in 30 more years of federal land authorizations, offering more certainty for a critical piece of US oil infrastructure… “Environmentalists have petitioned the Interior Department for a fresh analysis of TAPS’ effects on the environment and climate change, arguing the warming world demands its decommissioning.”
U.S. Energy Information Administration: Eight petroleum liquids pipeline projects have been completed since the start of 2025
8/26/26
“In the 2026 release of our Liquids Pipeline Projects Database, we tracked the completion of 8 liquid fuels pipeline projects since the start of 2025, and an additional 14 new projects have been announced,” according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. “Between January 2025 and June 2026, the following projects were completed: Bahia Pipeline: Enterprise’s 550-mile, 600,000 barrel per day (b/d) natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline originates in West Texas from the Delaware and Midland basins and connects to Enterprise’s fractionation complex in Chambers County in Texas. Coastal Bend NGL Pipeline Expansion 1 (former EPIC Y-grade pipeline): EPIC expanded its Y-grade pipeline by 50,000 b/d for total pipeline capacity of 225,000 b/d. The pipeline carries Y-grade from West Texas to Corpus Christi. Hiland Express Project: Kinder Morgan converted the Double H Pipeline system from crude oil to NGL. MPLX—BANGL Expansion 1: The project expanded the total pipeline capacity to 250,000 b/d. The pipeline carries Y-grade that connects the Delaware and Midland basins to a fractionator in Sweeny, Texas. Santa Fe Pacific East Line Expansion 1: Kinder Morgan expanded the pipeline, which runs from El Paso, Texas, to Tucson, Arizona, to move additional volumes of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. Santa Ynez Pipeline System (former California 901R & 903R restart): Sable Offshore Corporation (Pacific Pipeline Company) restarted the existing-but-idle 901 and 903 pipelines. Seahawk pipeline—Thunderdome Lateral, Gray Oak Louise: The company converted an existing 16-inch natural gas pipeline to a crude oil pipeline. The pipeline goes from the Gray Oak Louise terminal to the Edna terminal, with ultimate deliveries to the Seahawk terminal, all in Texas. Seminole Red Pipeline (Midland-to-Echo 2): Enterprise converted the Seminole Red back to an NGL pipeline (originally an NGL pipeline that was converted to a crude oil pipeline) while it built the Bahia pipeline. The newly announced projects are: Bahia Pipeline Expansion; Bayou Bridge Pipeline Expansion; Bridger Pipeline Expansion; Coastal Bend NGL Pipeline Expansion 2; Enbridge Mainline Optimization Phase 1; Enbridge Mainline Optimization Phase 2; Flanagan South Pipeline Expansion; Puget Sound Pipeline Optimization; Santa Fe Pacific Pipeline East Line Expansion 2; Southern Illinois Connector; Sun Belt Connector; Western Gateway Pipeline; Western Markets Pipeline Expansion Phase 1; Western Markets Pipeline Expansion Phase 2.”
Reuters: Enbridge, KKR form $1.95 billion JV to fund Westcoast gas pipeline expansions
Vallari Srivastava, 8/27/26
“Canadian energy company Enbridge said on Thursday it had agreed to form a joint venture with KKR and Apollo to invest about C$2.7 billion ($1.95 billion) in expansions of its Westcoast natural gas pipeline system in British Columbia,” Reuters reports. “Asset managers are increasingly investing in generation and pipeline assets as demand for natural gas infrastructure grows rapidly amid rising LNG exports and the proliferation of data centers… “Under the agreement, KKR and Apollo will fund the Aspen Point and Sunrise expansion projects, while Enbridge will receive C$700 million in cash at closing and retain majority ownership and operational control of the pipeline. The Westcoast natural gas pipeline system stretches 2,900 kilometers (1,802 miles) from northeast British Columbia to the Canada-U.S. border, with a current capacity of 3.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (Bcf/d).”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Canadian Press: The president says the U.S. doesn’t need anything from Canada. Exports say otherwise.
Sarah Ritchie, 8/26/26
“WE DON’T NEED CANADA, THEY NEED US!” U.S. President Donald Trump’s social media post this week was a continuation on a theme he’s maintained throughout the trade war: that his country doesn’t need anything from Canada. Experts — and exports — say that’s not the case,” the Canadian Press reports. “Ontario Premier Doug Ford has urged the federal government to use some exports as leverage at the negotiating table — and after Trump’s latest escalation, he called on Prime Minister Mark Carney to cut off the supply of things like oil and gas, potash and critical minerals… “Those wider tariffs were later paused after Canada threatened to retaliate — but the administration had made it plain that it didn’t want the cost of Canadian energy to rise by 25 per cent. Pipelines carry more than four million barrels of Canadian crude into the United States each day, representing about 90 per cent of all Canadian oil exports worth some $126 billion in 2025. That makes up around 63 per cent of American crude imports, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration… “Nearly all of Canada’s $12.5-billion worth of natural gas exports in 2025 were also sent stateside… “Despite Ford’s tough talk, the notion of imposing export taxes or reducing exports to the Americans hasn’t gained widespread support among premiers.”
E&E News: Power plant endangerment repeal enters White House review
Jean Chemnick, 8/26/26
“The White House is reviewing a new proposal to permanently end EPA’s regulation of power plants’ carbon emissions,” E&E News reports. “The supplemental proposal entered White House review on Monday, according to the Office of Management and Budget’s website. It is expected to be released along with another rule to undo 2024 standards that required coal-fired and some new gas-fired power plants to capture and store most of their greenhouse gas emissions. The draft would repeal not only the Biden-era rules, but EPA’s broader authority to regulate climate pollution from the power sector via the Clean Air Act. The power industry is the largest industrial source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. The proposal is expected to mirror EPA’s repeal of the so-called endangerment finding. But it could also complicate arguments the oil industry and the Justice Department are making in a landmark case before the Supreme Court this fall that the Clean Air Act makes EPA the “primary regulator” of industrial greenhouse gas emissions.”
Utility Dive: Trump’s energy policy could cost US 540 GW of renewables, says NRDC
Diana DiGangi, 8/26/26
“Aspects of the Trump administration’s energy policy — such as the rollback of Inflation Reduction Act tax credits, the introduction of new tariffs and offshore wind lease buybacks — could cause the U.S to lose between 390 GW and 540 GW of new wind, solar and energy storage capacity over the next decade, according to projections from the Natural Resources Defense Council,” Utility Dive reports. “Crucially, these lost projects are not actually replaced with other sources of new power,” the NRDC said in a Wednesday report. “At most, only 9 GW of additional gas capacity is added with Trump’s policies in place.” The report cited near-term supply chain bottlenecks for gas turbines, volatile fuel prices, “and the general cost-competitiveness of new renewables relative to gas” as reasons for the NRDC’s low estimate for new additional gas investment… “By 2035, average household electricity rates are projected to increase by an additional 4.2% to 5.5% nationwide, relative to the January 2025 Snapshot case,” the NRDC’s report said.”
Center for Western Priorities: Commenters overwhelmingly oppose BLM’s rollback of oil and gas rule, analysis finds
8/25/26
“An analysis released today by the Center for Western Priorities finds overwhelming opposition to the Bureau of Land Management’s proposal to roll back its 2024 oil and gas leasing rule. CWP’s analysis found that of 15,822 comments posted to the docket for this rule on regulations.gov, 99.5 percent opposed the rollback, most commonly on the grounds that weaker bonding requirements would leave taxpayers to cover cleanup costs companies walk away from. Just 43 comments, or 0.27 percent, supported it, and 42 comments were unclear… “The true scale of public engagement is likely even larger; fourteen of the filings in the docket are bundles of signatures collected by advocacy groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, Climate Hawks Vote Civic Action, and the National Wildlife Federation Action Fund. Each bundle counts as a single comment in the docket, but together they represent an estimated 120,000 additional people who submitted a comment via a form letter rather than submitting an individual comment. BLM’s proposed rule, published in the Federal Register on June 24, 2026, would undo key provisions of the 2024 Oil and Gas Leasing Rule, which strengthened bonding requirements, raised royalty rates, and gave the public more say in lease sales on public lands.”
Press release: Putting Drinking Water First: Weakening Clean Water Act Limits on Oil and Gas Wastewater Pollution Threatens Drinking Water
8/26/26
“This paper examines how weakening Clean Water Act oil and gas wastewater pollution limits would threaten drinking water. It outlines the known risks associated with this harmful wastewater, highlights impacts to downstream drinking water, and identifies the significant knowledge gaps that remain. Overall, EPA should be strengthening, not weakening, wastewater discharge standards for the oil and gas industry to better protect drinking water sources and surrounding communities… “As exploration and production activities continue to soar, the oil and gas industry is seeking easier and cheaper ways to dispose of its toxic wastewater by pushing for regulatory changes under the Clean Water Act. In most cases, the Clean Water Act prohibits the direct discharge of wastewater from oil and gas facilities. However, the Clean Water Act includes an unnecessary exception that allows the harmful wastewater generated from oil and gas drilling (known as produced water) to be reused in limited ways in the west for certain agricultural uses, like watering of livestock and crop irrigation, or wildlife propagation… “To uphold its mission to protect public health and the environment, EPA must hold the oil and gas industry accountable for its toxic wastewater stream and close the current loopholes that allow for the discharge of produced water in the west. EPA has no justification for expanding the discharge of oil and gas produced water in more areas of the country. Doing so would increase harmful pollution, putting the safety of nearby communities and our drinking water sources at risk.”
STATE UPDATES
Politico: California’s emissions authority is cracking
Alex Nieves, 8/26/26
“Republicans have steadily picked away at California’s authority to slash vehicle emissions since President Donald Trump returned to office,” Politico reports. “Democrats are now afraid they’ve finally found a way to undermine it for good. When the House returns from its summer recess on Thursday, conservative lawmakers will have the chance to move a half-dozen resolutions that would revoke EPA waivers granted to California under the Biden and Obama administrations (those waivers are the magic ticket that allows the state to enforce stricter-than-federal emissions standards for cars, trucks, and ships). The Republicans’ bevy of resolutions is part of a larger effort to use the Congressional Review Act — a 1996 law that gives Congress the power to revoke agency rules — to undermine Democrats’ policy agendas… “Without the power to set its own emissions standards, California’s ambitious climate goals will realistically be out of reach… “Legal thinkers on both sides of the partisan spectrum say Republicans’ larger strategy is to make it harder for state regulators to use Section 209 of the Clean Air Act, a carveout in the nearly 60-year-old federal law that allows California — which routinely has the nation’s worst air quality — to enforce stricter emissions standards. That’s because the Congressional Review Act bars agencies from instituting new rules that are “substantially the same” as those that have already been revoked… “Even if Republicans are unlikely to have the votes to amend the Clean Air Act itself, the threat that any rule California comes up with in the future will eventually be “CRA-d” could force state regulators back to the drawing board.”
Alaska Beacon: Alaska officials respond to mystery spill near idled Cook Inlet oil platform
Yereth Rosen, 8/25/26
“State and industry officials and the U.S. Coast Guard were responding on Tuesday to an unexplained oil spill roughly 60 miles southwest of Anchorage in Southcentral Alaska’s Cook Inlet,” the Alaska Beacon reports. “The spill, which produced a long oil sheen on the water near the Trading Bay area on the western side of the inlet, was first spotted by a pilot on Monday. His report prompted a multiagency response… “The sheen was seen near the idled Spark platform, one of 17 oil and gas platforms in the inlet… “As of Tuesday afternoon, however, the ongoing investigation has not pinpointed a source of the spill, its size or even the substance, DEC officials said… “Fish could be potentially at risk, the situation report said. All five species of Pacific salmon swim in the affected waters, and coho and sockeye salmon were migrating through the area at the time the spill was reported, the situation report said. Representatives of area environmental groups said Tuesday that the event was a warning about risks to the inlet. Satchel Pondolfino, the clean water lead for Cook Inletkeeper, told the Beacon she and others are concerned about the apparent association with the idled but still-standing Spark platform. “It’s just another reason why it’s so important that Alaska use its authority to hold Hilcorp and every other operator accountable for dismantling the infrastructure,” she told the Beacon.”
EXTRACTION
Inside Climate News: The Biggest Carbon Polluters Are to Blame for Half of U.S. Western Water Lost to Climate Change, ‘Groundbreaking’ Paper Says
Jake Bolster, 8/25/26
“Some of the largest fossil fuel companies on Earth are disproportionately responsible for the water crisis in the American West, according to a first-of-its-kind study published Tuesday,” Inside Climate News reports. “From 2014 to 2024, climate change sapped over a third of the region’s typical annual snowpack and decreased streamflows by about 13 percent, the authors found in the paper, which appeared in Nature’s Communications Earth and Environment journal. About half of those losses are attributable to emissions from “carbon majors,” 122 fossil fuel companies and cement producers, the study concluded. That carbon-major pollution has drained the West of trillions of gallons of water, about the full capacity of Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the U.S., the study found. “There are millions of people that rely on these water resources,” Carly Phillips, a senior research scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists and one of the study’s co-authors, told ICN. “The consequences of these changes are really evident for people on the ground.” “...Dozens of states and cities across the U.S. have sued large oil and gas companies for environmental damages associated with emissions from their products. Phillips told ICN this study supports plaintiffs’ position in those cases as they seek to put a price tag on climate change for fossil fuel companies.”
Carbon Credits: Alberta Carbon Price Barely Raises Oil Sands Costs, Study Finds
8/26/26
“Alberta’s industrial carbon price has had only a small effect on the cost of producing oil sands crude, according to a new study from the C.D. Howe Institute,” Carbon Credits reports. “The report, published by economist G. Kent Fellows, finds that Alberta’s Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) system added an average of just C$0.70 per barrel to oil sands marginal production costs in 2023. On a production-weighted basis, the increase was even smaller at C$0.34 per barrel. The findings come as Canada and Alberta prepare to raise the industrial carbon price over the next decade. Under their May 2026 agreement, Alberta’s headline TIER price will rise from C$95 per tonne in 2026 to C$115 in 2030, C$130 in 2035 and C$140 in 2040. Despite those higher headline prices, the study finds that most oil sands projects should continue to face relatively modest carbon costs… “Some major projects, including Horizon Mine, Jackpine Mine, Muskeg River Mine, Kearl and Peace River, actually received a net benefit from TIER on a per-barrel basis… “Fellows projects that no oil sands facility analyzed would face carbon pricing costs above C$5 per barrel through 2050 under the updated Canada-Alberta pricing and emissions-intensity schedules.”
OPINION
EnergyNow: Is it Time for an Industry Rebrand of “Oil Sands”?
Terry Winnitoy, 8/27/26
“...Has the oil sands reached its “best before date”. I’m not talking about the amount of oil reserves in the ground. Rather, how one of Canada’s greatest resources, the oil sands, should be perceived and marketed today,” Terry Winnitoy writes for EnergyNow. “...So, why not look at the words “oil sands”... “In a section of that article called “Oil Sands? Branding Gone Bad…”, McCall noted Doomberg’s argument that calling Canada’s massive bitumen resource the oil sands is in itself poor branding and only marginally better than the term tar sands, which became the preferred description of groups determined to stop their development. Doomberg’s alternative? Energy Sands!... “Beginning in the 2000s, environmental organizations deliberately embraced the term tar sands as part of campaigns against Alberta’s energy industry. By 2008, an organized North American Tar Sands Campaign brought together advocacy organizations in Canada, the United States and Europe with the stated objective of slowing expansion… “Eventually, governments, industry and most mainstream media adopted the technically more accurate term oil sands but many activists still use it… “Because what ultimately comes from those vast deposits beneath northern Alberta isn’t tar. And it isn’t simply oil. It is gasoline. Diesel. Jet fuel. Petrochemical feedstocks. Industrial products. Export revenues. Jobs. Royalties. Economic activity. Energy security and ultimately the energy that keeps modern economies functioning… “Oil sands was better branding than tar sands. Energy sands is better branding than oil sands.”