Extraction and refining heavy oil from Canadian tar sands will have increasingly devastating impacts on migratory bird populations, according to a new study.

[Originally published at Red, Green, and Blue] According to a new report, the cumulative impact of developing Canadian tar sands over the next 30–50 years could be as high as 166 million birds lost, including future generations. Written by scientists from the Natural Resources Defense Council, Boreal Songbird Initiative, and Pembina Institute, the peer-reviewed paper suggests that avian mortality from continued development of Canada’s tar sands would provide a serious blow to migratory bird populations in North America.

“This report is yet another wake up call to the government in Alberta, as it confirms that the cumulative impact of oil sands development is on an unsustainable trajectory,” said Pembina Institute’s Simon Dyer, a contributing author to the report.

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Last week at RG&B, I wrote about an interview with MSNBC presumptive GOP vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin did with CNBC that focused largely on American energy oil policy. Most of the discussion was about drilling in ANWR and when Bartiromo asked about the specific steps Palin would take to mitigate environmental impacts, she answered by talking about how the naysayers and fear mongers didn’t get it, and that drilling was critical to Alaska’s economy, essentially dodging the crux of the question, and alienating herself from the other 49 states.

I don’t want you to get the idea that Bartiromo was tough, because she wasn’t. In fact, Bartiromo repeated Palin’s assertion that ANWR’s footprint would only be 2,000 acres on this past Sunday’s Meet the Press four times - a claim that has been called out as a myth - as if she was a surrogate for the governor. But what struck me most was not Palin’s support for increased oil development in Alaska, but that she simultaneously criticized fear mongering tactics and employed them herself. Read the rest at Red, Green, and Blue.

Geologists estimate that there are 800 billion barrels of oil locked away in the shale rocks of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. But there are some serious obstacles to unlocking that oil, not the least of which are the formidable political forces that oppose oil shale development. If you want to learn more, there was an excellent story in this past Sunday’s Denver Post about the technological, economic, social, and ecological feasibility of developing oil shale in the western U.S. [Read more]

The sale of federal oil and gas leases on Colorado’s Roan Plateau netted a record $114 million today, according to the Bureau of Land Management.

The sale of 31 parcels covering 55,186 acres atop and along side the Garfield County mesa in western Colorado generated the most revenue for a sale in the lower 48 states. The money will be split, with 51 percent going to the U.S. Treasury and 49 percent going to the state of Colorado.

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