This past year was a tumultuous one for oil sands developments in northern Alberta. The oils sands were subjected to growing environmental scrutiny, drawing attention to their carbon footprint, water consumption, and impact on Aboriginal communities and Canada’s boreal forest. The oil sands became a major and complex media story with implications for their development and for the North American energy mix.

The Canada West Foundation tracked these stories from May 2009 to April 2010 through monthly Oil Sands Media Monitor reports.The initiative is a twelve part series of reports tracking international coverage of the oil sands through traditional and internet media in 2009/2010. These media monitors track how the oil sands are being perceived from both an environmental and economic perspective.