The home of mining magnate and former oil executive Jim Carter was destroyed by fire on the night of Saturday, January 10. No one was home at the time and no injuries were caused by the blaze, which caused an estimated $850,000 worth of damage to the two-story, luxury home in Edmonton, Canada.

Police reported finding Molotov cocktails in the ruins of the house, but the fire department is still investigating the cause of the blaze. The police say they have not yet ruled out any motive for the arson. To our knowledge, no claims of responsibility have been made.

According to news reports, neighbors and police believe that Carter might have been targeted due to his deep connection with the mining and petroleum industries. Carter served as chief operations officer for Syncrude for 27 years until his retirement in 2007, and is credited with helping to build the devastating tar sands industry in Alberta. He is director of the Mining Association of Canada, Epcor Utilities Inc. and the Alberta Research Council. In 2008, he was invited by the Alberta government to advise on the greenwashing scam known as “carbon capture and storage.”

Resistance to the effects of the Alberta tar sands and their associated pipelines and ports has been fierce, and has run the gamut from nonprofit lobbying to pipeline sabotage. On January 4th, oil and gas company Encana was targeted with explosives for the fourth time in four months, resulting in the partial destruction of a metering shed.