Oil Sands

the Climate,” where she addresses the relationship between human activities and the climate change. Throughout the article Klein argues that people and carbon fuels do not cause climate problems. In her opinion, the issue is due to an arrangement between the people and the materials that pollute the earth. Klein argues that capitalism leads to finding resources and exploit them, which lead to climate change. Klein believes that this capitalist agenda is a habit that now we are used to, but she thinks that we can change if we decide to take the following steps: 1- reviving and reinventing the public sphere, 2- Remembering how to plan, 3- Reigning in corporations, 4- relocalizing production, 5- Ending the cult of shopping, and 6- Taxing the rich and Filthy. In the end, Klein claim that responding to climate change would necessitate us from to break a number of capitalist rules, which need to be done urgently (Klein, para

For centuries, humans have had the unsatisfiable desire for more. This is seen quite often throughout history, with a common characteristic being that the environment or some people are negatively affected, usually with long­term effects, in mankind’s quest to satisfy their lust. A modern day example of this is seen in Alberta’s oil sands, as well as in James Cameron’s science­­fiction film Avatar. Alberta oil sands have the third largest oil reserves in the world, making up over 20% of Alberta. The oil industry is a staple part of our economy, as we rely heavily on it. However, in order to get to the bitumen­­rich oil sands, countless trees have been cut down, and many people in northern Alberta have been affected, including over 20 indigenous groups.

The Alberta Oil Sands have affected many stakeholder groups such as government, residents, researchers and employees. However, we will focus on how it affects the Alberta Government; specifically, Ed Stlemech of the Conservative Government. As my stake holder, Ed Stlemech does not live within the Alberta Oil Sands area as well as have any direct relevance to it, I will instead examine how it has affects the citizens of Alberta and more importantly, those who live in and near the Fort Chipewyan area. In this way, the environmental, the economical as well as the societal impacts will impact Albertan voters and therefore impact the Conservative Government in way of the Alberta General Election.

There are many different factors contributing to global warming. The Alberta oil sands are only one of them, but they're one of the largest sources of harmful air pollutants in Canada. The oil sands are polluting our air and water, clear cutting the Northern boreal forest and affecting the First Nation tribes living around the sites. Canada should no longer be funding the Alberta oil sands because of the negative impact it has on the environment and people near them.

In “Tarmageddon: Dirty oil is turning Canada into a corrupt petro-state,” Andrew Nikiforuk argues that the Canadian oil industry has harmed Canada’s environmental, political and economical images. First, Canada starts to be regarded as having a defensive attitude towards environmental issues since the Bitumen has been explored. Regardless of the Bitumen’s high cost and emission, Canada still welcomes billions of foreign investment in the Bitumen. Consequently, newly operated industries begin to destroy the forest and generate toxic waste (even into water). While refining oil, lots of energy and freshwater are squandered, outpouring a considerable amount of carbon emission. Hence, Canadian oil industry has been pictured as a “carbon-making

The main idea of the article is that; Rebecca Solnit discusses about our dependency on fossil fuels which is hazardous for the planet. Rebecca Solnit starts off the article by examining a document which was created when French Revolution was coming to an end where the new fundamentals were set and new government was born. Human beings have the power to change anything in the society. When it comes to Americans, they think that they do not have the power to change a defect in the society but during the history, Americans are the ones that changed everything. The planet climate is changing due to the fossil fuels and it is people’s responsibility to request for a change. Politics is not inescapable. People have a right to question the government

The Canadian “Alberta Oil Sands” are the third largest oil reserves in the world and has an investment value of over $27 billion. Over 100,000 employment opportunities are generated as a result of the oil sands and it leads to a production rate of approximately 2.3 million barrels per day. One of the largest controversies in Canadian politics is whether to oust the oil sands production or expand it. However between the two articles, “Why Canada needs to develop the oil sands” by Konrad Yakabuski and the article “Stop oilsands expansion, Canadian and U.S. researchers say” by CBC News, the debate is whether to expand the reserves or remain the same. After analysing the two articles it is evident that the author Konrad Yakabuski wrote his article

The Tar Sands Disaster is a piece of content written by Thomas Homer-Dixon. His purpose on writing the piece was to help bring awareness on the potential environmental damages that are caused by tar sands production in Canada. Thomas explains that Canada is using pipelines (specifically the Keystone XL pipeline) to export tar sands to the United States, and while it does help the economy financially, it harms the environment. Thomas hopes for his readers to go against the tar sands industry, and help shut it down. His target audience is Canadians. He claimed that even though many Canadians are against tar sands production, they cannot have open conversations about the problem, due to the fact that the Conservatives attack researchers for climate

The statement ‘Canada oil sands are much more of a blessing rather than a curse’ is not true because the disadvantages of oil sands outweigh the advantages. For this reason, this paper aims at indicating points against the statement. To understand the defects of oil sand exploration in Canada, one has to delve into the explanation of what oil sands are as well as how the entire process of mining and refining and thereafter, determine the disadvantages based on socioeconomic factors, environmental factors, as well as the infrastructure and energy required for its production.

In the first installment of the sustainability evening lecture series we got to hear from Miles Howe on Defining Elsipogtog: The Anatomy of a Struggle. Howe is a journalist for Media Co-Op, an independent Canadian news site (McGuire, 2013). Back in 2013, there were plans for a hydraulic fracking project in New Brunswick, this project was met with a lot of resistance from both the local community and from across the nation. The plan for the proposed hydraulic fracking site was to use about 1/7th of the province to extract shale gas. The government of New Brunswick hoped that this would both stimulate the economy and create jobs for locals, so that people did not have to search out of province to find jobs, such as working in the oil fields

Fossil fuels are considered to be natural products that are made from the remains of organisms that were once living, and is a non-renewable resource (Yvonne, Locke, 1) that has a big impact on our earth, but now people are trying to find ways to lower the earth’s carbon footprint. The fossil fuel industry is one that has been around for a very long time and is something that contributes in our everyday living, but now fossil fuel is something that is being considered precious material, and the way that we as consumers use it will have a big impact on the shape of our future country (Fossil Fuels 1). With all of this oil being collected in Canada it has a big effect on the economic spectrum as well

Repercussions of burning oil have arisen more progressively. The debatable topic of global warming holds burning fossil fuels responsible for higher temperatures in colder climates. An article by World Book explains why oil is so harmful towards the environment. As more cars are produced more pollutants are released into the atmosphere, those pollutants cause smog in larger manufacturing oriented cities as well as, acid rain. Factories, burning oil, dispose of the remaining chemicals into bodies of water rendering them unsafe to drink for both humans and animals alike (Hunt par. 1). Another article produced through World Book describes the

On the contrary, I argue that economic growth is important, but the destructive environmental effects this bill will bring about outweigh their benefit. The extraction of the oil sands will cause immediate damage to the ecosystem, and the Transportation of these sands could pollute the drinking water of over 2.3 million Americans (Denneky). For the remainder of this paper I will elaborate on my arguments against the bill, and address the arguments in favor of the bill.

Modernism represents an optimistic view of human impact on the environment that has been the dominant viewpoint for the last 200 years. The knowledge that mankind holds the ability to control the environment heavily stresses why climate change is not such a problem to worry about. One of the core beliefs of the modernistic perspective is that people have no need to fear future environmental disaster because the next technological advancement that will prevent it is right around the corner. Furthermore, those who share this view do not include themselves in their image of the ecosystem, believing they are detached from it. Lastly, a laissez-faire approach is taken to environmental problems, focusing on progression through technology, stressing that as long as progress is made in this area all problems will be fixed. For a modernist, climate change is nothing to worry about. This may be a real situation, but it will be solved with advancements in technology before one’s way of life is changed. What people should be worrying about is ensuring a laissez faire approach to the market with sponsorship to new technologies. As a result of reusable energy technology already existing, modernists believe that the problem of climate change has been solved and without disrupting free market system these technologies will be further implemented. As long as there are people given the opportunity to innovate, some will focus on and ultimately solve the concern of climate change. The issue of

Oil Drilling has many effects on the environment from the air we breathe to the oceans that inhabit many species. While one of the outcomes of oil drilling is money, it is forgotten that money won’t help repair all of the damage that is done to mother nature. Not only does the outcome of drilling for fossil fuels affect the oceans, rainforest, etc. it also has an effect on local business’ and the health of humans. If people want change, they need to be the