THE HIGH PRICE
OF ENERGY
How the tar sands suck our environment dry
NORTHERN CANADA IS BEING TURNED
INTO A RESOURCE BANK FROM WHICH
EVERY ONE IS WITHDRAWING AND NO
ONE IS THINKING ABOUT SUSTAINING.
THE REGION HAS BEN OPENED UP TO A
FRE MARKET, AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL
AND SOCIAL SACRIFICES ARE THE NECESARY
COSTS FOR THE INSTANTANEOUS
RESULTS A BOOMING ECONOMY BRINGS.
Alberta is known as “Wild
Rose Country” – a place of
sunshine, unique local shopping,
great farmers’ markets
and incredibly friendly and
generous people.
So what made me apprehensive about
coming out to Edmonton and taking on
my new position as the Prairies regional
organizer for the Council of Canadians?
Two words: tar sands.
Before coming to Alberta, I had heard
of the tar sands through my work
with the Council of Canadians on the
Security and Prosperity Partnership
(SPP). After listening to Diana Gibson
of the Parkland Institute speak, and
reading literature from groups like
Greenpeace, Sierra Club and Oil Sands
Truth, I felt I was informed about
Canada’s single largest emitter of greenhouse
gases. Terrified, but informed.
I was aware that the extraction process
of bitumen is very energy and carbon
intensive – worse than conventional oil
extraction processes as it pumps more
than 27 megatonnes of greenhouse
gases annually; that the tar sands cover
an area the size of Vancouver Island that
used to be a pristine boreal forest with a
diverse eco-system; and that extraction
from the tar sands takes approximately
five barrels of fresh water for one barrel
of bitumen, turning the used water into
a toxic sludge that is kept in unregulated
tailings ponds, poisoning the nearby
Athabasca River and creating concern
about its link to rising cancer rates in
downstream communities.
I also felt that I understood the
impact of the proposed pipelines
running north to south from Canada
to the United States, and the fact that
the tar sands were churning ahead at
an unsustainable rate to meet the soaring
energy demands of the U.S. Within
the agenda of the SPP, corporate and
political interests plan to facilitate a
fivefold expansion of the Alberta tar
sands, increasing the bitumen production
to five million barrels a day regardless
of the social and environmental
consequences.
From an outsider’s perspective, it
seems that Albertans are in support of
the unfettered growth in their northern
region. The leaders of the province come
across like free-wheeling cowboys who
have no qualms about promoting the
tar sands as a necessary industry for the
survival of the Albertan and Canadian
economies. The last provincial election
in Alberta may lead people to assume
that the majority of Albertans agree
with the narrow views of Progressive
Conservative Premier Ed Stelmach.
To my surprise, however, I have found
many other organizations and citizens
are actually opposed to the tar sands
development and want to see the industry
stopped, or at least slowed down.
Recent coalition work shows that opposition
to the tar sands is growing, and
that there is a different perspective on
the ground.
Less than two months after I arrived,
I travelled to the community of Fort
McMurray, Alberta, in the heart of
the tar sands, with a group of activists
from British Columbia. Together, we
went wide-eyed into the place of dark
air, cancerous water and toxic tailing
ponds to learn more about the tar sands
and their effect on the people who live
closest to them. We held meetings with
First Nations elders from both the Fort
McKay and the Fort Chipewyan communites,
with representatives of the
government and industry-sponsored
Oil Sands Discovery Centre, and with
groups concerned with social justice. We
also tried to set up a tour of the Suncor
industrial site, but the evening before
we were scheduled to attend, Suncor
representatives called and cancelled
because of “maintenance issues.”
Our meetings were insightful and
sad. Yes, there is money coming in to
the province from the tar sands, but
when you consider the number of
imported workers, it is clear that the
intent is not to have it remain there for
very long. People are working to get
out, and some – including our pro-oil
tour guide at the Oil Sands Discovery
Centre – seem to be disconnected from
the future they are sacrificing for their
current high wages and disposable
incomes. For those concerned with the
pace of growth, the lack of planning
in the tar sands development is constantly
apparent.
In Fort McKay and Fort Chipewyan,
residents are dying of rare cancers at
alarming rates. The communities are
located north of Fort McMurray and
the major operations of Suncor and
Syncrude. One woman we met was in
her early thirties. She has a 10-year-old
daughter, and told us how her husband
had just been diagnosed with cancer.
The cancer rates in her area are at epidemic
levels. Just this past March, this
community of only 1,200 people lost
six people to cancer. One of them was a
July 17, 2008
In Fort McMurray problems of homelessness
and drugs result from a lack of
infrastructure and social services. The
locals we met were proud of their town
and some boasted about the increase
they have seen in their home equity. But
they are also quick to comment on how
the pace of development has been too
fast, leaving people without access to
many social services like health care
and education.
And then there is the air. Although the
tar sands operations are not visible from
town, you can’t deny the lingering smell
of the industry and pollution in the air.
It coats everything – your nose, your
throat and your clothes – and stays with
you, pungently and persistently.
A 20-minute drive past Fort McMurray
shows you the reality of a boreal forest
turned to dead sands and fiery
machines. The universal observation
from our group was “Wow, this is like
some other world.”
Northern Canada is being turned into
a resource bank from which everyone
is withdrawing and no one is thinking
about sustaining. The region has been
opened up to a free market, and the
environmental and social sacrifices are
the necessary costs for the instantaneous
results a booming economy brings.
But the resistance is growing. Social
justice and environmental groups are
bridging gaps and joining forces. The
Council of Canadians has joined with
70 other organizations – both provincial
and national – including Greenpeace,
the Sierra Club, the Alberta Federation
of Labour and the United Nurses of
Alberta – in calling for “No New
Approvals” of tar sands development.
This coalition is making the tar sands a
nation-wide conversation, and generating
momentum outside of Alberta to
support the work of many activists on
July 17, 2008will be a perfect opportunity
for Council of Canadians activists and
members from outside Alberta to learn
more about the tar sands and about
actions we can all undertake to confront
the devastating and destructive pace of
tar sands development. The Council of
Canadians’ Annual General Meeting
will be held in Edmonton from October
31 to November 2 and will involve a
host of speakers and workshops from
renowned experts and allied groups
on a large number of issues affecting
Canada’s current energy boom.
Together, we will pose the question
“Boom for whom?” and look at who
is really benefiting from the rapid
pace of tar sands development – and
at what price.
Sheila Muxlow is the Prairies Regional
Organizer at the Council of Canadians.
Printer-friendly version: The High Price
of Energy in PDF Format (184kB)
