For those of you that are unaware, the Province of Alberta is the world’s largest exporter of oil to the United States. Since the invasion of Iraq, instability in the Middle East has made the arduous and expensive process of exploiting Alberta’s oil sands lucrative. Since then, it has become one of the most magnetic oil reserves in the world, with both foreign and domestic corporate interests operating in the Province paying unbelievably low taxes for the privilege of raping the Canadian wilderness. In return, numerous Albertans have gained from the boom while some haven’t, and the rest of the country really hasn’t – but that’s not really an issue of import next to the damage that process itself is doing.
According to Environmental Defense, the excavation of the oil sands is, itself, producing enormous amount of greenhouse gasses. The process is also poisoning local water supplies. Of course, and not surprising in the least, output is projected to grow to a level that, by 2015, will see 3 million barrels of oil produced a day.
Money, as we’re all aware, is far more important than the environment. It is also, in some cases, worth running the risk of creating public health problems as well. But as long as the bank is fat, it’s easy enough to dismiss such concerns as long as those benefiting continue to benefit – and that most certainly includes both the Albertan and federal governments.
While futile, the question must be asked – how much damage must be caused before the Province, and Ottawa, realize what it is they’ve done? Besides the global affects of the greenhouse gasses produced, what of the affects on the environment itself? On the ecosystem and ground water? How much of the northern Albertan landscape has to be turned into something that more resembles the surface of the moon than the earth before we wake up to the fact that it wasn’t worth it in the end?
You know, it’s interesting how easy it is to forget that this planet has finite resources, and that the longer we abuse it the more assured our own demise as a species becomes. Of course, there are those that will argue until their dying breath that that isn’t the case, that we couldn’t possibly consume so much of this planet’s resources as to actually cause our own extinction. Then again, the last two times the world went to war we exclaimed after each - never again - and look how that’s turned out.
Any species that has already created a means with which to destroy itself several times over certainly can’t be taken at its word with regards to the exploitation of its own environment. Destroying is, in truth, the only thing that we actually excel at. Even our creations cause destruction. Truthfully, the seeds of some of our most brilliant advancements have come from our never-ending love affair with exacting the art of killing one another in a more timely and efficient manner.
Nowhere in the natural world does that phenomenon exist, and that fact is something that we should take to heart. That is, if we haven’t wiped out every living example on this planet before we finally do. Because every hour of every day, three species, be they plant or animal, are rendered extinct. That’s 500 species a week. Given the law of averages, we can’t avoid the inevitable forever.
In Addition
Updated on February 17, 2008, at 9:56 AM PST.
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Dear Matt,
I was born and raised in Alberta, and I couldn’t agree with you more. The tar sands are producing so many side effects even outside of the environmental issue - skyrocketing housing prices and housing shortages, increasing drug problems, and what is effectively a neo-genocide of the Aboriginal peoples of Northern Alberta. However, it is difficult to convince your average Albertan that the pros of the booming economy don’t outweigh the cons. No one seems to be able to envision an alternative, and anyone who attempts to broach dialogue on the topic is seen simply as a bleeding heart liberal. It’s a difficult climate to organize in.
:(
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“We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.”
I know you speak of oil in this post, but lets generalize it. Civilized human beings are destructive by nature. We take advantage of everything that we possibly can, and use it for the benefit of profit. According to the human species, planet Earth was created for them. Apparently we are allowed to manipulate and abuse everything possible. There is no long-term consequences in mind, just short term benefits.
Here’s another good quote to go with this:
“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.”
Humans have the perception that they are superior to everything on the planet, ignoring the science of biodiversity and the fact that everything in an ecosystem depends on each other. I know for a fact that if we minus humans from this equation that planet Earth and all it’s appreciative inhabitants would get along just fine. But humans are so dependent on that in which we take advantage of.
500 species a week going extinct, that is insane. We are so inconsiderate of the Earth’s other inhabitants. There will inevitably come a day when one of those species is us.
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We truly are our own worst enemy.
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For anyone wanting to learn more about this topic, I highly recommend William Marsden’s Stupid To The Last Drop: How Alberta Is Bringing Environmental Armageddon To Canada (And Doesn’t Seem To Care)
http://www.amazon.ca/Stupid-Last-Drop-Environmental-Armageddon/dp/0676979130/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203228051&sr=1-1
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“Any species that has already created a means with which to destroy itself several times over certainly can’t be taken at its word with regards to the exploitation of its own environment. Destroying is, in truth, the only thing that we actually excel at.”
Couldn’t agree with this statement more. We as humans have perfected the method of taking and not putting back. Destruction is, and essentially has been the only thing we seem to carry out brilliantly, and at epic proportions. It’s truly disgusting.
Money makes the world go ’round, which is a sad sad reality. When this world is on the brink of no longer existing because of all the things we have done to dismantle it, I picture all the CEO’s and law makers, and everyone that has benefitted financially from our (impending) earth’s demise, sitting around with all their bags of money…and then what? What are you gonna do with that? You look pretty stupid holding a bag of money when the world is burning down around you. You can’t buy back the loss of flora and fauna or trade it in for clean water and air. All the money in the world won’t help a bit at that point. ..And so what was it all good for?…..Nothing. You got to live a life of luxury at the cost of future generations.
There must be a way to put restrictions on such things. It should be a crime in itself NOT to have stricter laws on such things. We lock man up in jail the rest of his life for killing another, and yet so many rape the innocent landscapes and ravage environments once bountiful, go unpunished. Just another day of making money.
Where is the justice for her and for all the innocent lives of animals we are and have been driving to extinction? It breaks my heart and makes me feel nauseated.
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BruiseViolet ~ Your post summed it up perfectly. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
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Another good and relevant read is Collapse by Jared Diamond. He talks about different past societies that died out for different reasons (the most common one being an overexploitation of resources), and a small section of the book is dedicated to some societies that made smart choices to avoid similar scenarios. He draws similarities between these isolated societies and earth itself, and just as Easter Islanders deforested to the point that they could no longer survive, we are soon going to be facing a similar situation with the resources that we depend on. Jared Diamond asks the question “what thoughts were going through the mind of the person that chopped down the very last tree on Easter Island?”
It may not have been as popular as his previous Guns, Germs, and Steel (and I personally prefer GG&S), but it’s still a pretty good easy read that puts our current scenario into perspective.
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Living in Calgary has taught me Albertans care about money above just about anything. Environment, people, history, they’ll tear it down for a profit. Keep in mind that the boom doesn’t even trickle down to all of us here. Ask all the homeless, working poor and people with disablities. Alberta fucks us all, because those with power for the longest time wouldn’t even pretend to care. Ralph Klein is well remembered for harassing people at a shelter while drunk. That demonstrates the province’s character right there. Hasn’t changed with Stelmach, doubt it ever will. Spoiled hicks and the office drones that populate those shiny towers, all rich with oil money aren’t going to think of anything but themselves while nothing forces them to.
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Indeed Alberta is rape-ing the environment in pursuit of constant riches, but not all Albertans are benefiting.
In Calgary, there are approximately 3,500 homeless persons, the majority of who are working one or more jobs. Edmonton has around 3,000 homeless persons and had a “tent city” recently torn down by city council.
Rent and property value has sky rocketed resulting in Calgary having the most expensive rent in Canada.
Landlords are inflating rents and forcing people out. Tuition keeps increasing, health care still sucks, and Fort McMurray has boomed in teen prostitution.
We do however, have a provincial election on March 3rd…..here’s hoping that everyone who needs to, gets out and votes!
signed, pissed off in Calgary
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Every time I see an article about Alberta’s oilsands and the environment, the issue of equalization payments across Canada seems to tag along. I don’t in the slightest think these two issues are synonymous but it sure as hell serves to make Alberta look money grubbing and selfish. There is much more complexity to this issue then is ever nodded up on by outsider columnists. I’m not going to disagree with the point here, corporations are indeed ravaging the land and extracting oil faster than reason, there is a complete lacking in taxes on the oil and the pollution and damage to the land is, even after reforms, still taking place at a dangerous rate. I even agree that us as Albertans could give more in equalization and still have the fortune of our boom.
Seldom brought up in these articles when criticizing the lack of taxes is the effect an increase in taxes would cause. The corporations have the liberty to set their own prices and every time taxes on oil increase, the price of oil grows as well. Even our politicians don’t all seem to realize how this works. An prominent effect of slowing development would be a drastic loss of jobs. There are plenty of other jobs in Alberta but a lack of affordable housing makes these jobs inaccessible, especially in Edmonton. Nuclear energy seeks to move the job market to allow for a slow down but protesters have had some degree of success in resisting any nuclear growth.
I guess if anything were to change things at the speed the rest of Canada is asking for it would be our politicians. Ed Stelmach is probably as conservative as Canadians get and a little bit of arrogance gives him that much more of an edge in damaging any good opinion of Alberta that might remain. A skewed version of everything he says also seems to bolster the opinion that he is a man quite high thinking of himself. Conveniently there is an election fast approaching that could put some pressure on his politics. Don’t get too excited though because I assure you that he won’t be cleaning out his office anytime soon. Despite the growing discord toward the PC’s ideas of a two tiered health care system and lack of movement on the issue of the environment the Liberal and Green parties do not have in their goals the interests of Albertans. It is the lesser of two evils in this case and no one wants to support a party that consistently demonizes Alberta’s hard work and success as a means of gaining support.
Equalization I believe is paid as a percentage of assets in Canada. Alberta pays the same percent of it’s wealth as say Quebec or Nova Scotia, this money is then distributed. Somehow it is perceived that because Alberta doesn’t pay a higher percent then it must not be paying enough. Also never brought into the picture is the idea that there might actually be some work involved in this lucrative process and that people may believe it or not be earning the money they are getting! The rigs are dangerous, people work long hours and are separated from home for sometimes weeks at a time. Even gas plants and such that benefit from the industry don’t involve a work day of just sitting on your ass counting your coin. Canada hasn’t exactly been unaffected by Alberta’s boom, last time I checked the loonie was still enjoying an impressive growth over the past decade. God forbid the Canadian boom might be in part due to the Alberta boom!
Albertans are not the inbred backwater rednecks that some people make us out to be, we actually are pretty self aware. We know these issues are happening and we know something needs to be done. It’s nice that this pretty little band wagon of activists is growing but really it has done jack in terms of offering solutions or compromises in a place that really will have a hard time changing.
I really wanted to supply a bit of education with some numbers here but factual data is so buried by people flaunting their criticism that I can’t find any actual unbiased data on pollution, equalization, and such. If there is anything someone on the internet can do to help this issue it would be to dig up those numbers. Also I’m not trying to accuse anyone here of ignorance or anything so please don’t take personal offense.
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Somewhere around two to four million years ago the Earth organism became infected with cancer. It has since been dying a agonizingly slow death.
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okay yes i agree with most that has been said. But I resent the thought that most albertans don’t care about whats happpening to our enviroment. I think Dunia said it best. I am one of those many Albertans that happen to be crucifyied with insane rent, I can’t afford to go to any post secondary school because my mom makes to much money yet somehow all four people living in this two bedroom apartment need to give over every cent of our checks just to make ends meet. Drugs are flooding my city, gang violence is up, hate crimes are on the rise but prosecution of them is falling, My mothers teeth are literally falling out of her head because we can’t afford to fix them. I vote every election, put my time in at the local NDP office and still I’m lumped in with all those “Spoiled hicks and the office drones”. Frankly I’m sick of it.
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“In return, Albertans have gained from the boom while the rest of the country hasn’t …”
What exactly have I gained from this booming boondoggle? Ludicrous rents. Ineffective social support programs. Rising utility costs. Rising housing costs. A sincere death of cultural pursuits. And perhaps not just a little rape of the less fortunate .
The people that are profiting from this boom are a much, much smaller group than one might think. A lot of the very same Albertans that put a lot of their blood, sweat, and tears into making a living - in agriculture - in this province are being run into the mud by the province’s ever-growing fascination with fossil fuels. It’s true, a lot of money is coming into the province. But to say that everyone in the province is benefiting from it is perhaps a mistake. It’s a huge waste all around. The northern half of the province will find itself pocked with oil sands and sour wells, all the while, the province is squandering what fragment of wealth they’re keeping by mailing out rebate cheques and holding study groups on environmental damage - because the damage isn’t plain enough as it is.
With the way the province is going, the only way to maintain a healthy living will be direct involvement in the oil and gas industry. Anyone unwilling to join the exodus to the oilpatch will find themselves among the province’s exploding homeless population, or just barely away from it.
Rumour along the grapevines is that Saskatchewan is facing a small oil boom of its own. Let’s hope that it walks down a separate path, far, far away from the one we’ve trodden down.
-G
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Damn you Good, you’re on a roll. Hit the hammer on the nail with this one too.
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“Then again, the last two times the world went to war we exclaimed after each - never again - and look how that’s turned out.”
And the scary thing is, we will say this war was not our choice… but then again, we will say that every time as if there is no other way to solve our problems or disagreements… “Billy took my hat… So I beat the shit out of him, that seems fair right?”
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Its ridiculous how much damage humans do to the earth. We are fucking parasites.
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Over Population.
That is the largest problem. Its growing and has not equalized the death rate.
Therefore we are always trying to meet the demand of an ever increasing population.
We all know the environment is suffering but how are we going to slow that process down to a crawl? Fossil fuels will continue to be the way we power everything until there is a cheaper alternative and no one has invented it yet. There is no more abundant or cheaper fossil fuel than oil or coal. We as a society can’t just stop our existence. What we need to do is find more environmentally conscience ways to utilize what the planet has given us. Any ideas?
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It is incredibily unfortunate that we can all pretty much see our world’s future/end yet we still want to get as much money from it as we possibly can. I can’t see our kids having too good of a future either, with what we have left them with.
The whole situation we have got ourselves in is pretty sad.
I will be moving to Fort McMurray, Alberta for work within the next 4 months but i can promise you, it won’t be anywhere near oil sands if thats even possible.
-Anne Shebib
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When was the last time another Province received ‘cash back’ from their government? Of course, I wasn’t suggesting that all Albertans are driving $125,000 dollar cars and living the good life, that’s simply ridiculous. I’ll amend that, just so feelings aren’t hurt.
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Polluting Alberta so we can extract oil to pollute a whole lot more…
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Quoting Scott Halland:
I agree! People are all full of talk these days but don’t want to leave their living room.The pen might be mightier then the sword but who uses swords these days? (let alone pens) Let’s go there and shut the Mother Fucker down !
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ahhh, ralph bucks
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Quoting redbaron:
I think the fundamental problem our society has with going green is that we’re trying to fit environmental alternatives into lifestyles of hyper-consumption. Most of us know what we have to do by now, thanks to Al Gore, but would rather wash our hands of it by claiming that it’s too much of a hassle and expense. And yeah, it is more expensive and less convenient to buy stuff, eat, use utilities, drive, breed, and so on at the rate we currently do when we’re trying to keep the environment in mind. The thing is that while environmental alternatives are great and all, the best way to help the environment is just to do less of all of those things.
If you feel like getting yelled at for an hour or so, try telling anyone making upwards of fifty thousand dollars a year that it’s actually ethical to buy fewer consumer goods with their hard-earned money; that having the means to do something doesn’t mean that it’s right to do it. We usually apply that rule to sex, violence, theft, and other biggies, but for some reason stewardship is way further down on the priority scale than our perceived right to earn a big pile of cash so we can buy whatever crap we see on TV. Maybe because there are no direct consequences - we don’t have to see the kid in Ecuador making our sweaters or the uninhabitable hole of a planet we’re setting up our grandkids to inherit.
“Truthfully, the seeds of some of our most brilliant advancements have come from our never-ending love affair with exacting the art of killing one another in a more timely and efficient manner.”
In a class I’m taking in project management the instructor told us that the discipline’s first formal use was to speed up the Manhattan Project.
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I hope everyone posting here rides their bike to work or school. Even public transit uses oil. The best analogy here is that of a drug user and a dealer, the relationship is 2 way. If the world would find a cleaner source of energy the Fort Mac would become the small town dump it was before Syncrude et al moved in. But don’t heat your home with oil, drive a car and fly planes and then piss on the people who are giving you your oil. I would be happier than anything if the oil sand were shut down tomorrow but it’s not going to happen.
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Maybe it’s the pessimist in me, but as long as excavating the oil sands– or, really, any endeavour you can name– continues to make a lot of people very, very wealthy, it’s never going to stop. Why on earth (pardon the pun) would the Albertan or Canadian governments choose to do anything to curtail it? Out of the goodness of their hearts? Because they genuinely care for the environment? Even if they did care, that’s not enough. Profit will always trump any and every other concern.
I mean, you have polls that clearly show that the number one issue concerning Canadians is the environment– it even tops health care, which, as we all know, is saying a lot. But does that mean anything? Nah. Our government can’t even be bothered to develop a cohesive environmental policy.
The trouble with pessimism like this is that it creates a sort of apathy– you are convinced nothing will ever change, so why bother doing anything? There’s got to be some sort of hope to spark people into action.
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Related thoughts from David Suzuki:
“What distinguishes human beings from the rest of the animal kingdom is foresight, the ability to look ahead, to recognize dangers and opportunities and by acting in the present, to avoid the hazards and to exploit the opportunities in the future. No other animal has that ability, and it has been the key to our explosive growth and dominance of the planet.
When those in business and government continue to deliberately ignore the best scientific advice warning us of the need to act, they are committing us to a path that will have catastrophic consequences for our children and grandchildren.
I believe this is an intergenerational crime.
We need to push our leaders – push them hard and hold them accountable.”
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Quoting wscheuer:
Totally agree, is it not a whole spectrum of people raping Alberta resources. Labor from all across Canada as well as the rest of the world. Isn’t Saskatchewan and Labrador next on the list? Sort of the same as Wal-mart shoppers polluting China.
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People that apply to work on an oil reserve because they need money. Minimum wage is just over broke. It tends to be very hard, very dirty work with little or no work benifits. Anything that pays more is very seductive. That’s why people work at these terrible jobs and sign up for the army. The average person has so little freedom these days that, to have a little more money can feel powerful. The man has us all by the balls. The only way to loosen the grip is to kick him back! If people stopped applying for these jobs I wonder what the goverment would do about it?
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Quoting DoinMyTime:
“the man” has us by the balls? wtf are you talking about? If you spontaneously shut down the processing of the oil sands today what do you think would happen? would “the man” get what he deserves? or would you see a gigantic market crash, thousands of people lose their jobs, have the price of crude oil spike through the roof, which would consequently cause inflation increasing the price of anything even moderately associated with oil(which is everything by the way). Of course you would save the environment and “the man” would really get whats coming to him.
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Sigh, well we wouldn’t want to hurt anyones feelings now would we?!?!
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Raynyn you are 100 percent right so so true
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yeah there’s an old Cree saying I’m sure y’all know it, goes:
“Only after the last tree has been cut down.
Only after the last river has been poisoned.
Only after the last fish has been caught.
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.”
fits this post.
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Quoting sotiredithurts:
Ok that so wouldn’t happen. They would just turn to something else more profitable. Engines can run on many things. Electricity, water, solar power, garbage, french fry grease etc. If oil became less of an option because people stopped buying it and what not, oil companies would just evolve to survive. These people aren’t stupid, they’re just greedy. They know how to survive when times change. It’s up to the people to want change to happen. Am I sounding too optimistic or something? Even if the economy suffered a little it doesn’t mean the human population would die out. A little hardship won’t kill us but a depletion of all natural resorces will. Ah well. The next generations won’t mind if everything is gone.
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Quoting DoinMyTime:
Of course it would happen, how could it not happen? everything is reliant on oil, so if its supply is drastically reduced you will have a drastic increase in prices, a loss of jobs, a market crash, etc; its happened in the past, and is just common sense. Its not “these people” its everyone, everyone uses oil, and im sorry to say, water, garbage, and french fry grease isnt the answer.
Also how does processing the oil sands(or oil mining in general) equal a depletion of all natural resources?
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i agree with everything that has been said for the most part but i have to wonder………..Matt are your cd’s all made with enviro-friendly packaging?what are you doing besides this blog to reduce your personal footprint on mother earth?
i don’t mean to come off harsh…….just wanted to know.
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Quoting sotiredithurts:
“You know, it’s interesting how easy it is to forget that this planet has finite resources, and that the longer we abuse it the more assured our own demise as a species becomes. Of course, there are those that will argue until their dying breath that that isn’t the case, that we couldn’t possibly consume so much of this planet’s resources as to actually cause our own extinction. Then again, the last two times the world went to war we exclaimed after each - never again - and look how that’s turned out.
According to Environmental Defense, the excavation of the oil sands is, itself, producing enormous amount of greenhouse gasses. The process is also poisoning local water supplies. Of course, and not surprising in the least, output is projected to grow to a level that, by 2015, will see 3 million barrels of oil produced a day.”
Well sure the market has crashed and people lose there jobs and shit but it’s happened in the past and people survived. I’m not saying oil is responsible for the depletion of all natural resources but it does do a lot of damage. Oil mining destroys natural habitats. Everything runs on oil, yes, but if oil companies decided to buy up more natural ways to do things then we wouldn’t be breathing carbon monoxide while walking beside the highway. Cancer and asthma wouldn’t be at an all time high.
I walk to work, recycle, heat my home with electic heat and buy from a local farm market. Not everything I do is enviromentaly friendly but it’s better then doing nothing at all. I don’t buy oil and It saves a fortune. ;-)
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Quoting DoinMyTime:
Yeah but you talked about “stickin it to the man” in your earlier post as if the destruction of the oil industry would benefit everyone and screw over those producing oil, and this just isnt the case, since oil is so intrinsically connected to every facet of day-to-day life, it would most likely just screw over everyone else.
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Quoting sotiredithurts:
You’re absolutely right. Oil companies wouldn’t suffer they would just change for the better.
I just think that if alternative energy was used to run day-to-day life, then the economy wouldn’t suffer. Neither would the eco system. New jobs would be created. I don’t think bringing back the electric car is impossible.
Ok I suppose People working in the oil industry wouldn’t be very happy if a bunch of new age hippies came to shut the mother down and stick it to the man. That’s just silly. You can never win against the goverment or corporations anyway, so why bother protesting right? Keeping the oil industry is a big step towards screwing everyone in the long run. I’m only young and I want to look forward to a bright future not a polluted one.
Listen up, ’so-tired-it-hurts’ You should get some sleep. :-)
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It’s nice to read some actual back-and-forth chatter on here. DoinMyTime and sotiredithurts have a good conversation. I would only like to point out to sotired that alternative energy isn’t a practical answer at the moment - think of how much it would cost you to run your life on everything but oil. Solar power - not cheap at the moment; wind power - publicly available in Canada? Hydrogen - any commercial or public applications yet? Nothing. The oil companies are opportunistic, not greedy. They realize that oil is the cheapest and most economical way to provide power to everyone that requires it, and they have built huge amounts of infrastructure to provide for our need so that they can reap the monetary benefits. That’s business. That’s what every person is in business to do, including the farmer’s at your local market, and the electric company that heats your home. Yes, oil companies pollute and scar the landscape; but I seriously doubt that you can find a business that doesn’t pollute or have at all.
Even the cleaner technologies that people like to trumpet aren’t totally clean. Electricity comes from somewhere, right? If you trace the wires back through your outlet, I’m sure that you’ll see the source of the power isn’t so green. Hydro power may be renewable, but it isn’t without its harmful effects on fisheries and other local wildlife. Electricity produced by coal pours tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. The manufacture of solar mirrors requires energy and processes that typically use massive amounts of fossil fuels.
I believe that if we want to use cleaner technologies to help the environment and ensure a positive future for our children and grandchildren, (and I would like to do that!), the answer isn’t boycotting oil companies and fossil fuels, or complaining about the marred landscape of Fort MacMurray or high housing prices. I believe the best solution we can pursue is to make the green technologies cheap so that they can become commonplace; so that everyone has a chance to access them. Rather than spend a billion dollars enforcing CO2 cuts, let’s spend a billion dollars figuring out a way to make CHEAP solar power readily available to the public. Let’s figure out how to get wind power hooked up to the existing power grids so that we can take some of the load off of our coal-fired power plants.
And you know, you’re right: oil companies will adapt. They are currently adapting, and are some of the largest investors in green projects in the world. They don’t want dead polar bears on their hands - it’s bad for business. But what is good for business is people purchasing something they need (power), which you can regenerate time and time again.
Until we get these cheap technologies, let’s continue to do what we can to decrease our reliance on oil, let’s make the small steps to reduce our carbon emissions and footprints, but let’s push our elected representatives to take the route of research & development so we can get the technology sooner - not a simple tax on CO2.
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Your cool Optimus.
I don’t vote
because I don’t think there is democracy anymore like there used to be. Voting never seems to change the bad things that happen in society, through day to day life. You’ve watched that tid bit on George Carlin that Matt posted as “The Comic” didn’t you? He’s a smart guy. He’s like an American Gandhi.
I don’t know how you can think oil companies aren’t greedy. There has been so many books and documentaries on how corrupt they are. For example;
“According to Environmental Defense, the excavation of the oil sands is, itself, producing enormous amount of greenhouse gasses. The process is also poisoning local water supplies. Of course, and not surprising in the least, output is projected to grow to a level that, by 2015, will see 3 million barrels of oil produced a day.”
Shell has been using resouces in Africa and taking up the land that the local fisherman use to fish. They don’t hire locals either.
ExxonMobil has spent $16 million, between 1998 and 2005, towards 43 advocacy organizations which dispute the impact of global warming.The union of the concerned Scientists say;
“ExxonMobil used disinformation tactics similar to those used by the tobacco industry in its denials of the link between lung cancer and smoking, saying that the company used many of the same organizations and personnel to cloud the scientific understanding of climate change and delay action on the issue. ”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exxon_Mobil#Human_rights gives many more examples of the corruptions.
Esso has been a huge financial influence in the USA’s decision not to be part of the Kyoto Protocol. Esso denies climate change is a real problem and it doesn’t invest a single cent in renewable energy.
You tell me that isn’t greed.
Every person on the planet pollutes in some way, big or small. If certain businesses are trying to reduce green house gases and pollution, then power to ‘em. At least they’re doing something rather then nothing.
There are solar panels that convert sunlight to electricity, unfortunately though, it’s damn expensive. If alternate forms of energy were mass produced they would be cheeper. As long as the public has a demand for them, more envormentaly friendly things will be made. As daunting as it seems to try at times, giving up makes us feel much worse. You’ve got to look real hard on the good thhings in this world that come from humanity and try not to let corporations take it away. I hope people will try not to give up on nature because we need it as much as the other critters do!
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I appreciate the comment! I did watch the George Carlin bit, and enjoyed it.
I still don’t think that you’ve separated the oil companies from any other business to a degree where you could call them greedy without lumping many other companies or industries in with them. Businesses exist to make a profit, and oil companies are no different than Wal-Mart, Nestle, or Disney (three of the biggest on the planet). They see an opportunity to provide for a consumer’s need, and then do so and charge for their provision. There is scarcely a company that is 100% “clean” in the sense that they couldn’t be tied to global warming or some other scandal in their entirety.
The Canadian forest industry regularly cuts down millions of trees each year, which in its own way is harming the environment and polluting at the same time. (Those chainsaws they use and the heavy machinery brought in to logging sites pollute many times more than your average autombile). And their tree planting, while an attempt, takes nearly 20 years to “renew” to the point where the forest is back to at least a semblance of what it was originally. The mining industry harms the environment in much the same way; there are literally thousands of businesses that are not much different than oil companies in the polluting/harming the environment sense.
It’s true, the product that the oil companies provide for consumers does contribute to global warming more than any other consumer good, but I didn’t see any recognition of the fact the these businesses are also some of the heaviest investors in renewable energy. Chevron is the world’s largest producer of geothermal energy (the cheapest renewable available at this time) in the world; Exxon Mobil contributed $100 million to research at Stanford, including a project to get CHEAP solar power in the market; BP invests in solar, wind, and hydrogen projects to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. I didn’t hear any investment projects from the BC Gov’t announced in yesterday’s budget . . .
I wholeheartedly agree with you - we can’t just throw in the towel; we should remain positive. Heck, at least we have the technology (albeit expensive) to turn sunlight into energy! That’s an amazing feat if you stop to think about it! But ragging on oil companies to no end is not a way to stay positive and win the climate-change war. As mentioned in posts above, if oil companies shut down operations tomorrow, the world would be in chaos - literally. The way I like to stay positive is to get behind the people that are making a difference. Support research that makes alternative and truly renewable energy sources (like solar) cheap and easily accessable. Like you say, support companies that aren’t polluting or harming the environment, when you can. Press government to invest in these technologies rather than taxing the crap out of poor people who don’t a have a choice other than to use less green technologies, because they’re cheaper.
Thoughts?
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You make a good point, well made. However I still think that oil companies, just like any company like Wal-Mart, that make a huge profit (or even rich individuals like Bill Gates), are very selective in their choosing of what charities and technologies to support. It’s an issue of image. Oil company execs, for example, have for so long been seen by many people as just a bunch of old white greedy bastards, that their public image advisors get the big bucks to help them look better in the press. To this end they make great strides in publishing their “acheivements” in alternative energy technology for the world to see, hoping that will soften the public perception of them.
In actual fact, many of these so-called advances in technology have been around for years (electric car, anyone?), but they choose to support what, ultimately, will make them more profit in the long run. I’m not just “picking on” oil companies either, as it’s really anyone that has been consumed by greed who is looking for a way to ease their public conscience. Bill Gates, for example, could feed an entire third world country from starvation if he really wanted to, but instead he chooses select charities such as his university fund for students who, as it turns out, would be using his own Microsoft products.
Yes, there is more to it then that, but as long as there are people dying of starvation on a daily basis, there should be no reason why we should have any sympathy for ANYONE making huge profits, be it oil companies, WalMart, Disney, McDonald’s, Bill Gates, or whichever greedy corporate bastard you’d like to add to the list. There are a million variables we COULD debate for months, BUT all that really needs to be said is that there should never be BILLIONAIRES in the world as long as people die every day from a lack of basic necessities.
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Quoting DoinMyTime:
I agree completely.