[graffis-l] ALBERTA AND TAR SANDS AND DESTRUCTION

[Guest guest]

How Alberta is Bringing Environmental

Armageddon to Canada (and Does

 

 

Posted by: " Mark Graffis "

mgraffis

mgraffis

 

 

Sat Oct 6, 2007 5:27 pm (PST)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071006.BKALBE06/TPStory/National

It's not just Alberta, it's the whole country

ANDREW NIKIFORUK

October 6, 2007

STUPID TO THE LAST DROP

How Alberta is Bringing Environmental Armageddon to Canada (and

Doesn't Seem to Care)

By William Marsden

Knopf Canada, 246 pages, $29.95

I live in oil-addled Alberta, a sort of modern Deadwood complete with

self-possessed con men and blighted landscapes. Every day, the whole

province looks and acts more and more like a profane gold-mining camp.

Ask newcomers, and they will tell you they are here for the money. The

invasion makes most of my rural friends feel like outnumbered Sioux in

the Black Hills.

Even the news reads like an outrageous dime novel. One day the

premier, a man with no sense of irony, praises the tar sands as a car

without brakes; the next day the energy regulator gets caught illegally

spying on citizens who want brakes installed on the car, and then lies

like Richard Nixon about the spying. Alberta could sure use a Roberto

Bolaño or Kurt Vonnegut about now.

With these cheerful thoughts in mind, I picked up Stupid to the Last

Drop with a mixture of curiosity and caution. A great title, I thought,

and penned by an easterner, no less. The author, William Marsden, hails

from Montreal and used to write about motorcycle gangs. Now he's

graduated to carbon outlaws in the ever-drying West. Not much of a

stretch, really.

Although Marsden does not write with the heated bravado of a Bolaño

or a Vonnegut, he does bring a fresh pair of discerning eyes to an

unusual series of nation-changing events. With a Montreal mixture of

disbelief and awe, he confidently reports how an entire province is

destroying itself, and then asks why no one in Canada " seems to

care. "

But let's begin with Marsden's intelligently quirky narrative on

energy and destiny. The investigative reporter starts off with a curious

yet true story about plans to nuke the tar sands, the world's

second-largest source of oil after Saudi Arabia. But separating tar from

sand in the boreal forest has always been a messy job. The good folks at

Richfield Oil and the Alberta government figured out that a couple of

atomic warheads might speed up the process in the 1950s.

Marsden can barely hide his incredulity as he relates this fantastic

story. Yes, engineers spent years fine-tuning the project before it got

axed. And yes, the Russians stole the idea and eventually proved that

nuking heavy oil increases productivity, but also leaves an inconvenient

radioactive fingerprint. And yes, the U.S. government still holds the

patent on the " nuclear explosive method for stimulating

hydrocarbons " in the tar sands.

From these surreal beginnings, Marsden tracks the great tar sands

rush in the late 1990s to the current cocaine-driven mess in Fort

McMurray. He also explains why the oil-obsessed United States

understandably views the megaprojects in northern Alberta as a stable

refuge from the world market: " gangsters, thieves and a surly

Venezuelan. "

Next, Marsden encounters several smart Albertans with profound

messages. Former premier Peter Lougheed tells him that the province has

stupidly forgotten how to behave like an " owner. " David

Schindler, one of the world's foremost water ecologists, explains how the

systematic and ignorant trashing of provincial watersheds could ensure

citizens a bleak future within 50 years. David Hughes, an energy and peak

oil expert, wonders why federal and provincial politicians don't seem

cleverly interested in oil and gas conservation now that Canadians are

stupidly reduced to digging big holes in the ground for the world's

dirtiest oil. And on it goes.

But Marsden really finds his mark while recording the tales of

ordinary Davids facing powerful yet stupid Goliaths. Francis Gardner, one

fine rancher, gets the better of Shell Oil in a brazen, Russian-like

encounter on New Year's Eve. Jessica Ernst, a courageous oil-patch

consultant, tells how EnCana carelessly drilled into a local aquifer and

gave her groundwater a shocking advantage: She can light it on fire. Dr.

John O'Connor, a physician with a moral heart, explains how both federal

and provincial bureaucrats tried to silence his disturbing documentation

of cancer deaths downstream from the tar sands. In these inspiring tales,

at least, Marsden proves that moral intelligence has not disappeared from

Alberta; it just doesn't appear to exist in government circles any

more.

The biggest stupidities that Marsden discovers could and probably

should shock any Canadian. A government that gives away its oil for a

1-per-cent royalty is not only stupid but politically bankrupt. A

regulator ( " eight mulish, white male suits " ) that rubber-stamps

projects and then spies on citizens who question their rubber-stamping is

a Soviet-style disgrace. A former environment minister who rants not

about the destruction of rivers and forests, but about his Harvard

education, is pure Mark Twain territory. Welcome to Saudi Alberta.

Yet for all his insightful storytelling, Marsden offers few solutions

and frequently misdiagnoses the problem. Much of his abbreviated

oil-sands history skimps on critical facts and he even omits seminal

works such as The Tar Sands, by Larry Pratt. The American-bashing is both

tiring and old hat. Our best oil customer has not bullied the province

into submission, as Marsden suggests. No, our leaders simply gave away

the farm.

Nor is Alberta some loony character on the national stage. Explore

any Appalachian-sized open-pit mine north of Fort McMurray, and you'll

find a new national dream writ larger than life as well as scores of

Montreal engineers having the time of their lives. You can call tar-sand

developers anything you want, but " stupid " is one adjective

that would never come to mind. Most are incredibly accomplished and

erudite men.

So let's be honest and stop blaming Alberta for keeping half the

nation tanked up in carbon-emitting fuels. The really big truth is this:

Canadians are land abusers, carbon makers and resource exploiters

extraordinaire. It's what we do best. Our political elites don't give any

more thought to destroying a forest the size of Florida than do

crackheads or the tired Newfies working in Suncor's Millennium camp.

Maybe it's just Canadian to be stupid.

Although Marsden documents the First Law of Petro-Politics

(democracies go bad as they drink more oil), he fails to grasp its

overall importance in the strange doings he explores. And is it not

genuinely foolhardy for Montrealers to ignore Ottawa's disdain of

national energy plans as eastern Canada, a region not connected to the

tar sands, becomes ever more dependent on oil from rogue or hostile

nations?

Yet Marsden's unsettling exposé of careless decision-making sheds

more needed light on some very dark corners in Alberta (and Canada). He

has walked into a provincial boom-town, populated largely by arrogant and

greedy males (Hells Angels with suits), and not flinched.

Good on you, partner.

Contributing reviewer Andrew Nikiforuk is the Calgary author of the

award-winning Saboteurs: Wiebo Ludwig's War Against Big Oil.

uthAt 08:23 AM 10/7/07, you wrote:

How Alberta is Bringing

Environmental Armageddon to Canada (and Does

Posted by: " Mark Graffis " mgraffis

mgraffis

Sat Oct 6, 2007 5:27 pm (PST)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071006.BKALBE06/TPStory/National

It's not just Alberta, it's the whole country

ANDREW NIKIFORUK

October 6, 2007

STUPID TO THE LAST DROP

How Alberta is Bringing Environmental Armageddon to Canada (and Doesn't

Seem to Care)

By William Marsden

Knopf Canada, 246 pages, $29.95

I live in oil-addled Alberta, a sort of modern Deadwood complete with

self-possessed con men and blighted landscapes. Every day, the whole

province looks and acts more and more like a profane gold-mining camp.

Ask newcomers, and they will tell you they are here for the money. The

invasion makes most of my rural friends feel like outnumbered Sioux in

the Black Hills.

Even the news reads like an outrageous dime novel. One day the premier, a

man with no sense of irony, praises the tar sands as a car without

brakes; the next day the energy regulator gets caught illegally spying on

citizens who want brakes installed on the car, and then lies like Richard

Nixon about the spying. Alberta could sure use a Roberto Bolaño or Kurt

Vonnegut about now.

With these cheerful thoughts in mind, I picked up Stupid to the Last Drop

with a mixture of curiosity and caution. A great title, I thought, and

penned by an easterner, no less. The author, William Marsden, hails from

Montreal and used to write about motorcycle gangs. Now he's graduated to

carbon outlaws in the ever-drying West. Not much of a stretch,

really.

Although Marsden does not write with the heated bravado of a Bolaño or a

Vonnegut, he does bring a fresh pair of discerning eyes to an unusual

series of nation-changing events. With a Montreal mixture of disbelief

and awe, he confidently reports how an entire province is destroying

itself, and then asks why no one in Canada " seems to

care. "

But let's begin with Marsden's intelligently quirky narrative on energy

and destiny. The investigative reporter starts off with a curious yet

true story about plans to nuke the tar sands, the world's second-largest

source of oil after Saudi Arabia. But separating tar from sand in the

boreal forest has always been a messy job. The good folks at Richfield

Oil and the Alberta government figured out that a couple of atomic

warheads might speed up the process in the 1950s.

Marsden can barely hide his incredulity as he relates this fantastic

story. Yes, engineers spent years fine-tuning the project before it got

axed. And yes, the Russians stole the idea and eventually proved that

nuking heavy oil increases productivity, but also leaves an inconvenient

radioactive fingerprint. And yes, the U.S. government still holds the

patent on the " nuclear explosive method for stimulating

hydrocarbons " in the tar sands.

From these surreal beginnings, Marsden tracks the great tar sands rush

in the late 1990s to the current cocaine-driven mess in Fort McMurray. He

also explains why the oil-obsessed United States understandably views the

megaprojects in northern Alberta as a stable refuge from the world

market: " gangsters, thieves and a surly Venezuelan. "

Next, Marsden encounters several smart Albertans with profound messages.

Former premier Peter Lougheed tells him that the province has stupidly

forgotten how to behave like an " owner. " David Schindler, one

of the world's foremost water ecologists, explains how the systematic and

ignorant trashing of provincial watersheds could ensure citizens a bleak

future within 50 years. David Hughes, an energy and peak oil expert,

wonders why federal and provincial politicians don't seem cleverly

interested in oil and gas conservation now that Canadians are stupidly

reduced to digging big holes in the ground for the world's dirtiest oil.

And on it goes.

But Marsden really finds his mark while recording the tales of ordinary

Davids facing powerful yet stupid Goliaths. Francis Gardner, one fine

rancher, gets the better of Shell Oil in a brazen, Russian-like encounter

on New Year's Eve. Jessica Ernst, a courageous oil-patch consultant,

tells how EnCana carelessly drilled into a local aquifer and gave her

groundwater a shocking advantage: She can light it on fire. Dr. John

O'Connor, a physician with a moral heart, explains how both federal and

provincial bureaucrats tried to silence his disturbing documentation of

cancer deaths downstream from the tar sands. In these inspiring tales, at

least, Marsden proves that moral intelligence has not disappeared from

Alberta; it just doesn't appear to exist in government circles any

more.

The biggest stupidities that Marsden discovers could and probably should

shock any Canadian. A government that gives away its oil for a 1-per-cent

royalty is not only stupid but politically bankrupt. A regulator

( " eight mulish, white male suits " ) that rubber-stamps projects

and then spies on citizens who question their rubber-stamping is a

Soviet-style disgrace. A former environment minister who rants not about

the destruction of rivers and forests, but about his Harvard education,

is pure Mark Twain territory. Welcome to Saudi Alberta.

Yet for all his insightful storytelling, Marsden offers few solutions and

frequently misdiagnoses the problem. Much of his abbreviated oil-sands

history skimps on critical facts and he even omits seminal works such as

The Tar Sands, by Larry Pratt. The American-bashing is both tiring and

old hat. Our best oil customer has not bullied the province into

submission, as Marsden suggests. No, our leaders simply gave away the

farm.

Nor is Alberta some loony character on the national stage. Explore any

Appalachian-sized open-pit mine north of Fort McMurray, and you'll find a

new national dream writ larger than life as well as scores of Montreal

engineers having the time of their lives. You can call tar-sand

developers anything you want, but " stupid " is one adjective

that would never come to mind. Most are incredibly accomplished and

erudite men.

So let's be honest and stop blaming Alberta for keeping half the nation

tanked up in carbon-emitting fuels. The really big truth is this:

Canadians are land abusers, carbon makers and resource exploiters

extraordinaire. It's what we do best. Our political elites don't give any

more thought to destroying a forest the size of Florida than do

crackheads or the tired Newfies working in Suncor's Millennium camp.

Maybe it's just Canadian to be stupid.

Although Marsden documents the First Law of Petro-Politics (democracies

go bad as they drink more oil), he fails to grasp its overall importance

in the strange doings he explores. And is it not genuinely foolhardy for

Montrealers to ignore Ottawa's disdain of national energy plans as

eastern Canada, a region not connected to the tar sands, becomes ever

more dependent on oil from rogue or hostile nations?

Yet Marsden's unsettling exposé of careless decision-making sheds more

needed light on some very dark corners in Alberta (and Canada). He has

walked into a provincial boom-town, populated largely by arrogant and

greedy males (Hells Angels with suits), and not flinched.

Good on you, partner.

Contributing reviewer Andrew Nikiforuk is the Calgary author of the

award-winning Saboteurs: Wiebo Ludwig's War Against Big Oil.

 

 

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