The Alberta Tar Sands

1. C a n a d i a n T a r S a n d s
Growing scarcity of global fossil fuels supplies make the Canadian Tar Sands
a n d a p p e a l i n g f u e l s o u r c e .
However, thick bitumen within the Alberta oil sands contains significantly
greater quantities of sulfur, nitrogen, lead, nickel, mercury and arsenic leading
to widespread health concerns and environmental damage.

2. barrels of oil in the
Albertan Oil Sands
representing
There are proven
reserves of
of
global oil reserves.

3. s e r v i n g
p u b l i c
i n t e r e s t
remaining within the Earth’s carrying capacity
E q u i t a b l e
W e a l t h
D i s t r i b u t i o n
promoting universal
human rights and social
j u s t i c e .
G o v e r n a n c e

4. A CLSC (Centre for the Studies of Living Standards) study published in 2010 concluded
that the most significant determinants of individual happiness in order of greatest to
least impactful were: , belonging to a , the relative
of an area, and lastly, the individual income.

5. There were 151,000
Albertan’s employed in the oil
and gas sector in 2011.
National in
the oil and gas sector is
expected to increase to
905,000 in 2035 with
continued expansion of the
tar sands.
However…
The Tar Sands industrial
communities, such as Ft.
McMurray, exhibit some of
the highest crime, drug abuse
and drunk driving rates in
Canada. Only those working
in the industry benefit while
others are left to suffer from
increased inflation while their

6. “We've got a sort of brainwashing going on in our
country”, Morrie sighed. “Do you know how they
brainwash people? They repeat something over and
over. And that's what we do in this country. Owning
things is good. More money is good. More property is
good. More commercialism is good. More is good.
More is good. We repeat it--and have it repeated to
us--over and over until nobody bothers to even think
otherwise. The average person is so fogged up by all
of this, he has no perspective on what's really
important anymore”
- Mitch Albom

7. Proposed Tar Sands
extraction will also
destroy 29,500
hectares of Peatland
in Alberta, which will
result in additional
carbon dioxide
emissions of 11.4 to
47.3 million metric
tonnes of carbon
dioxide per year.
r e m a i n i n g
w i t h i n t h e
E a r t h ’ s
c a r r y i n g
c a p a c i t y

8. The bitumen that is transported in these pipelines is thicker
and more likely to spill than conventional oils. According to
Cornell University's Global Labor Institute, “Between 2007
and 2010, pipelines transporting tar sands oil in the
northern Midwest have spilled three times more per mile
than the U.S. national average for conventional crude.”.

9. A Lakota Grandmother,
White Plume, notes that
proposals for the
Keystone Pipeline serve
as a continuation to the
destruction of her culture
and nation: “To us this oil
pipeline [is] coming in
across our drinking water
and surface water source,
if our water line is
contaminated by that oil it
will be genocide for
our Oglala Lakota people.
There are 50,000 of us on
the Pine Ridge
Reservation.”
promoting universal human
rights and social justice

11. The government should be responsible for facilitating research on the potential
health effects of such a potentially hazardous resource. Current knowledge of
the
environmental impacts of the Tar Sands is far from extensive. Dr. John
O’Connor, provider of medical services in Fort Chipeqyan since 2000, noticed
significantly higher proportions of rare cancer rates in native communities
directly downstream from Tar
Sands facilities. In spite of his urges to the government, it wasn’t until 2008 and
a significant amount of media pressure that the government funded a study by
the
Alberta Cancer Board. The Board did find a proportionally higher cancer
burden and recommended further research, but no further inquiry has taken
place
G o v e r n a n c e

12. In 2011, the
public received
less than 4 billion
in the form of
royalties and
land sales, while
the oil
companies
received
E q u i t a b l e W e a l t h D i s t r i b u t i o n
While oil prices
have increased
400%; the
royalties paid
by the oil
industry to the
Alberta
government
have
decreased
from 3 to 2
dollars per
barrel, leading
to corporate
dominance
and unequal
distribution of
wealth.

13. “Well, for one thing, the culture we have does not make people
feel good about themselves. We're teaching the wrong things. And
you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work,
don't buy it. Create your own. Most people can't do it.” – Mitch Albom

14. W o r k s C i t e d

15. • Alberta government. “Alberta’s Oil Sands.” Last modified 2012. Accessed Oct.
29, 2012. http://oilsands.alberta.ca/.
• Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS). “Does Money Mattter?
Determining the Happiness of Canadians.” Published November 2010, updated
February 2011. CSLS Research Report No. 2010-09. Accessed online:
http://www.csls.ca/reports/csls2010-09.pdf
• Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays with Morrie. New York: Doubleday, 1997. Print.
• Climate and Capitalism. “Emission from tar sands will be worse than expect.”
Last modified March 26th, 2012. Accessed Oct. 29, 2012
• http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/03/26/emissions-from-tar-sands-will-be-
worse-than-
expected/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%
3A+climateandcapitalism%2FpEtD%28Climate+and+Capitalism%29
• Angus, Ian. “Leave the Tar Sand in the Ground!” Last modified Aug 22,
2012. Accessed Oct. 29 2012.
http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/08/22/leave-the-tar-sand-in-the-
ground/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3
A+climateandcapitalism%2FpEtD+%28Climate+and+Capitalism%29.

16. Continued
• Droitsch, Danielle. “Report: Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline More of an
Economic Liability than Benefit.” Last modified March 13 2012. Accessed Oct
29, 2012.
http://www.alternet.org/story/154529/report%3A_keystone_xl_tar_sands_pipelin
e_more_of_an_economic_liability_than_benefit?akid=8413.78664.6YJ94D&rd=
1&t=15.
• Redman, Janet. “3 Reasons Why the Tar Sands Pipeline Has to Be Stopped.”
Last modified Aug 19 2011. Accessed Oct 29, 2012.
http://www.alternet.org/story/152107/3_reasons_why_the_tar_sands_pipeline_h
as_to_be_stopped?page=entire
• O’Connor,John. “Ethical Hypocrisy: Windmills, the tar sand and human health.”
Last modified Aug 15, 2012. Accessed Oct 29,
2012http://rabble.ca/news/2012/08/ethical-hypocrisy-windmills-tar-sands-and-
human-health.
• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “Tar Sands- Selling of Alberta.” Video
available online 13 March 2008.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu6wl98m8zI. (27:00 mins).
• Hansen, James E. “The White House & Tar Sands.” Last modified Sept 4 2011.
Accessed Sept. 29 2012. http://truth-out.org/news/item/3118:the-white-house--
tar-sands