Ethical Dilemma #3: The Canadian Tar Sands and Their Impact on Wildlife
Canada's Tar Sands
In 2005, Canada was second only to Saudi Arabia in crude oil reserves, but almost 97% of Canada's reserve is in tar sands. The Athabasca Oil Sands development in northern Alberta currently produces 1.98 million barrels per day and is forecasted to reach 3.7 million barrels per day by 2020". (http://www.energy.alberta.ca/oilsands/791.asp) But removing that oil from the tar sands requires a lot of energy. Currently the tar sands project burns natural gas to heat the steam that removes the oil. The tar sands project is the largest single producer of greenhouse gases in North America.
What are some of the harmful effects of the tar sands, and the greenhouse gases they produce?
What are some positives to Canadian tar sands? (check out the link below for some insightful statistics)
Should businesses and consumers be concerned about the effects?
Useful Links:
https://www.energy.alberta.ca/OS/AOS/Pages/FAS.aspx
http://www.energy.gov.ab.ca/OS/Pages/default.aspx
some harmful effects of the sands are that they produce the greenhouse gasses, even though greenhouse gasses keep the climate stable, too much of the gasses will cause the earth to be even warmer than before and that's not very good for the future. some positives are that the tar sands produce a lot of oil. I think businesses and consumers should be worried, because even though it's good in some ways, it hurts the environment and that is a really bad thing to do because the world is our home and we shouldn't destroy it.
ReplyDeleteits cam
DeleteI agree with you Cam. We don't usually know what we have until it is gone. Sometimes stressing about the future is not a bad thing.
Deletei agree with cam that we shouldn't be destroying or home and envioment.
DeleteI also agree that we should worry about tar sands because we wouldn't want to destroy our home that 7 billion people inhabit.
DeleteI agree with you Cam that we should be concerned because we are destroying our planet doing this kind of things.
DeleteCam, you refer to the earth warming in a negative way and I believe that climate change is not all bad. What if climate change could lead to places in north Canada and Russia losing all their snow and becoming farmland to feed the many starving people?
DeleteWhat about places like Texas, instead of highs being 106 they're now even hotter.
DeleteThe greenhouse gases are tearing a bigger hole in the ozone layer. This is responsible for climate change. Tar sands are a source of energy. It is used in cars and some parts of buildings. They also provide economic growth and large revenue for the government. Consumers should be concerned about the effects. The relationship between consumers and producers makes business. I believe that there will always be businesses but those businesses don’t always have consumers. If a business losses consumers is it still a business? There is the COSIA but if the oils in Alberta keep generating revenue, Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance will not help much.
ReplyDeleteIf there aren't any consumers the business might not have enough money to keep producing, so then we can stop hurting our world.
DeleteI agree about the ozone layer and its also interesting to hear your point about the affect of the consumer.
DeleteSorry I missed a part of the first question. The GHG's produced are, carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, and nitrous oxide.
ReplyDeleteSome harmful effects of greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, methane and ozone. I think business and consumers should be concerned about the effects of greenhouse gases because they all are bad for humans (carbon dioxide isn’t as dangerous as the other chemicals). They can cause major health effects and some could be even deadly to humans. I think we should bring awareness about this to people so we can tell them how bad this is for us but also how to reduce the amount of these gases are released. One positive about tar sands is they help with the oil industry (due to the fact the oil is in the sand).
ReplyDeletei agree with your point on the health risks for humans and bringing awareness to people os a good idea.
DeleteI mostly agree with you Megan although, it might be hard to completely change our way of getting energy considering renewable ways can be so costly therefore, how could Canada push to new ways?
DeleteI agree with you because most people aren't aware of the consequences of greenhouse gasses and how we are destroying the environment with them.
DeletePosted on behalf of Chloe:
DeleteI agree with you Megan. Bring awareness to people is very important. I had no idea what tar sands are and what harmful effects they have to the environment and our health before reading this article. People should know what they are and why they should care before, then they will be willing to change.
I think business and consumers should be concerned about the oil sands and the effects of them on our planet and its future. we always hear about greenhouse gases and pollution and this is one of those things that cause these issues. Canadians and people all around the world should be taking responsibility for these things and should find better alternatives. the business as well, they could start growing in more environment-friendly things such as solar electricity and slowly move out of oil. the one problem is having job safety for the workers and Canada's government still making money for the workers and business owners so the process of switching over could take some time but I think that's what they should be doing it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your opinion of switching to a much more environmental friendly source of energy that won't harm the planet.
DeleteI agree Jonty, the government should work towards finding better ways to get their energy. I believe many of the jobs that would be lost if the tar sands closed down could be found in renewable and environmentally friendly energy plants.
DeleteI agree with Jonty, finding other ways to generate energy is more crucial now then it has ever been and I think Canada should push to new and cleaner ways.
DeleteJonty, I noticed how you wanted to start to move away from oil and start using solar electricity. Solar panels require plastic and to make plastic you need oil. The trucks need oil to move the solar panels from the factory. We will also need to store the electricity in batteries. The problem with lithium batteries is that the lithium mines are just as bad as the oil sands for the environment. The case of a battery is made from plastic as well. You just cannot escape using oil. Maybe hydro dams and windmills use less oil.
DeleteThe tar sands have both positive and negative effects on the environment and economy. Some of the positives are: growth in the economy; a stable energy source for Canada; and job creation such as engineers, miner, truck drivers, hotel staff, restaurant staff, etc. (https://globalnews.ca/news/66591/pros-and-cons-alberta-oil-sands/). The negative effects of greenhouse gasses are: less protection on Earth from radiation from the sun; longer and hotter summers; and worse air quality and more intense impacts on wild life and forests (https://thetyee.ca/Views/2007/09/20/TarSands/). Some of the negative effects of the tar sands include: deforestation and habitat destruction; the mining itself is lowering the air quality because it is releasing a lot of dust into the air along with large amounts of GHG (https://globalnews.ca/news/66591/pros-and-cons-alberta-oil-sands/). I believe that we should not be worrying about Canada’s GHG emissions when China is producing 16 times the amount of GHG’s than Canada (see link below). With that said, why should Canada stop producing their oil and gas production when China, the U.S. and India are the real culprits. (https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/science-and-impacts/science/each-countrys-share-of-co2.html). Businesses and their consumers should be concerned about the effects because the production of the oil sands is ruining the air quality, ozone layer, forests, lakes and rivers, etc. However, without the oil sands production, we will have to import oil from countries that are worse to the environment and we will lose jobs, our stable source of energy, and the economic benefits.
ReplyDeleteI agree that businesses and consumers should be concerned, because the world has already had so much destruction in the past 200 years it's something that should be stopped.
DeleteThough i agree that other countries Greenhouse gases are bigger problems, we cannot control them as we can in Canada. Just think about if you were (insert county here) and you see that Canada's greenhouse gases are going down through ways that allow our earth to stay green and clean longer. You would not want to be looked at as a county who could make a difference but is not. Reducing GHG in Canada would also give Canada more power to talk in NATO for climate change movements and other environmental arguments.
DeleteWe can find ways to keep jobs and nature both. If everyone thought that if others are doing it we should not change then nothing would ever get better. We need to do our personal best to stay green and clean.
Devon, I do appreciate and agree with your concern about staying green and clean. Canada will still need oil, so we will have to buy oil from different countries like China, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia who aren’t as environmentally friendly as us which does not make the planet any cleaner.
DeleteI believe that businesses and consumers really should pay attention to the effects that tar sands have on our planet. Greenhouses gases and pollution are killing our planet and we should take action before it's too late. The world should be fully aware of the cause and effect of these elements and should find better eco friendly ways to make business. Solar electricity, hydro electricity and wind turbines are all excellent alternative ways to produce energy. There are more eco friendly ways to make money while not harming the planet.
ReplyDeleteSome positives of tar sands are it provides a localized economic benefit, it's a secure source of energy and recipients of tar sands experience economic benefits.
DeleteI totally agree with you, but would like you to explain how eco friendly energy could still create jobs and help poorer people. Thanks. -Devon
DeleteI absolutely agree that we as consumers need to pay more attention to the benefits and down sides to our products we buy.
DeletePosted on behalf of Chloe:
DeleteI agree with you Marcus. I like how you pointed out that we need to make actions before it’s to late. We only have this one earth plant and it is our job to protect it, especially when there are plenty of alternatives.
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ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteWith the way climate change is going at the moment, it is extremely important that we stay on top of our green house gases. one thing I find interesting Is that the quicker the world shifts away from gasoline cars and towards electric etc. then the quicker we can slow down how much oil we need. a positive is how much oil these sands are making, not to mention how much money and employment to they bring to Alberta. but really that's the only positive affect it has as it is slowly destroying the ozone layer and the air around it. these harmful gasses produced by this are nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide none of which help the quality of air.
You're right Matthew, shifting towards electric cars will be very beneficial to the environment. This shift will also make the tar sands much less profitable.
DeleteThe tar sands have massive negative impacts on the environment, which should concern businesses and consumers. The extraction and shipment of the tar emits massive amounts of greenhouse gases, and once the product is used, it will only emit more. Greenhouse gases obviously lead to global warming, which is detrimental to all life on Earth. It leads to a variety of dangers including extinctions and extreme weather. The tar sands also destroy a large amount of habitat and encroach on First Nations' land. What isn't removed is left with lots of pollution. All this being said, there are some positives to the tar sands. The Canadian economy is boosted greatly by oil sales and the sand do create a lot of jobs. Even with these benefits, oil isn't a renewable resource, and eventually the tar sands will have to shut down anyway. Wouldn't it be best to work on closing them sooner, before the environmental impact is irreversible?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Maggie that there are negative impacts on the environment, that oil is a non-renewable. I also think that we should close them sooner then later.
DeleteOil sands across Alberta have large positive and negative effects for Canada and our world as a whole. These tar sands generate large amounts of Greenhouse gasses causing an imbalance on the worlds carbon cycle by adding more carbon producers then carbon sinks, this overall damages our ozone layer increasing the earths global temperature and creating problems for many different species on our earth and problems for us. With many negative effects these oil sand also generate many positives. They create many jobs for the Alberta population, for example in 2017 it generated over 140,000 jobs. Oil sands also allow large amounts of tax revenue for the Canadian government which they may put towards many programs that we rely on. Personally, I think that consumers and businesses need to be concerned about the large amounts of Greenhouse gas emissions considering the large negative effects they are beginning to have on our earth.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you carter and I was thinking about how to reduce the amount of oil used by cars in general so we would use more electric cars like Tesla, Chevrolet volt and Nissan leaf
DeleteI believe that the oil reserves can be a great resource for Canada. I think the oil industry doesn't put enough energy into finding a clean solution for removing the oil from the ground. They should focus more on how the world is left for their consumers than on how much money they can get for the oil. I used to live in Cold Lake, Alberta near a lot of oil reserves. I lived there because my dad was posted by the military, but one of our friends dad worked on the oil fields so I believe that oil reserves can create many opportunities. Although the oil can be beneficial I think that the way to retrieve oil and how oil is used could be altered to be more nature friendly.
ReplyDelete-Devon Hansen
The tar sands leave a scar on the environment, and it is sad to see all the trees and animals that used to be there be destroyed for the company that make the oil before the tar sands were there.
ReplyDeleteThe animals are forced to move and the trees are killed. It is hard to know if the lands used
for tar sands will ever recover, even centuries later. Many first nations communities are concerned about the waterways they drink from, the land they live on and the animals they hunt. The Alberta energy regulator says it makes talks with the commutes around the tailing ponds to make sure that it is safe for communities, even though reports of rare cancer have been found with some first nation people. however there are some perks to having oil in our own country, including not having to pay huge import taxes/tariffs, not having to deal with countries that are not as democratic as us and better quality oil then some other countries.
I agree with you Matthew, I also find it sad that animals are being killed for that land and they are taking down or getting rid of one of our oxygen supplies.
DeleteSome harmful effects of tar sands are that they are destroying the environment in and around the places the tar sands are, also they are producing a huge amount of greenhouse gasses that in that amount it could really affect our environment, but even though they are producing greenhouse gasses they are also producing huge amounts of oil and give people jobs, the Canadian economy would have big economic losses if they stop the tar sands. In my opinion businesses and consumers should be aware of the amount of greenhouse gasses it produces so they can think about lowering their oil consuming to help the world we live in.
ReplyDeletePosted on behalf of Chloe:
ReplyDeleteSome harmful effects of tar sands include: they cause greenhouse gases, which traps heat in the earth’s atmosphere, contributes to global warming; they produce a component of smog called secondary organic aerosols, which can be particularly hazardous to both human and environmental health; the process of extracting tar sands can also be extremely harmful to the environment, they’re digging up dirt that is saturated with oil, that means that they are ruining the natural habitat and causing so much pollution. “The future? Up here in Alberta they're convinced it's in the dirt.” Says Draggan Mihailovich.
Some benefits include: they provide great advantages in Canada’s economic development, the tar sands in alberta made Canada the number one foreign oil supplier to the US; they provide job opportunities to people, since tar sands take up 97% of Canada’s reverse, they obliviously need many energy to be extracted, which requires lots of manpower.
I think business and customers should be concerned about these effects. Although tar sands stabilizes the economy in Canada and brings many benefits to our lives, they downsides of using them are undeniable. They are not a reusable source, even though we have a lot of tar sands available at the moment, they will eventually be used up if we continue the extraction 24/7. There should be a limit in the tar sands extraction, and we should promote using more sustainable energy sources such as wind energy. In that way, the tar sands extraction process should be a slowly and gradually replaced, so the economy lose can be minimized.