I listened to an NPR interview of Andrew Nikiforuk where he talked about his book "Tar Sands". He made very interesting points about the effect of petroleum use on the world's economy, democracy, and freedom. He asserted that ever since the auto was invented and the US became the first Petrostate in the world, the world's affairs have revolved around the pursuit of extraction of oil.
Andrew noted the use of divine provenance to justify the extraction and use of energy. He made an analogy between energy and slave labor. He indicated that divine provenance was also used to justify the slave trade which eventually led to the US Civil War. He drew parallels between the leaders of most of the PetroStates, and US States and Canadian Provinces where oil dominates the economy. He noted that apart from Norway where there was an open dialog about the social and political implications of the effect of the North Sea oil, the citizens of the Petrostates have conceded power to the few companies that dominate the petroleum industry.
"Tar Sands" by Andrew Nikiforuk is about the extraction of petroleum from the tar sands located in Alberta Canada. With most of the low hanging oil fields close to depletion, the oil industry has turned its attention to extraction of petroleum from Alberta's tar sands. This has fueled a boom with significant social and environmental consequences for Alberta.
Frank Kaminski's review of Tar Sands indicates that the hype about Alberta's tar sands becoming an important source of oil supply is just that -- hype! According to Frank, the soaring greenhouse gas emissions, colossal ponds of toxic waste that are known to leak, the spike in health problems that has been seen in communities downstream from these leaking ponds is the result of local and national politicians bending to the will of the tar sands lobby.
Tar Sands helps to sharpen the discussion about whether the negative environmental and health impact of extractive industries is worth the risk!
Andrew noted the use of divine provenance to justify the extraction and use of energy. He made an analogy between energy and slave labor. He indicated that divine provenance was also used to justify the slave trade which eventually led to the US Civil War. He drew parallels between the leaders of most of the PetroStates, and US States and Canadian Provinces where oil dominates the economy. He noted that apart from Norway where there was an open dialog about the social and political implications of the effect of the North Sea oil, the citizens of the Petrostates have conceded power to the few companies that dominate the petroleum industry.
"Tar Sands" by Andrew Nikiforuk is about the extraction of petroleum from the tar sands located in Alberta Canada. With most of the low hanging oil fields close to depletion, the oil industry has turned its attention to extraction of petroleum from Alberta's tar sands. This has fueled a boom with significant social and environmental consequences for Alberta.
Frank Kaminski's review of Tar Sands indicates that the hype about Alberta's tar sands becoming an important source of oil supply is just that -- hype! According to Frank, the soaring greenhouse gas emissions, colossal ponds of toxic waste that are known to leak, the spike in health problems that has been seen in communities downstream from these leaking ponds is the result of local and national politicians bending to the will of the tar sands lobby.
Tar Sands helps to sharpen the discussion about whether the negative environmental and health impact of extractive industries is worth the risk!
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