The Debate: Economy or Environment?
Controversies:
There are many concerns over the oil fields in Alberta as the main controversy out there is to produce oil or to not produce oil. This is undisputedly one of the most highly talked about environmental issues the world is facing. People are concerned about the forests getting destroyed, the river's depleting and becoming toxic, and the CO2 emissions released into the air causing climate change; melting the ice caps which then increase water levels potentially destroying lowlands world wide like Miami, Holland, etc. On the flip side however the oil industry in Alberta is providing many Canadians with jobs and is boosting our economy in desperate times as the oil is such a scarce resource we make a plethora of money off of it. However there is another controversy since Alberta contains such a vast supply of oil this creates the dilemma whether or not we could be invade by the states to take over Alberta's oil. This whole situation is up to you ( the reader) as you can be with the oil or against it trying to shut it down, but in a world so reliant of energy it is hard to not consume what you dread the most thus we have to look for alternative energies so the Alberta oil sands can be shut down as it is single-handedly destroying Canada's environment.
Stakeholders and Interest Groups:
There are two groups in the raging war for oil: the environmentalists politics outside of Canada, unpleased civilians and the businessmen and politicians. The environmentalists are obviously trying to shut down the oil sands as statistics show that it is destroying the Earth and some of the politicians in the states are against the oil sands like Arnold Schwarzenegger who is against the "dirty" from the Alberta tar sands and have elected to not buy from this location and it is putting the future generations lives in jeopardy( other states have boycotted the oil from Alberta also). On the other side are the businessmen and the Canadian politicians: they see jobs in low employment era and also a way to make high revenue from selling over the world increasing Canada's economy and becoming a more dominant country, while the businessmen are just in it to make the money as that is what is the most important thing on their mind's to make money and live happily not caring really what they're doing to the environment or creating sustainability.
Solutions:
The businessmen and environmentalist's need to find a healthy balance, to overcome this oil situation the industries need to design a more environmentally friendly way to extracting the bitumen, if this is able to happen people will still be making lots of money and new job opportunities while still not jeopardizing the environment. If we are able to create a sustainable extraction process this will put the critics to sleep and hopefully drop our CO2 emissions into the air saving our world from climate change and also salvaging the water systems and habitats in Alberta. Since the industries will probably not change for the better we as individuals have to stop buying their Fossil Fuels, if they have no consumers because of the terrible extraction process the companies will change their ways of extracting the oil into a more green way which will be more eco-friendly for the world. Also there is the possibility of finding new types of fuels and alternative energies, we as a world can get energy from hydro damns, solar panels, wind turbines and more, and this will be the new era of technology and energy that we use the green way and will no longer need oil any more eventually dropping our emissions to 350 parts per million and make life sustainable for future generations to come.
Another solution however to cut back on water intake is to use different chemicals to heat the oils as it will last longer and stay within the same cycle for more uses instead of pumping in new water for every extraction 'round'.
Pros done by the Oil Industries:
However the oil sands aren't all that bad the oil sands provide a stable economy and many jobs for people worldwide with good pay. Also the oil sands companies have restored many tailings ponds trying to minimize their impact on the environment.
In the oil sands they use their water well though, they reuse 85% of the water that they bring in from the Athabasca river which is a fair amount of reused water not having to take new water every cycle cutting down the impact on the Athabasca. The oil sands companies also spend millions of dollars a year on trying to become more eco friendly and have little impact on the surrounding area so they really are trying to better the world and cut down emissions and pollutants.
There are many concerns over the oil fields in Alberta as the main controversy out there is to produce oil or to not produce oil. This is undisputedly one of the most highly talked about environmental issues the world is facing. People are concerned about the forests getting destroyed, the river's depleting and becoming toxic, and the CO2 emissions released into the air causing climate change; melting the ice caps which then increase water levels potentially destroying lowlands world wide like Miami, Holland, etc. On the flip side however the oil industry in Alberta is providing many Canadians with jobs and is boosting our economy in desperate times as the oil is such a scarce resource we make a plethora of money off of it. However there is another controversy since Alberta contains such a vast supply of oil this creates the dilemma whether or not we could be invade by the states to take over Alberta's oil. This whole situation is up to you ( the reader) as you can be with the oil or against it trying to shut it down, but in a world so reliant of energy it is hard to not consume what you dread the most thus we have to look for alternative energies so the Alberta oil sands can be shut down as it is single-handedly destroying Canada's environment.
Stakeholders and Interest Groups:
There are two groups in the raging war for oil: the environmentalists politics outside of Canada, unpleased civilians and the businessmen and politicians. The environmentalists are obviously trying to shut down the oil sands as statistics show that it is destroying the Earth and some of the politicians in the states are against the oil sands like Arnold Schwarzenegger who is against the "dirty" from the Alberta tar sands and have elected to not buy from this location and it is putting the future generations lives in jeopardy( other states have boycotted the oil from Alberta also). On the other side are the businessmen and the Canadian politicians: they see jobs in low employment era and also a way to make high revenue from selling over the world increasing Canada's economy and becoming a more dominant country, while the businessmen are just in it to make the money as that is what is the most important thing on their mind's to make money and live happily not caring really what they're doing to the environment or creating sustainability.
Solutions:
The businessmen and environmentalist's need to find a healthy balance, to overcome this oil situation the industries need to design a more environmentally friendly way to extracting the bitumen, if this is able to happen people will still be making lots of money and new job opportunities while still not jeopardizing the environment. If we are able to create a sustainable extraction process this will put the critics to sleep and hopefully drop our CO2 emissions into the air saving our world from climate change and also salvaging the water systems and habitats in Alberta. Since the industries will probably not change for the better we as individuals have to stop buying their Fossil Fuels, if they have no consumers because of the terrible extraction process the companies will change their ways of extracting the oil into a more green way which will be more eco-friendly for the world. Also there is the possibility of finding new types of fuels and alternative energies, we as a world can get energy from hydro damns, solar panels, wind turbines and more, and this will be the new era of technology and energy that we use the green way and will no longer need oil any more eventually dropping our emissions to 350 parts per million and make life sustainable for future generations to come.
Another solution however to cut back on water intake is to use different chemicals to heat the oils as it will last longer and stay within the same cycle for more uses instead of pumping in new water for every extraction 'round'.
Pros done by the Oil Industries:
However the oil sands aren't all that bad the oil sands provide a stable economy and many jobs for people worldwide with good pay. Also the oil sands companies have restored many tailings ponds trying to minimize their impact on the environment.
In the oil sands they use their water well though, they reuse 85% of the water that they bring in from the Athabasca river which is a fair amount of reused water not having to take new water every cycle cutting down the impact on the Athabasca. The oil sands companies also spend millions of dollars a year on trying to become more eco friendly and have little impact on the surrounding area so they really are trying to better the world and cut down emissions and pollutants.