Moratorium Now!
6 Good Reasons why there should be a Moratorium Now
on the expansion of the Alberta Tar Sands.It may be the largest known hydrocarbon deposit yet discovered on this planet. It contains between175 and 200 billion barrels of proven oil reserves using existing technologies alone.
But before you start jumping for joy- read the following info about the downside of it all:
1. Ecological Blowout
The deep mining and extraction of crude oil from the tar sands in Alberta has
already generated a series of ecological threats:
• greenhouse gas emissions from tar sands production are three times
those of conventional oil and gas production [currently tar sands
production emits 27 megatonnes annum and is expected to rise to 108-
126 megatonnes per annum by 2015]. Thus, the tar sands are now poised
to become Canada’s largest single emitter of greenhouse gas,
compounding this country’s contribution to global warming;
• water depletion & pollution, where an average of 2 to 4.5 [and as high
as 7] barrels of water are used to produce one barrel of oil, thereby
seriously lowering the water levels of the Athabasca River, the Mackenzie
Valley watershed and other related water sources in the region. And, toxic
water spewing from tar sands production has infected fish and wildlife,
causing sickness among Aboriginal peoples downstream;
• boreal forest destruction through the stripping away of the Athabasca
forest lands through oil mining operations, thereby digging a huge hole in
the northern lungs of the planet that could, if completed, encompass the
size of the state of Florida. Yet, the boreal forests have a key role to play
in the sequestration of carbon dioxide emissions from greenhouse gases;
• tailings ponds, vast holding tanks the size of lakes, some as large as 15
square kilometers, containing hydrocarbons and other chemical by
products from tar sands production.
A moratorium must be put on the expansion of tar sands development until the
industry is able to meet mandatory targets for the progressive reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions across the board [not ‘intensity targets,’ which only set
GHG limits to per barrel of oil, and fail to cover expansion of production]; the
targeted reduction of water consumption and pollution; along with new and revised
obligations and conditions for restoration of the forests and the full clean up of the
tailings ponds --- recognizing that failure to satisfactorily meet all these targets will
result in severe penalties.
2. Energy Insecurity
The massive development of the Alberta tar sands to export crude oil to the United
States is already undermining Canadian energy security:
• natural gas depletion in Alberta where dwindling reserves are rapidly
being used to fuel tar sands production, thereby seriously reducing
existing supplies of natural gas required for Canada’s own energy security
[Canada has only 8.7 years proven supply left] as well as natural gas
pipelined in from the Canadian High Arctic which would be sufficient to
fuel every home in Canada;
• oil imports where, despite growing oil exports to the U.S., Canada is
importing one million barrels of oil a day [over 40% from OPEC countries]
to meet energy needs in Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces;
• energy inefficiency, whereby vast amounts of a relatively clean nonrenewable
fuel like natural gas is used to produce a dirty fuel like tar
sands crude oil --- ‘turning gold into lead’ --- thereby resulting in a net loss
in terms in energy efficiencies;
• nuclear power, proposed as a substitute for natural gas in fuelling tar
sands extraction, raises profound problems about safe storage of nuclear
wastes and corresponding insecurities, especially in the fragile northern
ecology.
A moratorium must be put on the expansion of tar sands development until a
made-in-Canada energy policy and strategy is developed that includes: reduction
of oil exports in order to replace the one million barrels a day imports by eastern
Canada; a renegotiation or termination of the proportional energy sharing clause in
NAFTA; firm commitments to reduce fossil fuel addiction plus a corresponding
plan for transition to safe renewable energy sources for the future; and determined
programs to conserve and deliver existing natural gas supplies to meet Canadian
needs.
3. Aboriginal Lands
The planned construction of the MacKenzie Gas Project to provide more natural
gas from the High Arctic to fuel the Alberta tar sands development has serious
implications for Aboriginal peoples, especially the Dehcho First Nation:
• un-surrendered lands --- the Deh Cho have not yet negotiated a land
claim settlement with the federal government, which views their land as a
resource bonanza for oil, gas, and subsurface minerals, and intends to
extinguish their Aboriginal rights to the land mass over which 40 percent
of the proposed gas pipeline will pass;
• ecological havoc due to tar sands development is already being
experienced by the Dehcho in the form of global warming of glaciers from
greenhouse gas emissions, destruction of the non-renewable permafrost
plus the draining and polluting of water systems in the already fragile
ecosystem of the North;
• unequal economic benefits for both the Dehcho and the rest of the
Northwest Territories due to the lack of a fair royalty regime for the
extraction of natural resources and an equitable development plan,
leaving the North to cope with boom and bust cycles contrary to the 1976
report of Justice Thomas Berger.
A moratorium must be put on the expansion of the tar sands until a just
settlement has been negotiated and implemented for the Dehcho’s land rights,
effective measures are taken to reverse the global warming and water depletion
impacts of tar sands operations, and a fair royalty regime is instituted for the
people of the NWT and also First Nations in Alberta affected by the tar sands.
4. Boom & BUST
The model of development used in regards to the tar sands, while stimulating a
Bust boom in the job market, seriously runs the risk of creating a boom and bust
scenario for Alberta as the primary oil producing province:
• haphazard development, due to the rapid dispersal of production permits
for the tar sands which, in turn, has led to the overheating of the Albertan
economy and an uneven pattern of economic growth;
• resource revenues, where the people of Alberta people and their
Heritage Fund receive among the world’s lowest royalty returns on the
extraction of oil from the tar sands;
• secondary manufacturing, where insufficient priority has been put on
upgrading Alberta’s oil production for long term development by
stimulating, for example, petro-chemical manufacturing and stopping raw
bitumen exports;
• foreign ownership of the petroleum industry in Alberta by major U.S. oil
companies which substantially reduces the ability of the Alberta
government to ensure that development priorities and conditions are met.
A moratorium must be put on the expansion on the tar sands until a more orderly
model of development has been advanced that includes greater public control
over leasing and production permits, the renegotiation of a new and fair royalty
regime for Albertans, a new environmentally sensitive plan for stimulating
secondary manufacturing of petroleum derivatives, and a plan of action for
reducing foreign ownership and increasing public control of the petroleum industry
in Canada.
5. Social Damage
At the same time, this boom and bust pattern of development has been generating
serious social damage for the people and the local economy and society of Ft.
McMurray and surrounding Wood Buffalo region:
• inadequate public revenues for the local governments of Ft. McMurray
and surrounding Wood Buffalo region, from the Alberta government, to
provide public services desperately needed;
• collapsing social services in the region where local governments have
had to cope with a rapidly growing population along with severe housing
shortages, poor garbage clean-up, rundown schools and health facilities,
rising crime rates and bad roads;
• cheap labour practices, which allow oil companies operating in the tar
sands to cut their labour costs by hiring non-unionized workers and
workers from other countries, thereby circumventing the building trades
unions and proper work standards in Alberta plus skewing the skilled
trades pool and wages in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
A moratorium must be put on the expansion of the tar sands until there has been
provincial government assurance of adequate resources for Ft McMurray and the
surrounding region to provide much needed public services and a new negotiated
agreement with Alberta unions involved in the oil industry for a more orderly
development of the tar sands.
6. Military Links
The Alberta tar sands is the centerpiece of an energy corridor for exports to the
U.S. which is increasingly geared to fuel America’s military machine:
• U.S. military economy, which has been largely rebuilt and re-invigorated
since the attacks of September 11, 2001, the ongoing war on terrorism,
and the invasion of Iraq, has substantially increased U.S. demands for
imported oil;
• Pentagon’s oil consumption --- the Pentagon is the single largest
institutional buyer of oil in the world, consuming an estimated 85 percent
of the U.S. Government’s use of oil;
• Canadian oil exports, which are now the U.S.’s number one source of
imported oil, has therefore become a major contributor in fueling the U.S.
war machine.
A moratorium must also be placed on the expansion of the tar sands until there has
been a full public debate about Canada’s foreign policy in relation to oil exports and
the role they play in fuelling the global war economy and increased militarization.
