Since I have been working for The Oil Company I have been doing a bit of research into the claims made by many of the activists calling for the shut down of the Alberta Oil sands (or Tar Sands as they like to call it, even though there is not one drop of tar up there.)

My research in the last few days has mostly been revolving around the emmissions created by both The Company and the Oil sands operation they have running by Fort MacMurray. I have studied the Kyoto accord that was ratified a few years ago and have made some startling discoveries both in what Canada is required to do and the contributions that The Company supposedly has.

Now to start off, the Kyoto accord is basically a sham. Not in it’s principles or ideas but by the way that half of the world’s largest emissions producers have not signed it and refuse to do so.

China, one of the world’s largest contributor to global emmissions (in 2004 they produced 3.8 billion metric tonnes of CO2, almost five times that of the emissions coming from Canada), and India, a close second, have not signed the Kyoto Accord and have no intention of ever doing so.

That frightens me the most - that the world’s largest contributors are never going to change their ways - no matter what we do it will be cancelled out by the fact that their emmissions rates are actually increasing every year.

So let’s examine what the Kyoto Accord calls for - it basically calls for the reduction of emissions by 5% below our 1990 levels. So what this means for Canada is that by 2012 we’ll have to reduce our emissions to a total of 572 million metric tonnes, down from our average of about 731 million metric tonnes, a reduction of approximately 22%.

It sounds very impressive - unfortunately, for the level of industry we have here in Canada (producing the raw materials for the rest of the world,) it’s completely unobtaintable. We would have to shut down almost a third of the gross production that Canada currently supplies the world with - and you know how well that would go over with both our economy and our unemployment rate.

Now let’s examine where The Oil Company comes in. Its Oil sands operations in Fort MacMurray produce, as of 2004, 3.5 million metric tonnes of emissions per year. At my calculations, that’s less than 0.006% of the country’s total emissions. And that’s from an operation that is supposedly destroying the air quality country-wide.

And despite what the activists will say, The Oil Company has been committed to reducing their emissions by an average of approximately 17% per year. So in 2010 they will have reduced their emmissions by 50%! To approximately 1.75 million metric tonnes of CO2 per year.
That’s ten times more than what the Canadian government has committed itself to with the Kyoto Accord (and with Harper in power I’m not even sure that they will do it) and not only has this goal been committed to, it has been in the works for some time now and has shown considerable progress.

Now, again, as in previous posts, I have to state that I’m not really defending The Oil Company. There is no doubt that their products are a contributor, but I’m starting to realize more and more that it’s not the products that are to blame, but their users. The Oil Company is doing no more than what the local gun shop is doing - providing a product that is potentially dangerous. The gun store isn’t going around and using their guns to shoot people, their customers are - so who is to blame? The owner of the store or the customer who pulled the trigger?

It’s an amazingly complex issue and the more I learn and the more research I do, the more befuddled and obscure the answers become.

I think the answers really need to come from yourself. If you think that you are being a contributor to the pollution that is ruining our environment then you can personally take action and change how you affect that environment. If you believe that you have as little impact as possible then keep doing what you’re doing.

In the end I believe the only people we have to answer to is ourselves - not that guy who rants about how the Oil Sands are the root of all evil.

Share This

So as you know from previous posts I have recently been contracted out by The Oil Company (name changed obviously!), one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies. After my first week of work here I have been faced with some moral issues that are really a lot more complicated than I originally thought them to be. Namely - I’m working for one of the world’s largest contributors to pollution and environmental damage.

Some of you will say “Quit now! Don’t let a big pay cheque blind you to the effect this company is having on our environment!” and you would be partly right. Others will say “Don’t stress too much about it - whether or not you are working for them, it will continue and there’s nothing you can do about it, might as well cash their cheques!” and they would also be partly right.

But over the last few days I have realized that it isn’t as simple as that. Yes, there’s a bit of a moral issue working for the largest oil and gas company in the world in that they are doing damage to the environment. But it’s a unique situation as The Oil Company knows they are and have the potential to do some major damage (and I mean major - I am literally sitting in a small trailer right next door to one of the world’s largest chemical bombs - if anything should ever go majorly wrong I will most likely die in an instant) and knowing this, this company strives to maintain the environment and resources that ultimately are thier livelihood!

I may seem like I am defending them - but in some regards, I am. Not necessarily the work they do or the damage that is done in the name of civilization and economy but the people that work here, because The Oil Company is ultimately the people who work for her. These are not bad people - they do not purposefully pollute and are actually more environmentally aware than the average activist shouting out to shut down the oil sands. These are people who understand the gravity of what they are doing, they understand that a false move, a wrong signal or an outdated manual can mean the difference between environmental disaster and business as usual.

I am also in a unique situation in that what I will be doing here will significantly impact the way that the average Oil Company employee views their job and the industry in general. My current contract is one to create and update training materials for their employees. In a while, all Oil Company employees at my specific location will be using and learning via my materials - which puts me in a position to really drive home the importance of environmental concerns and the reduction of damage in every way possible. I will be able to make it a more personal responsibility for each and every employee that walks through those doors (if my materials are successful in their objectives.)

But the real concern here is how do I personally come to terms with the fact that I will be contributing to this never-ending cycle of environmental damage and pollution? Well, I haven’t really figured that one out yet but I have a feeling that my research and work will help me to reconcile that in my own heart and head - and that’s really all that matters.

What do you think?

Share This