Over the Edge - January 18

features 92

CANADA’
TAR SANDS

Dirty secrets about
the dirty resource

LAURA BEVACQUA
FEATURES EDITOR

Tar sands collage

anada’s tar sand operations in

Alberta are known as one of

the dirtiest, threatening, and
ecologically destructive energy pro-
jects in the world. Scientists say that
the removal of entire forests and the
creation of toxic lakes are so large,
that they can be seen from outer
space. Gallons of toxins are released
into the Athabasca River everyday,
which means that Native commun-
ities living around and near the river
have and continue to experience un-
usual medical conditions and various
forms of cancer.

The countless oil sand reserves
in Alberta are so vast that it has been
argued they will help America’s
energy needs within the next century.
According to a report on 60 Minutes
in 2008, the dirt saturated in oil is ex-
tracted under forests 365 days a year
meaning that Alberta places second to
Saudi Arabia in creating billions of oil
barrels (some estimates have reached
the trillions).

The tar sands will become the lar-
gest importer of US fuel but Obama
has delayed the TransCanada Corp’s
Keystone XL pipeline project until
the 2012 election by pressure from
environmentalists and Indigenous
communities which represent a large
proportion of his voter base. Obama’s
action toward delaying the project
raises many warning flags. At a news
in December, Obama
told Prime Minister Stephen Harper

conference

and the public that “it is important
to make sure all questions regarding
the project are understood, especially
the impact on the health and safety
of the American people.” Harper
has expressed his confidence in the
construction and road to approval of

the $7-billion mega-project as did
TransCanada CEO Russ Girling. It
has been reported that TransCanada
has threatened landowners who own
large portions of land on the pipeline
route if they refuse and do not cooper-
ate with the operation.

TransCanada has reported that
the Keystone XL pipeline expansion

66

competitive
market

like China
demands
more oil
imports.

99

will provide the US with almost 1
billion barrels of dirty oil every day
from Alberta to the refineries on the
Gulf Coast of Texas, nearly doubling
oil sands crude in the US. The project
will also stimulate the US economy
by providing jobs and energy secur-
ity. A major concern of the American
public continues to be jobs. The Key-
stone XL project promises thousands

of new jobs in construction and de-
velopment which may be difficult to
push aside during a time of staggering
unemployment. “We are in such a dif-
ficult economic climate that anything
that has the word jobs attached to it
becomes kryptonite,” said political
analyst Roland Martin in Maclean’s
October issue. On the other side of the
spectrum, problems associated with
the implementation of the Keystone
XL pipeline include potential pipeline
spills which will contaminate sources
of drinking water, crop irrigation and
threaten wildlife habitats.

“It’s a very hard balancing act,”
said US Secretary of State, Hillary
Rodham Clinton last fall at the Cli-
mate One press conference. “Until we
can get our act together as a country
and recognize that clean renewable
energy is in our economic interest and
interest of the planet, we are forced to
extract oil using this method.”

Today Canada finds an even big-
ger market than just the US. China’s
energy-consuming markets have
taken a keen and strategic interest in
investing in Alberta’s oil. Canada may
have leverage by creating a competi-
tive market as China demands more
oil imports. In 2009, China’s car sales
beat the US, making it the world’s lar-
gest car-buying nation.

For now, anti-Keystone pipeline
activists in the US will continue to
chant, “Yes we can- Stop the Pipe-
line” as Obama plows through his
re-election campaign and politicians
argue that the mega project is good
for business. This is sure to result in
a very interesting outcome; one pipe-
line at a time.

It’s Living
and It’s aWall

Exploring the Benefits

of Living Walls

LAURA BEVACQUA
FEATURES EDITOR

atural habitats are always
under threat due to the rise
in the human population and

rapid development of built structures
causing massive habitat destruction.
Industrialization, urban sprawl, and
intensive development have been rec

Living wall on The Drivers Pub and Restaurant

ognized as the greatest threats of
habitat destruction as populations
of the same species get divided into
separate, isolated, and smaller set of
populations.

Green roofs and walls may be
an approach to curbing urban affects.
Not only do living walls maintain
habitat
and an overall

conservation,

biodiversity,

essential source for human well-being
, they are also aesthetically appealing.

Green roofs and walls provide
a host of services and benefits to the
urban environment, including habitat
for species and the oxygen we need.
The walls also promote environ-
mental sustainability, ecological res-
toration, and vegetation within urban

centres. Living walls attempt to im-
prove urban wildlife and habitat en-
vironments yet they are rarely incor-
porated into the development of cities
and other industrial and residential
markets.

Living walls have traditionally not
been incorporated into contemporary
design and development. Today, they
are seen as creative and artistic design
that provides many benefits to human
and specie populations. Different liv-
ing wall installations from around
the world

home-made walls and pro-

showcase both

fessional landscapes. To
explore some great
designs and tips
on how to cre-
ate your own
vertical gar-
den, check out
http://www.
livingwallart.
com/.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS