Exercise #4: Documentary Reflection

November 1, 2022 By: Rao Fu

The documentary that I selected is called Canadian Tar Sand Controversy and the Ultimate Oil Sands Mine Alberta Canada. To satisfy the increase in global energy demand, more natural resources need to be extracted, such as fossil fuels and tar sand. Currently, 85% of global energy demand is met by burning fossil fuels (Giesy, 2010). However, since humans had already maintained the rapid development of the industrialized world based on fossil fuels for decades, the reserves of conventional crude oil are shrinking continuously, which led to the fluctuation of oil prices and oil shortage problems. It is because of the shortage of conventional oil reserves, the world today is emphasizing the shift from conventional oil production to the development of non-conventional oil reserves.

The Alberta tar sand production is the focus of this documentary, which is regarded as a safe and secure of oil for North America and even the world, is now recognized as the second largest oil reserve in the world after Saudi Arabia (Giesy, 2010). In response to the increasing demand, the energy company Enbridge proposed a 7.9 billion dollar project in 2010 called the Northern Gateway Pipeline from Alberta all the way to the coast of British Columbia (White, 2014). The Alberta tar sand and the pipeline projects are clearly the most significant industrial manipulations of the environment, associated with the age-old trade-off of short-term to gain the exchange of economic gains for long-term and irreversible ecological impacts at a scale that is unprecedented (Samuelson, 2012). It is because of the conflicts among the environment, economy, and society, oil sand production became one of the most controversial social problems in modern society.

The Canadian Tar Sand Controversy documentary mentioned that the oil sands cultivation in Alberta had significantly impacted the living quality of the First Nations near the Athabasca River. They believe that pollutants and contaminants leaking through the tailing pond are damaging their water, fish, and livestock. After consuming these natural resources, a portion of the small population got cancer. The locals are worried about that continuous oil sand production can affect their offspring’s living as well, which shares the same value and perspective as the Topic 2 documentary in Unit 4. Thanks to the First Nations, more people understand that oil sand production can have a tremendous impact on the environment, which in turn affects the health and living quality of humans. The Ultimate Oil Sands Mine Alberta Canada stands in a different position. The movie focuses more on the indivisible relations of human daily life with oil and gas production and its economic benefits to society. Instead of saying oil sand production can negatively affect the natural environment and ecology, the movie admitted there are contaminants generated during the production processes, however, they also conduct the in-situ cleanup. The film producer tries to convince people to believe oil sand production can be clean if we do it right.   

My opinion stands between the ideas of these two documentary movies. Over-emphasizing the benefits of oil sand production or the importance of environmental protection could guide us to extremism. The positive and negative aspects of oil sand production shall be compromised to find a balanced point. The value I hold on to is: Environment, economy, and society are all essential to human beings. We should promote sustainable oil sand production, which is to develop better production processes to mitigate its negative environmental impacts.

 

Canadian Tar Sands Controversy. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3oYUxPTQUE.

Ultimate Oil Sands Mine Alberta Canada. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3ekqz3JfQ0&t=1454s.

Giesy, J. P., Anderson, J. C., & Wiseman, S. B. (2010). Alberta oil sands development. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107(3), 951–952. http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0912880107

Samuelson, L., & Antony, W. A. (2012). Power and resistance: Critical thinking about Canadian social issues (5th ed.). Halifax, N.S.: Fernwood Pub.

White, B., Castleden, H., & Gruzd, A. (2014). Talking to Twitter users: Motivations behind Twitter use on the Alberta oil sands and the Northern Gateway Pipeline. First Monday, 20(1). doi:10.5210/fm.v20i1.5404