Oil Sands and Pipelines Flashcards
What is Bitumen?
thick, heavy oil, integrated with sand
What are the two ways to extract bitumen?
- mining (remove forest and topsoil; dig; truck out)
- in situ (drill; pump steam underground to separate bitumen from sand; pump out)
- energy-intensive way to produce oil
How does Suncor describe oil sands?
- an economic opportunity
- safe, efficient, responsible
-supported by Indigenous peoples
How do critics describe the oil sands?
- a source of pollution affecting ppl and wildlife
- landscape destruction
- a driver of climate change
- an example of environmental racism
What are the distributional issues on oil sands?
Who gains from developing the oil sands?
Whose health is impacted by extracting and transporting bitumen?
What are the procedural issues on oil sands?
What kinds of participation and barriers to participation are involved?
Are decision-makers transparent and free from conflicts of interest?
What are the recognition issues on oil sands?
Are all values, priorities, and ways of life equally recognized?
Are Indigenous perspectives systematically excluded or devalued?
How do pipeline disputes relate to oil sands?
Transporting products from the oil sands to markets involves new and modified pipelines
What are some arguments for expanding pipelines?
Need to get oil sands products to markets
- Economic benefit argument
Everyone needs oil
- Energy access argument
Pipelines are safer than trains
- Safety argument based on inevitable expansion
What are some arguments against expanding pipelines?
We can’t afford to burn more fossil fuels
- Climate change argument
Risk and potential impact of spills is too great
- Environment/health argument along pipeline
FN suffer from pollution in oil sands region
- Environment/health argument in Alberta
Indigenous people have a right to say no
- Indigenous self determination argument
Why are pipelines controversial?
- provide jobs and profit, but ‘lock in’ emissions and come into tension with indigenous rights
What makes Canada a major producer of oil and gas?
Canada produces oil and gas, increasingly from oil sands and hydraulic fracturing
What are the two perspectives on the Trans Mountain Pipeline?
- Spatial politics
- Indigenous rights
How are pipelines regulated in Canada?
- National Energy Board / Canadian Energy Regulator: evaluate energy projects that cross provincial or national borders
- projects within a province assessed by provincial boards
- NEB/CER holds hearings, recommends whether a project should proceed – and under what conditions
- govt gives final approval
What was the Trans Mountain Expansion Project?
proposed to expand capacity of existing pipeline over 60 years old, and build second pipeline alongside it to transport diluted bitumen from Alberta to Burnaby, BC
What was the media coverage on the Trans Mountain Project?
- called trans mountain “the people’s pipeline”
- suggested Canada’s economic well-being depends on Alberta oil and gas
What was the regulator statements on the Trans Mountain Project?
- ack local impacts, distant benefits
- prio “economic benefits.. throughout Canada”
What holds up arguments about the national interest?
Justifying pipelines depends on the idea of a unified Canada
But some people face concentrated impacts – especially Indigenous peoples
Saying pipelines serve the ‘national interest’ requires erasing these people from mind
What were the provincial claims about scale and authority on the trans mountain project?
John Horgan, Premier of BC (2018):
- A spill would “hurt all British Columbians”
- Need to protect “Canada’s Pacific coast”
- Pledged to fight “for BC’s interests”
- “Ottawa has acted to take over the project”
What were the municipal claims on the trans mountain project?
Derek Corrigan, mayor of Burnaby (2018):
“I’m embarrassed to see our Prime Minister kowtowing to an American oil giant”
“This has become ground zero for who is controlling our democratic institutions— is it thepeople of our country or is it the multinational corporations?”
What were the indigenous claims on the trans mountain project?
Tiny House Warriors built small homes in the pipeline’s path
Challenged federal government’s authority to make decisions on unceded territory
Pipeline construction inconsistent with Indigenous and international law
What are the key historical moments in Indigenous rights in Canada?
- Indian Act: created band council system; defined who is and who isn’t recognized as an Indian
- Residential schools: 150k children went through the system; estimated that 6k died
- Sixties scoop: est. 20k children taken from their families and adopted out to white families
What are the Indigenous Rights in Canada?
- Treaties
- Right to vote: ~1960
- Constitutional rights: 1982
- Truth and Reconciliation: 2015 calls to action
- United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP): free, prior and informed consent
- Natural law
What leaders do Indigenous communities have?
Hereditary Chiefs (traditional governance, e.g. clan system)
Band Council Chiefs (elected to governing bodies created by the Indian Act)
- they dont always agree
What was the federal court of appeal decision in 2018 on the trans mountain project?
- overturned pipeline approval over inadequate Indigenous consultation (and marine impacts)
- govt held more hearings, re-approved the project
What are the key dimensions of energy justice related to Indigenous rights?
Distributional issues
- Risks to Indigenous lands, livelihoods, culture from construction, spills
Process issues
- Selective consultation with band councils
Recognition issues
- Indigenous rights, legal systems “erased”
