Oil-besotted place:Just a cyclist living here

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...rticle2300748/

I was glad that Obama and U.S. environmentalists have temporarily stopped the proposed oil pipeline from the Canadian oil tar sands in Northern Alberta. However the Canadian company proponent/partner, TransCanada Corp. is proposing a different route through Nebraska....whatever.

One thing clear in all these pipeline route planning gyrations is that the bottom line is the profits in their eyes (underneath their concerns of traversing mountains, etc.).

The more I learn about living in Alberta and the grip of the oil industry, the more I'm disgusted. I'm just grateful not to have a job at all in the oil and gas/energy private industry.

My partner is glad he retired years ago from the industry. He was interviewed recently: http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2011/...le-conference/ (Note: He was simply a middle manager, not at the top of the chain.)

I'm a cyclist, I don't consider myself an environmentalist. But living in this province has made me even more aware of environmental issues. How about those of you who live in states dominated by the oil/energy industry?

What am I doing about? I just ride my bike, take transit, walk...

Another reason I moved back to the PNW ...

What Edmonton had in terms of cycling infrastructure just wasn't working for me. I can't cycle in cold weather -- my lungs just shut down and I was on my trainer all winter. Too much sand on the roads until after May long weekend to be safe for road tires. When the weather was finally good, there was the river valley multi-use trail, which got busy every weekend with big fundraising events, so I would end up riding on the grass shoulder. Some of the neighborhood connector paths might take you somewhere, but then there was no safe place to lock your bike. Didn't care for the straight, flat roads outside of the urban center. So I contented myself with toodling around inside my little mega-block.

I drove everywhere. Had to. I've mentioned this before, that my nearest laundry, grocery, bank, hardware store, and pharmacy/post office were all in separate strip malls in every direction from my place. You would think that wouldn't be the case in an older neighborhood less than 5 miles from downtown.

Here in Seattle I can walk/bike about a quarter mile and all of those things are within a 3-block radius of each other.

The thing is, though -- while Seattle is quite progressive and has in many cases been about to preserve and encourage its walkable business districts -- my time in Alberta has me thinking that we're fooling ourselves if we think we're not so dependent on oil. Sure, it's not our major industry, but even with hydro-electric dams and wind power we're still using a fair amount of fossil fuels and tons of petroleum products. But so much of it is out of sight.

There's a commercial for an electric car that I've seen a few times recently -- making claims that it's cleaner and more efficient. But it never addresses where that electricity is coming from, and how it's being made.

Properties all around me are being leased for shale gas.

Our land itself is under an old lease which I think we should be able to quiet title, but that really doesn't matter that much with hydraulic fracturing. If they contaminate the aquifer anywhere, our water supply is toast. :( :( :mad:

Interesting Oakleaf. And did you know when you moved there about these leased properties?

Until I moved to Alberta, I didn't pay attention at all about the oil industry. Not really. After all, I don't even know the price of gas since I've been car-free for decades.

Innocent me learned about fracking process just um....4 months ago from a work colleague whose GF works for a local company that exclusively specializes in fracturing....which is breaking the ground with natural gas to release the oil. A crude way of explaining but that is how dearie explained it to me.

Honest, in this city it is hard not to meet a local whose personal connections (friends, relatives) who is employed by an organization involved with the oil/energy industry. Calgary area is the spot in Canada where alot of the corporate head offices from these industries are located.

There is a major wind farm by Pincher Creek, near the U.S. border/Waterton National Park...but alternative energy projects are not given enough prominence/nor funding here.

I recognize the value of petroleum for.....our bike tires, our plastics...which is useful for building construction, furniture, (all wood is not always practical), etc. But it is deeply disturbing the overt slogans of "jobs", etc. , when really it's just corporate execs. lining their coffers. The thousands of jobs....are temporary for construction of any pipeline anywhere in the world..is just temporary.

Note: The Canadian environmentalists are just concerned & lobbying.

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Originally Posted by shootingstar

did you know when you moved there about these leased properties?

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The shale gas rush is only just getting underway in my area. There are only a handful of wells already drilled (and none on my aquifer), but hundreds of vertical exploratory wells have been permitted in the past year.

Obviously the existing lease was part of our title search, but we've believed all along that if push came to shove we could get our title quieted, and we thought the likelihood of water contamination from conventional wells on neighboring properties was fairly low. Fracking is something else.

electricity to charge up your EV is still far better than running your gas engine in the car. Car engine is no where near the efficiency of powerplant generated electricity. And this is including all the transmission loss. And not to mention that coal plants have more emission control than your gas engine.

We all need to do our part. don't leave all the lights on when you are not around. Don't run your tap water when you are not using it e.g. washing your face, brushing your teeth, for guys shaving. Water usage uses lot of electricity, water pump to pump the water from where ever it comes from, purification, pressurizing the pipe requires to pump the water to some high place. And you know how heavy water can be.

Do our part by recycling. Recycle that aluminum can. Recycle that glass. Both uses lots of electricity when it has to be made from raw material. Smelting of bauxite into aluminum uses lots of electricity. Alcoa has their smelter next to a hydroelectric dam because it uses so much electricity. Glass is almost as bad.

Do our part. Don't throw away batteries with regular trash... and so on.

And I'm looking into ultra light vehicle. velomobile with electric assist. :D Looking into it as in research and development. Electric motor in use for electric bikes are not that great to bad. We could do a lot better. GE has an electric motor 12 inch long and 12 inch in diameter with 333hp and that was nearly 20 years ago I think... half HP motor should only take 4 cubic inches.

Tar sand and shale is bad in so many ways!! Lets not just try to stop defacing earth and destroying aquifer, do our part by conserving and recycling. Demand less of your power needs. If there is no need, tar sand and shale technology will not be developed.

Smilingcat, thanks for reminding me that I need to harass the landlords about the dripping faucets. (Actually, what they need to do is just replace the fixtures because the insides are 30 years old and stripped...) And I really wish my complex recycled. In Cleveland Heights, where I used to live, the city took care of it, so there was no charge. Here in the wonderful enlightened southwest/west central Ohio, it's a private company, so the complex would have to pay. I'd be willing to take a slight increase in rent if it meant that the junk mail and beer bottles could be recycled.

To jump off Oak's post on fracking: My alma mater considered allowing exploratory natural gas drilling on its "farm" (they do have chickens there and other animals, ponds used by the aquatic biology labs, and lots of hiking trails). One of the big "pro" arguments was that if there was anything, the university would get a cut, and it has been hurting for money lately. I really don't know what happened (I graduated before it was resolved), but I think it fizzled thanks to a big push from the geology department, which houses the environmental studies program.

The problem for Ohio is that it's a rust-belt state, and it's seen as a way to bring jobs back to the region.

Glad to hear Owlie that your alma mater may have shut down that business proposal for fracking on your university's farm.

Hope you find your dream electric assisted velomobile, smilingcat. Can't be that far off in the future.

Tar sands oil processing takes alot more energy and equipment to extract and then left with the residual stuff, that's not oil.

Dearie is also critical of oil field gas flaring-- more pollutants in the air.

In our city, the cycling group has received funding from..the occasional oil company here and there. People / hard core cyclists don't want to discuss it alot.

Well, I guess we could rant on about 'green-washing'. If the companies really wanted to be more "ethical", then fund research for alternative energy sources/projects ..which some of them are.

The city here only picks up stuff for recycling from ....single family dwellings. It is a city of 1+ million people and growing rapidly. The city admits it's abit behind and trying to step on this matter. All condo buildings at this time must use private companies for a fee if they want a recycling program. OUr building right now can't afford it..we have other pressing things that must be fixed.

My understanding of the situation with the oil sands is, they are determined to develop that resource with or without new pipelines. It's naive to think that shutting down Keystone XL will stop oil sands development. We are not Canada's only customer. They will just have to find alternative delivery methods, which are less efficient, and different markets, most likely across the Pacific. They don't have the capacity to refine in northern Alberta, and they would have to import more labor. The thought of Fort MacMurray growing any larger in order to build and staff new refineries is horrifying to me, but they are willing to consider that.

For my part I feel that we are being forced to choose between an array of evils ... I would rather see jobs go to communities where refining capacity already exists, rather than see those communities have to suffer economically and see those jobs go up north.

In the US we have gotten minimal coverage of another pipeline proposal known as Northern Gateway. This would enable them to ship bitumen to China. The proposed route is also going through some sensitive areas in B.C. They have had to extend the public comment period because of tons of environmental concern, but the pipe company is beginning to get buy-in from First Nations.

We need to remember that this is a global issue.

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Originally Posted by NbyNW

My understanding of the situation with the oil sands is, they are determined to develop that resource with or without new pipelines. It's naive to think that shutting down Keystone XL will stop oil sands development. We are not Canada's only customer. They will just have to find alternative delivery methods, which are less efficient, and different markets, most likely across the Pacific. They don't have the capacity to refine in northern Alberta, and they would have to import more labor. The thought of Fort MacMurray growing any larger in order to build and staff new refineries is horrifying to me, but they are willing to consider that.

For my part I feel that we are being forced to choose between an array of evils ... I would rather see jobs go to communities where refining capacity already exists, rather than see those communities have to suffer economically and see those jobs go up north.

In the US we have gotten minimal coverage of another pipeline proposal known as Northern Gateway. This would enable them to ship bitumen to China. The proposed route is also going through some sensitive areas in B.C. They have had to extend the public comment period because of tons of environmental concern, but the pipe company is beginning to get buy-in from First Nations.

We need to remember that this is a global issue.

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The northern part of British Columbia has some gorgeous virgin forest areas. There is cultural divide in thinking /attitudes between British Columbians and Albertans.

Lest, this whole north of the U.S. border topic seems too remote to some TE members here....maybe I should turn the topic broader to include anyone here who lives in Texas (how about North Dakota where there seems to be oil related work ramping up):

So how is cycling infrastructure, cycling issues viewed in Texas? Does Texan economy continue to be in the grip of the oil/energy industry/barons?

My partner is actually presenting at the Bike Texas Summit early this Feb. in San Antonio. When I first heard of this I said to him: "You are perfect for this, as a Canadian cycling advocate who used to work in the oil industry up in Canada".

True, he did make various biz trips to Texas (contracts work) at that time in life to deal with oil industry counterparts.

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Originally Posted by Owlie

The problem for Ohio is that it's a rust-belt state, and it's being sold as a way to bring jobs back to the region.

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Fixed that for ya. The reality is it will bring maybe a dozen permanent jobs to the entire state - a fair number of very short term jobs will come in, but almost all of those will be done by itinerant workers, so the temporary jobs benefits to Ohio will be in the form of hotel maids, fast food workers, and prostitutes. :rolleyes: :( If there were money to fix the roads after the drilling crews leave, then it might bring road crews in for a few more temporary jobs, but we've already seen from pipeline installations that there's no money to repair the road damage.

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Originally Posted by NbyNW

We are not Canada's only customer.

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We're not even the customer in mind. The point of Keystone XL is to get the oil to the Gulf of Mexico refineries, so that it can go onto tankers for export to China without having to cross the Rocky Mountains. None of it is intended for the USA in any event. Look it up...

There's a ton of news on the 'Net.

A piece from a more outspoken online news site based in Vancouver:
http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2012/01/19/Keystone/

Just a few blocks from home in Vancouver there is a meeting tomorrow, among some activists at a community centre.

I agree NByNW, the hearings ..right now to me, is just to placate the public, the First Nations (native Indians) which this pipeline will run through over 20 different reserve lands if Northern Gateway is approved.
http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Envi...earings-start/

Still interested in knowing if Texan TE members are used to living in an oil state. Or maybe it's not like that anymore?? I wonder if I will get used to living in the area where I am now..
Of course, BP Gulf oil spill happened not too long ago..

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

We're not even the customer in mind. The point of Keystone XL is to get the oil to the Gulf of Mexico refineries, so that it can go onto tankers for export to China without having to cross the Rocky Mountains. None of it is intended for the USA in any event. Look it up...

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I was not referring to refined petroleum product in my post. I was talking about the transport and refining of crude bitumen, which Alberta currently does not have the capacity to do. But we do have capacity in the gulf states. There IS money and jobs (many of them probably already existing, rather than new) in that. Would you like to see those jobs go abroad?

And yes, I'm perfectly aware that there is a great deal of debate and confusion as to what Keystone XL represents in terms of revenue and jobs, be the existing or new, temporary or long-term.

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Originally Posted by NbyNW

Would you like to see those jobs go abroad?

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No, I'd like to see them replaced and enhanced by clean jobs - sustainable energy and, not incidentally, family planning. Jobs vs. environment is a fallacy that's been used very effectively by some industries, but it's completely false. There is actually the potential for many more and more permanent jobs in sustainable energy than in resource extraction.

As the old adage goes, "The trouble is, every time a forest falls, the GDP goes up. With every oil spill, the GDP goes up. Every time a cancer patient is diagnosed, the GDP goes up. Is this how we measure economic progress? Economists must learn to subtract."

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

No, I'd like to see them replaced and enhanced by clean jobs - sustainable energy and, not incidentally, family planning. Jobs vs. environment is a fallacy that's been used very effectively by some industries, but it's completely false. There is actually the potential for many more and more permanent jobs in sustainable energy than in resource extraction.

As the old adage goes, "The trouble is, every time a forest falls, the GDP goes up. With every oil spill, the GDP goes up. Every time a cancer patient is diagnosed, the GDP goes up. Is this how we measure economic progress? Economists must learn to subtract."

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I agree with the sentiment but I think the issues are very, very complex. The need to move away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources is a decades old conversation. At minimum back to the oil embargo of the early 70's. So why haven't we been able to solve this problem in the intervening decades? Is it too hard of an engineering problem? Do we simply lack the political will? Can we have our cake and eat it too, or are we going to have to make some difficult decisions?

I have yet to hear of a magic switch we can flip to set us on the right track to sustainability.

We haven't reached the tipping point. I've just read "The tipping Point", can you tell? :D

Seriously, I'm convinced it will happen, because it has to happen. I hope it will happen before it has to, because then we have a chance of "controlling" the situation, or at least adapting to it without too much upheaval. In the meantime I think every step in the right direction is a step towards the tipping point, whether it's a small personal step or a big step involving many people.

And there's no doubt that it will cost, in terms of unpopular and difficult decisions. But we are supremely adaptable as a species.

And if you all think this sounds like a lot of hot air, it's because I don't know anything about the specifics of the situation you're discussing so I'm theorizing freely ;)

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In the meantime I think every step in the right direction is a step towards the tipping point, whether it's a small personal step or a big step involving many people.

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It is happening when it is happens, when people are personally affected.

I am certain the 2 proposed pipelines --1 running from Alberta oil tar sands right across east to west to the British Columbia coast and the 2hd straight south from northern Alberta right through the U.S. south...: seems Sooooo far away to TE members here.

Fine.

However the oil and energy industry is so powerful, so pervasive...that some of us here in TE forums, choose not to even talk about it. Just so complex...and some perhaps a (distant?) personal stake..where family members or friends are directly working in these industries.

For the longest while dearie, did not want it mentioned in his bio profile that he did work for an oil firm even after he retired...quite a number of years ago.

Well, I don't want to beat this to death, but it isn't pie in the sky or some imaginary hippie future. It's now.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/20...il-or-gas-jobs

And this is in spite of the massive tax subsidies and externalities exclusions to the fossil fuel industries, compared with much smaller support to renewables (at least in the USA for both - I don't know how the comparison shakes out in Canada). Yes, there is a lack of political will, that comes from some very specific reasons, but the need for jobs and human health is beginning to outstrip lobbyists' influence.

Why have we not developed alternative energy in last 30 years??

first of all, oil companies have too much to lose when we get off our addiction to oil. They will only go kicking and screaming like a two yo.

The technology is there. We just need to develop it. Only exception is nuclear and fusion technology. Both are not practical.

Examples of why things have not progressed.

Let's see back in the '30s or was it earlier, oil companies and other automobile companies bought up the trolly system in Los Angeles and proceeded to dismantle it. They wanted to sell cars and oil. Not for people to commute on a mass transit system.

Who killed the electric car? also a movie by that name worth watching.

NiMH battery patents and rights were bought up by you guessed it, oil company. And they sat on it until it expired. This precluded the development of NiMH battery and for its use in EV. look up on history of NiMH battery. Chevron is still mucking with it.

I think solar cells are only relevant where there isn't much of wind. I think we should be looking at different aspect of renewable energy instead of just electricity. We could be using solar heat to heat our water and to heat our house. Saves lot of energy!! and its lot cheaper than solar cell to generate electricity.

yes its one of my hot button.

Our organization has the role of being on the regulatory side on some matters with the oil and gas companies.

So even if I wanted to ignore, not hear about the industry, I can't.

... and when it's -30C, the locals will do everything they can to hasten global warming.