kingofsurrey Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 A bestseller. Highly recommend you give it read. Stupid to the Last Drop: How Alberta Is Bringing Environmental Armageddon to Canada (And Doesn't Seem to Care) by William Marsden 3.88 · Rating details · 120 ratings · 22 reviews A bestselling investigative journalist takes a tour of the Alberta oil and gas industry, revealing how Canada’s richest province is squandering our chance for a sustainable future. In its desperate search for oil and gas riches, Alberta is destroying itself. As the world teeters on the edge of catastrophic climate change, Alberta plunges ahead with uncontrolled development of its fossil fuels, levelling its northern Boreal forest to get at the oil sands, and carpet-bombing its southern half with tens of thousands of gas wells. In so doing, it is running out of water, destroying its range land, wiping out its forests and wildlife and spewing huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, adding to global warming at a rate that is unrivalled in Canada or almost anywhere else in the world. It’s digging, drilling and blasting its way to oblivion, becoming the ultimate symbol of Canada’s – and the world’s – pathological will to self-destruct. Nowhere has the world seen such colossal environmental destruction as is being wreaked on Alberta. At one point the province even went so far as to consider a scientist’s idea of nuking its underbelly to get at the tar sands. Stupid to the Last Drop looks at the increasingly violent geopolitical forces that are gathering as the world’s gas and oil dwindle and the Age of Oil begins its inevitable slide towards oblivion. As Canadians deplete their energy reserves, selling them off to Americans at bargain-basement prices, no thought is given to conservation or the long-term needs of the nation. In this powerful polemic, William Marsden journeys across the heart of a province seized by the destructive forces of greed, power and the energy business, and envisions a very bleak future. (less) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2005798.Stupid_to_the_Last_Drop 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckistani Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 16 minutes ago, kingofsurrey said: A bestseller. Highly recommend you give it read. Stupid to the Last Drop: How Alberta Is Bringing Environmental Armageddon to Canada (And Doesn't Seem to Care) by William Marsden 3.88 · Rating details · 120 ratings · 22 reviews A bestselling investigative journalist takes a tour of the Alberta oil and gas industry, revealing how Canada’s richest province is squandering our chance for a sustainable future. In its desperate search for oil and gas riches, Alberta is destroying itself. As the world teeters on the edge of catastrophic climate change, Alberta plunges ahead with uncontrolled development of its fossil fuels, levelling its northern Boreal forest to get at the oil sands, and carpet-bombing its southern half with tens of thousands of gas wells. In so doing, it is running out of water, destroying its range land, wiping out its forests and wildlife and spewing huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, adding to global warming at a rate that is unrivalled in Canada or almost anywhere else in the world. It’s digging, drilling and blasting its way to oblivion, becoming the ultimate symbol of Canada’s – and the world’s – pathological will to self-destruct. Nowhere has the world seen such colossal environmental destruction as is being wreaked on Alberta. At one point the province even went so far as to consider a scientist’s idea of nuking its underbelly to get at the tar sands. Stupid to the Last Drop looks at the increasingly violent geopolitical forces that are gathering as the world’s gas and oil dwindle and the Age of Oil begins its inevitable slide towards oblivion. As Canadians deplete their energy reserves, selling them off to Americans at bargain-basement prices, no thought is given to conservation or the long-term needs of the nation. In this powerful polemic, William Marsden journeys across the heart of a province seized by the destructive forces of greed, power and the energy business, and envisions a very bleak future. (less) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2005798.Stupid_to_the_Last_Drop the bolded words negate the validity of an ignorant journalist trying to peddle his beleif systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Strome Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 30 minutes ago, canuckistani said: the bolded words negate the validity of an ignorant journalist trying to peddle his beleif systems. This guy has said so much bs it's not even funny. His comment on our Boreal forest is complete made up nonsense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM_ Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 13 hours ago, Ryan Strome said: This guy has said so much bs it's not even funny. His comment on our Boreal forest is complete made up nonsense. this part must hurt the most "Alberta plunges ahead with uncontrolled development of its fossil fuels" sorry couldn't help it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofsurrey Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 (edited) 13 hours ago, Ryan Strome said: This guy has said so much bs it's not even funny. His comment on our Boreal forest is complete made up nonsense. Alberta has destroyed their forests... and what is not cut down is being consumed by more and more forest fires... Alberta is a mess. https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2019/05/30/Accelerate-New-Oil-Wells/ A University of Alberta study from 2018 showed that half of the boreal forests in the province may eventually be permanently lost to wildfires and drought, taking most of the 4,500 forestry jobs with them. The coming decades will be a challenging time for us all. Transitioning our economy away from cheap abundant fossil fuels that have powered prosperity for decades will not be easy, or cheap. But pretending we do not need to make a shift to a low carbon future is increasingly untenable and irresponsible. The urgency to expedite new petroleum projects stands in stark contrast to the utter disinterest in cleaning up the old ones. Alberta is perhaps unique in the world in having no mandatory timelines for reclaiming oil and gas wells. There are about 300,000 conventional oil and gas wells in the province, all of which eventually require cleanup. Over half, or 167,000, are listed as inactive or abandoned. The oldest dates back to 1918. What’s the rush? The Alberta government says this collective liability is a mere $18.5 billion. Internal figures from the regulator analyzed by the Alberta Liabilities Disclosure Project instead peg the cleanup bill at up to $70 billion. This snapshot does not of course include the almost 3,000 additional drilling permits to be dispensed this year by the regulator’s expedited algorithm. At the current leisurely reclamation rate it could take 126 years to deal with the methane-leaking mess already created. Yet somehow there is an assumption that the oil and gas industry is going to be around more than a century from now to settle up, even though almost 80 per cent of Alberta’s conventional crude reserves have already been extracted. Not to worry — Alberta regulators have ensured that industry posted funds to cover 0.3 per cent of cleanup costs. The massive taxpayer exposure from abandoned wells pales in comparison to even larger liabilities accumulated from decades of lightly regulated bitumen mining. According to other internal figures from the Alberta Energy Regulator, reclaiming tailings ponds now covering 88 square kilometres and counting could cost a further $130 billion, assuming such a thing was even technically possible. The Tyee is supported by readers like you Join us and grow independent media in Canada Edited May 30, 2019 by kingofsurrey 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Strome Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 5 hours ago, Jimmy McGill said: this part must hurt the most "Alberta plunges ahead with uncontrolled development of its fossil fuels" sorry couldn't help it. Yup, both you and Notley are good at criticising Alberta. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM_ Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 57 minutes ago, Ryan Strome said: Yup, both you and Notley are good at criticising Alberta. I just want it done as safely as possible. Thats why I'm so high on canapux, I think thats the only way it will ever be refined out east. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Strome Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 4 hours ago, Jimmy McGill said: I just want it done as safely as possible. Thats why I'm so high on canapux, I think thats the only way it will ever be refined out east. I was being sarcastic as Notley called Alberta the embarrassing cousin of confederation. As far as safety everyone wants it done right. The Alberta energy industry is very innovative and cautious of the environment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM_ Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 9 hours ago, Ryan Strome said: I was being sarcastic as Notley called Alberta the embarrassing cousin of confederation. As far as safety everyone wants it done right. The Alberta energy industry is very innovative and cautious of the environment. well its certainly looking like TMX is close to a done deal - if the news is correct there sounds like there's going to be a 51% stake owned by a first nations investment group. To my mind thats an ideal outcome for this project. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Strome Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 9 hours ago, Jimmy McGill said: well its certainly looking like TMX is close to a done deal - if the news is correct there sounds like there's going to be a 51% stake owned by a first nations investment group. To my mind thats an ideal outcome for this project. I like that idea myself and I think it's the best way forward and like Jason keeps saying Alberta wants more first nations partnership in energy projects. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM_ Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 36 minutes ago, Ryan Strome said: I like that idea myself and I think it's the best way forward and like Jason keeps saying Alberta wants more first nations partnership in energy projects. energy east is next Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Strome Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 1 minute ago, Jimmy McGill said: energy east is next I would love that but I doubt either major party wants a battle with the Quebec government. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM_ Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 15 hours ago, Ryan Strome said: I would love that but I doubt either major party wants a battle with the Quebec government. they can't stop canapux Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Strome Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 3 minutes ago, Jimmy McGill said: they can't stop canapux umm maybe you aren't familiar with Quebec in this federation... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM_ Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 Just now, Ryan Strome said: umm maybe you aren't familiar with Quebec in this federation... they can't stop rail shipments to NB, even they aren't that powerful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Strome Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 Just now, Jimmy McGill said: they can't stop rail shipments to NB, even they aren't that powerful. Oh I agree but I don't think there is a "social appetite" to battle Quebec. Let's be honest both JT and Scheer have caved to Quebec and it's not even officially campaign season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM_ Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Ryan Strome said: Oh I agree but I don't think there is a "social appetite" to battle Quebec. Let's be honest both JT and Scheer have caved to Quebec and it's not even officially campaign season. they key is having more first nations ownership in the projects. If Trudeau is able to announce a major partnership this month with TMX I think it will get other groups across the country interested in energy projects. Quebec simply will have no way of blocking it, particularly when the option is first nations backed projects vs. Saudi oil. Sure there will always be the vocal jerks there always are but I don't believe they'll be able to stop a pux-based project. Edited June 1, 2019 by Jimmy McGill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gurn Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 (edited) All this fuss to ship oil to a country that is currently threatening us over Huawei? All this fuss to ship oil to country that is currently threatening us to not take sides in their trade dispute with our biggest trading partner? Time to grow back the stones Canada used to have, but put away for the last few decades. Edited June 1, 2019 by gurn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-DLC- Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 On 5/30/2019 at 9:22 PM, Ryan Strome said: I was being sarcastic as Notley called Alberta the embarrassing cousin of confederation. As far as safety everyone wants it done right. The Alberta energy industry is very innovative and cautious of the environment. We're demanding it is. Want isn't strong enough - which is the point. And that last line is a joke to me. Honestly. The oil sands are a disaster and there's no denying that. The legacy being left for our children's children matters more than the get rich quick scheme that's driving Albertans in this. No one wants it "done right" like BC....because it's OUR province that will be impacted in a disaster. Alberta's leaders have exposed their "true" feelings for us...and now we should trust them? Laughable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Strome Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 10 minutes ago, Jimmy McGill said: they key is having more first nations ownership in the projects. If Trudeau is able to announce a major partnership this month with TMX I think it will get other groups across the country interested in energy projects. Quebec simply will have no way of blocking it, particularly when the option is first nations backed projects vs. Saudi oil. Sure there will always be the vocal jerks there always are but I don't believe they'll be able to stop a pux-based project. I don't disagree with you at all and I think you're missing my point. I'm not saying you're wrong I'm saying and disagreement with Quebec is not in either parties plans imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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