Jason Tsang

GEO 20S (15)

Mr. Corley
October 27th, 2008

The Alberta Tar Sands is one of Canada’s biggest sources of income. It is also
making Canada a leading nation on the world energy market. However with all this
money, there is a huge downside to this temporary money mine. The effects the Alberta
Tar Sands have on the environment and the people, and the high cost make it a source of
income to end.

The Alberta Tar Sands make a huge impact in the environment. The most
noticeable effect it creates is the defacing of the land. To get the oil, they often use the
process of strip mining which shifts the land around completely. It also leaves the land
looking like someone just took a huge piece of manure and smudged it all over the place.
Another effect the tar sands have is the usage of water. In order for them to get the oil out,
they have to flush it out with water. To do that, they diverted ¼ of the Athabasca River
towards their mines. With all that water coming in, the excess water is used for tailing
ponds; these ponds are where the toxic waste is dumped. Unfortunately, birds are unable
to tell the difference between real ponds and these toxic ponds. So when these birds enter
these ponds, they die a preventable death.

The second huge impact the Alberta Tar Sands has is on the people. Although
there are many high paying jobs available, these jobs are not without huge risk to the
workers. Every time a worker enters the work site, there are numerous ways they could
die a terrible death. Along with the risk factor, these jobs take the workers away from
their families for much of the year. This forces many households to have a single parent
taking care of the kids, house, older relatives, etc.

The third huge impact is on our wallets. The huge paychecks these workers make
are often invested into the high living costs. Food and board are much more expensive in
mining communities such as Fort McMurray when compared to urban centers such as
Edmonton and Calgary. The impact is also felt in the pockets of Canadians all over
Canada because much of the oil is nationally owned; over $100 billion of our dollars
have been invested into the oil sands already. All this money is used because of the high
cost it takes to get the oil (one barrel to get two). Also, profit is made only if the price of
sale is over $80 USD per barrel.

In conclusion, if the oil sands are allowed to continue, there will be huge
consequences. Eventually, the oil will run out and we will be left with a very ugly
landscape. And the huge footprint left from all the toxins released into the air will
enhance the global warming felt all around the world. So lets just end something that
should have never started and help build up our world so the next generation can have
something of this world to enjoy.