Photo provided by Environmental Defence Canada / Flickr
As an Albertan native, I have been surrounded by the Oil and Gas industry my entire life. Most of my friends parents’ careers were built entirely on the exploitation of this black gold. We were ruled by a Progressive Conservative regime for more than 40 years, a regime that maintained tight ties with the people operating and managing the Athabasca Oil Sands. Despite the prosperity oil brought the province, I always felt a high degree of skepticism towards the industry.
Most rational people would agree that releasing billions of tons of carbon dioxide a year will have unforeseen consequences into the future. The same people also agree that, while humans must cut down our emissions drastically, our source of energy cannot change overnight.
The proposed Energy East pipeline would link Hardisty, Alberta to St. John, Newfoundland, allowing a connection of our oil sands to the refineries in the east. The pipeline would transport 1.1 million barrels of crude oil while creating an estimated 2,300 direct and indirect jobs to Canadians.
I know oil is a dirty, unsustainable commodity, but our dependance on the crude is not going away anytime soon. The fact that our biggest refinery imports nearly 300,000 barrels a day from Saudi Arabia, a nation that does not allow its females the ability to drive is despicable.
The main argument claimed by opposers of the pipeline is the dangers of a spill on the fragile land on which the pipeline sits. The fact is, pipelines are much safer than conventional transportation, especially compared to rail transportation. Let us never forget the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster, which happened only 3 years ago with a death toll of 47 people. A combination of driver error and lack of maintenance led to the worst rail disaster since the Confederacy of Canada.
Today in Montreal, there was a public hearing regarding the Energy East pipeline, it was supposed to gather local opinion about the pipe which ravels through the city. Unfortunately, it had to be shut down prematurely due to shouting protestors. I dream of a day where we drive electric cars and our shingles are made of solar panels, but to these outspoken protestors I have to ask: what was the merit of shutting down a hearing? Democracy does not work by drowning out your foes with kicks and screams. It works by discussion with both sides of the issue presenting fact based evidence and civil discourse.