It has been a few days since I documented oil happenings, and a lot has happened. Here is the short-hand of the stuff that really stood out for me.
June 9
Wednesday in Ft. McMurray was very flexible in terms of scheduling. Our flight was scheduled for around 6:00 p.m., so we wanted to use our time wisely throughout the day. In the morning, while one interview was being conducted, Samantha (a member of the Calgary team) and I set out on a mission to get a good deal on a helicopter trip over the oil sands. We went to three different places, and came to find helicopters are anything but cheap. $1500 per hour was the minimum, and in some places this rate was before factoring in fuel charges (in other words, there was no way we could afford a helicopter).
After searching various helicopter companies and enduring condescending laughter from pilots regarding our expectations for cost, we struck gold thanks to a nice receptionist at a local helicopter company. She suggested we get a fixed-wing airplane instead of a helicopter (frankly because it is exponentially cheaper). So we headed to McMurray Aviation, and sure enough 3 people in one airplane would cost a flat rate of $172 per hour. And we were sold.
I was not one of the “lucky” ones to go up in the plane, but I was definitely not complaining. I can’t even handle small jets, let alone a four-seater propeller plane. I gladly forfeited my seat to Samantha. I will be a journalist someday, and I will have plenty of chances to do awesome fly-overs.
In the meantime, Rob drove Lorna and I to the local Peter Pond Mall to do street interviews. I was so happy that we did three female interviews in a row. Our film so far is HEAVILY weighted on testosterone, for obvious reasons.
The first woman was a glass blower from the Victoria area, who has visited Ft. Mac three times for glass shows. She talked about how the town is the only place where customers rave about “low prices.” She said that normally her prices are fairly high, but customers are willing to pay the price for her art. However, in Ft. Mac, everything is so incredibly expensive that people rave about how affordable her merchandise is.
The second interview was (thank God!) with a 19 year old girl who has lived in Ft. Mac her entire life. She had nothing but positive things to say about her life in the town, and said she wouldn’t have it any other way. Although she said she doesn’t plan on living there after she goes to school, she doesn’t like how people talk negatively about where she grew up.
Finally, our last interview was with a woman who approached us after eavesdropping on our script that we were feeding to local shoppers, trying to convince people to talk with us. She worked at a local clothing store, and was curious if we were focusing on a negative spin in our project. After explaining that our film is a journalistic, unbiased look at all sides of the debate and making clear that our goal is to bridge gaps between the polarized perspectives she was more than happy to speak with us. I was pleasantly surprised with her responses.
She was so positive about oil sands production, Ft. McMurray living, and everything in between. We came to find out that she was a former worker for Petro-Canada, and operated the big trucks in her short time with the company. She said “there was no better feeling in the world than climbing into that truck every day.” Her positive attitude about life in Ft. Mac and working in the oil sands was refreshingly different, and (coming from a woman) pleasantly surprising. Not what you would expect, which is probably why I loved it so much.
What was really amazing was how this woman actually acknowledged that Ft. Mac does have its problems, but that the community pulls together and unites to give back. She said it is part of what makes her community so great.
June 10
After a very bad migraine, a short flight back to Calgary, and a short night’s sleep we were off for a very jam-packed day of interviewing. We met for breakfast at 7:30 to figure out a game plan for everyone. We had to split up for two interviews that were scheduled at the same time. At 9:30, we interviewed the owner of AvatarA Pizza (which was located, conveniently, right around the corner from breakfast).
This interview was AWESOME! Here was this regular guy, an engineer who made six figures working for a company that he started with one other person, and now he makes pizzas in a tiny 200 square foot building and on a portable pizza cart. His goal is to give back to the community that supports his business. The entire time he was telling us his story, he was rolling and throwing pizza dough. We were even lucky enough to try some, and it was some of the best pizza I have ever had. Overall, this interview was a great way to tie together industry, environment, and the average citizen—we hit the trifecta!
Following this interview, we met with Preston Manning. He was a former candidate for Prime Minister, and started two of the major political parties in Canada. In other words, he was a pretty big deal. We must have chosen a very interesting topic, if we are having such an easy time setting up interviews with such important people.
Finally, we wrapped up the day with an interview at the SEEDS—which stands for Society, Environment and Energy Development Studies—Foundation. We met with two representatives from the foundation, and talked about the different programming that they support. One thing I thought was interesting is that they are completely funded by industry because industry recognized that they were not fit to educate the masses about all the issues surrounding the discourse of energy. In other words, industry admitted that they are strictly focused on promotion and would therefore be unfit to educate children fairly. This foundation has been around for more than 30 years, and they have curriculum available for teachers to educate K-12 students about all the issues in the economy, the environment, and the energy sector. The US could really benefit from programs like these.
June 11
After a three hour drive back to Edmonton the night before, we were ready for our early morning interview with the Parkland Institute (a think tank devoted to conducting reports and studies about the effects of oil sands development on the economy and society). We met with the director Diana Gibson, and she was fascinating to talk with. As Rob put it, she was a “quote machine.”
She talked a lot about the social impacts that the oil sands development has on Alberta, which isn’t something that immediately stood out to me during our prior research. Apparently, according to Mrs. Gibson and studies conducted, the boom and bust economy that is generated by such rapid development is very detrimental to Albertan economy and its people. Alberta’s entire economy rests on oil sands development and oil production (30% of Alberta’s GDP comes from the oil and gas sector). In other words, Alberta has all its eggs in one economic basket.
The reason that this is so harsh on the economy is that when oil and gas production is up, the economy is up, and vice versa. However, even when the economy is in boom mode, inflation is through the roof and the average middle-class Albertan can barely afford to live in such an expensive society. This creates a very problematic disparity of wealth. Basically, if you aren’t in the oil and gas sector raking in the cash, you are stuck in a middle-class that is borderline working-poverty.
Additionally, Mrs. Gibson talked about the effects on the job market. The only time, she said, that jobs are readily available is during the boom construction period. After everything is built, there are not nearly as many jobs, and the government doesn’t properly pace development and construction to head up this problem. Also, most of the workers used for the construction phase are temporary, foreign workers (most of which don’t have proper citizenship, and are victims of labor abuse). After the projects are done, they are laid off, poor, and don’t have the same rights that citizens do. Therefore, they are denied access to social programs that could help them in a state of poverty, and are stuck in homeless in an outrageously expensive town.
These were all issues that were new to me, and just as detrimental in my opinion as the environmental implications we have heard so much about.
It was interesting to immediately meet with the Albertan government following this very provocative interview. They, obviously, were very concerned with jumping right into our round-table discussion asking us what “misconceptions” we have heard since starting our research. This is very similar to the way our Syncrude tour began last week (which is very smart for business).
A lot of the facts we heard we very similar to the ones industry has given us, and they all made a lot of sense and seemed to be very concerned about the polarization of the issues due to skewed facts and figures presented in the media. Overall the meeting was very interesting and productive.
However, there was one part of the meeting that was somewhat unsettling. Elizabeth asked the question about cancer clusters in the oil sands region, and how Dr. O’Conner was very concerned that the government seemed to sweep the problem under the rug. Representatives around the table were immediately on the defense, and very quick to step on the breaks. One man said “We want to be careful what we say, because we don’t have a representative from Health Canada here.” They did say that there is some type of cancer, and that they are working to figure out what is causing it, but that Dr. O’Conner was “quick” to judge what sort of cancer it was.
I was upset that much of the conversation focused on accusing Dr. O’Conner of diagnosing the “wrong cancer.” No matter what type of cancer it was, it was cancer nonetheless. People are dying. I am very upset that a government can write off a question like that when it is dealing with people’s lives and health. I understand why the answer was presented the way it was, but that doesn’t mean it sits okay with me.
Some General Thoughts…
I am very intrigued by the language aspect of this research. It seems that everyone we talk with is very good with words, and is incredibly convincing. We will meet with one person who has facts and evidence that back up their perspective, then we meet with someone with the same facts and evidence supporting an opposite perspective. Both are convincing, and both are essentially right. It is a matter of context, relativity, and values that dictates what is the “right” answer. Frankly, I think they are all right. One thing I do know is that all parties we meet with agree that progress is vital in this ever-increasing dependence on energy in society. The disparity is what the definition of progress actually is. If anyone figures out the answer, my scattered brain would appreciate a response.
Tomorrow we meet with Christopher Ross, Vice President of Charles Rivers Associates who has worked in oil and energy for decades. Then we are scheduled to meet with Dr. Andre Droxler, an Earth Sciences professor at Rice University, who has been working at the ExxonMobil Research lab during his sabbatical leave. Updates to come…
