The North American lifestyle is coming to an end. Broadly speaking, there are two choices before us. We can continue to increase our consumption of finite fossil fuels, encourage suburban sprawl, and continue our love affair with the personal automobile. Conversely, we accept the reality of resource depletion, the fragility of our predominately energy intensive, low-density North American lifestyles, and we decide to transition for a post-carbon future. The first path essentially characterizes our current trajectory – business-as-usual. A handful of cities and an even smaller number of national governments have chosen the latter path of resiliency. What are the urban implications of inaction? What is the likelihood of change?

This is largely an urban story. As we move forward into a world of energy scarcity and global climate uncertainty, North American cities face many stark realities. Eighty percent of Canadians already live in cities. Cities will face greater social pressures and ecological constraints as suburban dwellers move into cities where living costs are lower and public services are provided. Higher densities, affordability, and transportation alternatives are necessary for cities to become resilient in a warmer, post-carbon world.

Continue reading Planning for Resiliency: Density, Transportation, and Affordability.

The twin energy and climate change crises represent the greatest threats to human civilization. We have not yet faced such incredible challenges to the most fundamental aspects of our modern existence. In North America, we are particularly unprepared to effectively deal with these issues. The post-World War II urban form of Canadian and American cities has tended towards low-density, highly automobile-dependent communities. This short article will briefly provide background on these two crises, and then illustrate why the predominant North American development form is unsustainable and impractical based on the great amount of oil required. If a reconfiguration of the urban landscape does not occur now by choice, it will be forced upon the North American majority by the reality of energy scarcity. The latter transition will likely be characterized as a period of social inequity and great financial burden (Newman and Boyer, 2009).

Continue reading Critical Response 3 – Energy and Transportation.

The world is largely dependent on finite resources to meet current energy demands. In North America and across the globe, petroleum accounts for a large percentage of total energy consumption. And to a large extent, this is due to the personal automobile. In the context of transportation, suburbanization has made oil dependency a reality, especially in North America. In this response, I will reinforce major points raised by UBC Geography Ph.D. Candidate Andrew Jackson from his presentation, “The End of Oil,” and I will explore the necessity to return to the streetcar city in preparation for a post-carbon future.

An increasing number of people are familiar with peak oil. M. King Hubbert, a Shell Oil Company geologist, formulated the concept in the late 1950s. He estimated world production would peak in 2000. This prediction was nearly accurate, as “regular[,] [global] oil production peaked in 2005” (Murphy 5). This means the most easily accessibly oil, with the highest energy return on investment (EROI), has been extracted, leaving oil to be extracted through processes that are expensive and yield a lower EROI. Many argue that the tar sands is a compelling example of this and speaks to the reality of peak oil. Oh, and by the way, climate change and the melting of the Arctic will not solve our growing oil needs. The United States Geological Survey’s liberal estimate puts undiscovered, recoverable oil in the Arctic at 90 billion barrels. Currently, the world consumes around 30 billion barrels per year. (Nelder)

Peak oil poses serious implications – it fundamentally puts most aspects of the modern capitalist economic structure into question. In BC, refined petroleum accounts for 44% of the market share of energy consumption (Statistics Canada). Although efforts have been made to reduce our dependency, most people live in oil-dependent cities, suburbs, and regions. Oil shocks are inevitable. We must invest in streetcar systems, rail networks, and adapt our cities and suburbs with this reality in mind. The era of cheap oil and the personal automobile is coming to an end.

Patrick Condon, UBC Professor of Landscape Architecture, outlines the steps that must be taken immediately to prepare for a post-carbon future. As it is beyond the scope of this response to write in detail on all seven of Condon’s rules, I will focus on his central argument: restore the streetcar city. Vancouver was once a streetcar city with an extensive network, and at its peak, connected the city of Vancouver to towns in the Fraser Valley. Streetcars are already commonplace in many European cities – and these cities and countries have much lower per capita energy consumption. Streetcars encourage density (if it does not already exist), mixed-used developments, and walking districts. Streetcars also discourage driving. Andrew Jackson and other planners note the importance of reducing space dedicated to the personal automobile. Disincentives must exist for people to change behaviours. Less space for cars means fewer cars on the road.

Portland has demonstrated great potential for the modern streetcar city in North America. The streetcar network connects downtown with several neighbourhoods, and there are plans to extend service throughout the city and even to the nearby suburb of Lake Oswego. The streetcar system has encouraged density and smarter development with the creation of 10,000 residential units and over $3.5 billion in property investments within two blocks of the line (Driehaus). The Portland Streetcar connects to the main downtown transit mall, providing bus and suburban light rail connections. Portland’s suburbs resemble many other North American suburbs, but they stand apart in transit accessibility. The light rail network connects many suburbs to Portland and has encouraged higher density suburban development along the line. This does not mean suburban development should continue, but we must quickly find ways to remake suburban landscapes for a post-carbon future. Suburbs must be connected to cities – and light rail and streetcar systems are necessary.

Peak oil is very real. Until we start having frank discussions about the implications of peak oil, we will not be prepared to tackle the many challenges ahead of us. We are facing unprecedented challenges, but also incredible opportunities. In this space of great possibility, we have the choice to recreate our urban and suburban landscapes and re-imagine our cities for people and community. Right now we have the choice to make these transitions, but if we fail to act soon, we will have much less control. The possibility for radical transformation is in front of us, but we need to get moving. Will you join me?

Works Cited

Condon, Patrick. “Why A Streetcar Is Something To Be Desired.” The Tyee 16 Sep. 2010. 31 Oct. 2010. .

Driehaus, Bob. “Downtowns Across the U.S. See Streetcars in Their Future.” The New York Times 13 Aug. 2008. 31 Oct. 2010 .

Ménard, Marinka. Statistics Canada. “Canada, A Big Energy Consumer: A Regional Perspective.” Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2005. .

Murphy, Pat. “Plan C: Community Survival Strategies for Peak Oil and Climate Change.” Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers, 2008.

Nelder, Chris. “How Much Oil Is In the Arctic?” Business Insider 13 June 2009. 31 Oct. 2010 .

I thought this was an interesting article about how the Alberta tar sands are shaping landscapes far beyond spaces of extraction. It is interesting because it is a debate centred around the issues of space and movement –– using a small Idaho highway to move large equipment destined for the tar sands.

Some excerpts:

… international oil companies see this meandering, backcountry route as a road to riches. They are angling to use U.S. 12 to ship gargantuan loads of equipment from Vancouver, Wash., to Montana and the tar sands of Alberta in Canada. The companies say the route would save time and money and provide a vital economic boost to Montana and Idaho.

AND

The proposed route could shave thousands of miles of transportation costs for such shipments, which might otherwise be forced to travel through the Panama Canal to overland routes accessed through Houston or New Orleans. Interstates and other wide highways are typically not an option, in part because overpasses are too low.

I help produce the twice-weekly newshour at CiTR 101.9 FM – the UBC radio station. We did a show on Monday focusing on oil tanker traffic in BC’s coastal waters and food security in Vancouver. Both issues, obviously, relate to energy, specifically oil. I have the complete audio from the panel discussion on food security, if you would like me to post it. The panel discussion was part of the Food and Beers series, hosted by The Tyee editor David Beers, at the Museum of Vancouver. The series continues for a few more weeks.

Have a listen if you get a chance – I’d love to hear your feedback. Or let me know if you have any story ideas.

Here is the link to the MP3:
CiTR News for Monday, October 18

Also, if you really want to support independent, community-based, volunteer-driven media (When I make it sound that good, how can you resist?), you can subscribe to the podcast here and join the Facebook page here.

I came across this Chevron ad on a website and thought you all should check it out. I think it’s interesting how they’re trying to brand themselves as a corporation fully supporting, caring about, part of the communities they operate in. Also, their tagline is interesting: “Chevron. Human Energy.”

What are your thoughts?

Are the tar sands a source of Canada’s geopolitical power? Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff thinks so – and he’s not alone (1). Industry and neoliberal politicians argue Canada has increased its geopolitical power because of Alberta’s tar sands. In the process, they have ingeniously tapped into a powerful form of patriotism – petro-patriotism. While extraction equals power and profit, the real power is not centred in Fort McMurray and the region –- for the most part, not even in Alberta. These spaces of extraction in northern Alberta are not spaces of empowerment for local peoples. To the contrary, power is centred in executive boardrooms of multinational corporations, generally lacking deep ties to communities and spaces of extraction. Although industry and petro-politicans speak of Alberta, and more generally, Canada, as holding key geopolitical power, the paltry royalties collected by government, the foreign investment, and deep North American integration have eliminated the possibility for any real geopolitical power. These issues merit an in-depth discussion, but the aim of this response is to briefly connect these three issues within the context of geopolitics in an age of neoliberalism.

Commentators, academics, activists, and some politicians warn of the diminishing control Canada has over its own energy resources, specifically in tar sands. Hugh McCullum of The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives characterizes Canada as an “energy satellite” of the United States, while others describe Canada as an “energy colony” (2,3). The provincial government has squandered an incredible opportunity to establish a rainy day fund to prepare for the inevitable post-petroleum future. For every $100 barrel of oil, Alberta only receives $26, while even Alaska receives $42 (4). Alberta makes less on its oil than Norway, Alaska, New Mexico or Louisiana (5). Oil companies are seeing huge profits. And yes, thousands are employed in northern Alberta, but the province nor the country are valuing this finite resource at a level consistent with the social and ecological costs associated with tar sands development.

The province’s inadequate royalty scheme has partly fuelled the incredible foreign investment. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative’s 2006 report, Fuelling Fortress America, noted that “American investment controls 40% to 50% of Alberta’s oil” (6). While the United States views the tar sands as an answer to its energy insecurity, China, too, is investing. In 2009, PetroChina announced its plans to buy a 60% stake in the privately-owned Athabasca Oil Sands Corporation. PetroChina now has a large stake in a company whose assets include five-billion barrels of bitumen (7). To put it bluntly, Alberta’s tar sands are up for sale, yet the provincial and federal governments have raised few concerns. Even more worrisome, many argue, is the division which no longer exists between industry and government. Both are quietly working towards deep North American energy and military integration.

North American economic union became clear through the creation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Specifically in terms of energy, this agreement “guarantees an increasing export of a finite resource,” even though Canada has not reserved any energy for itself (8). NAFTA paved the way for the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), which the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, the federal Conservative government, and the US federal government eagerly advocated, although Parliament never voted on it. The SPP allows for deeper military and energy integration. A “streamlined regulatory process,” deregulation of cross-border oil pipelines, and the privatization of energy industries are central to this backroom agreement, which has generated little attention in the mainstream press (9). The Civil Assistance Plan, signed by both countries, allows US and Canadian soldiers to enter either country to curb civil unrest or defend oil facilities (10). Recently US Senator Lindsey Graham said he did not believe Alberta crude to be “foreign” oil, appearing to suggest that Canada’s resources are merely an extension of the United States (11). Senator Graham is not alone in this view. Any geopolitical power Canada did have is rapidly disappearing.

We can no longer see today’s neoliberal politicians and oil corporations distinct from each other. We are witnessing the emergence of corporatist states, where sovereignty is increasingly irrelevant as decision-making is conducted with government and industry in the same room –- or government simply consisting of industry. Petro-politics and petro-politicians have ensured disproportionate returns for industry, while those in regions of extraction pay the environmental and social costs. Foreign investment and deep security and energy integration, advocated by industry, are further centralizing power in the hands of a small elite. Geopolitical power cannot exist when government forfeits total control of resource development to multinational corporations and fails to properly regulate. Is geopolitical power even relevant in this age of global corporate dominance?

Notes

1. Andrew Chung, “Ignatieff touts Alberta tar sands,” The Toronto Star, January 22, 2009, http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/575269.

2. Hugh McCullum, “Fuelling Fortress America: A Report on the Athabasca Tar Sands and US Demands for Canada’s Energy” (Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2006), 23.

3. Shannon Walsh and Macdonald Stainsby, “The Smell of Money,” in Sparking a Worldwide Energy Revolution, ed. Kolya Abramsky, 341 (Oakland: AK Press, 2010).

4. Andrew Nikiforuk, Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent (Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2008), 149.

5. Nikiforuk, Tar Sands, 140.

6. McCullum, “Fuelling Fortress America,” 23.

7. Nathan Vanderklippe, “PetroChina buys 60% stake in oil sands project,” The Globe and Mail, August 31, 2009, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/petrochina-buys-60-stake-in-oil-sands-project/article1270720/.

8. Walsh and Stainsby, “The Smell of Money,” 340.

9. Walsh and Stainsby, “The Smell of Money,” 341.

10. Nikiforuk, 164.

11. Jane Taber, “US Senator sold on the oil sands,” The Globe and Mail, September 17, 2010, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/us-senator-sold-on-the-oil-sands/article1712877/.

Will the boom in natural gas drilling contaminate America’s water supply? NOW on PBS explores the issue. You can watch the 30-minute episode on the NOW website here.

NOW talks with filmmaker Josh Fox about Gasland, his Sundance award-winning documentary on the surprising consequences of natural gas drilling. Fox’s film—inspired when the gas company came to his hometown—alleges chronic illness, animal-killing toxic waste, disastrous explosions, and regulatory missteps.

And here is the trailer for the actual film Gasland. I don’t think it’s out on DVD yet.

-Andy

Andrew Nikiforuk published this article recently on the online news magazine The Tyee.

An excerpt:

At the University of Alberta in a room packed with nearly 100 reporters and onlookers, David Schindler, one of the world’s most celebrated water ecologists, explained that he had never seen so many deformed fish from one region in his long career as a freshwater scientist except on polluted rivers feeding the Great Lakes nearly 30 years ago.