Anielski, M. & Wilson S. (2010). The real wealth of the Mackenzie region. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Boreal Initiative. Retrieved from www.library.ubc.ca
This is a peer-reviewed book available both online and in print. It seeks to demonstrate the importance of the Mackenzie River watershed by attempting to put a cash value on the ecosystem services it provides. This is an important source to have when researching the economy because it is one of very few sources that showcases the economic value of the land itself, not of that obtained by its exploitation. The way this is calculated is complicated, but put simply it is done by estimating the value generated by various ecosystem services, accounting for any relationships that might alter it and adding all these values up. This is a difficult study to conduct because it involves a large amount of assumption and imperfect estimation, however it is still useful as a ballpark figure to compare to other reports. This study was supported largely by an NGO, which may risk its findings to bias, though unlikely any more than sources on the other side of this question. And while the study deals with the Mackenzie rather than the Athabasca River, it is one of the only studies of its kind and it was decided that with the Mackenzie River being relatively near, the findings would likely be close enough to that of the Athabasca River for our purposes.
Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. (2015). Economic contribution. Retrieved
fromhttp://www.oilsandstoday.ca/ENERGYECONENVIRON/Pages/EconomicContribution.aspx
This is an article produced by CAPP, a lobby group supporting the oil sands. It mainly seeks to highlight the many positive impacts the oil sands have had not only on Alberta, but on all of Canada. This makes it an important source to study as it broadens the area, and therefore the number of stakeholders, that the oil sands benefit economically. It also brings up the benefits to First Nations people, which is crucial given their heavy involvement in the tailings ponds controversies. Its research comes primarily in the form of statistics gathered from other NGO reports. While this may lead to bias, especially with the author being a pro-oil sands lobby group, the numbers provided are still useful. It must be considered that these are also the numbers provided to the public and to policy-makers, and thus for the sake of consistency we must make use of them as well.
Giesy, J.P., Anderson, J.C., & Wiseman, S.B. (2010). Alberta oil sands development
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107,
951-952. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0912880107
This is a peer-reviewed journal article weighing the economic benefits of the oil sands with the environmental impacts. This reference appears to be reliable due to its expansive amount of sources despite its own short length, and it is published in the highly regarded PNAS journal. Drawing from both government and academic sources, it focuses primarily on the various pollutants emitted by the oil sands rather than their economic effects. However, it also touches on the degradation of the natural environment involved and how these lost ecosystem services must be taken into account when calculating the oil sands’ economic contributions. Therefore, it may be useful to our project both when studying the role of the economy as well as environmental impacts.
Government of Alberta (2014). Economic benefits. Retrieved from
http://oilsands.alberta.ca/economicinvestment.html
This a government-issued report on the oil sands’ economic benefits. It simply provides some additional information and statistics on the subject and really emphasises how crucial oil is to both Alberta’s and Canada’s economy. While the Canadian Energy Research Institute and Statistics Canada are named as sources, much of the information is uncited and is thus assumed to have come from internal research. This may appear problematic, however it is unlikely that a government would have much to gain from exaggerating these claims. Furthermore, these are the statistics that are made public and the ones that are used when comparing the economic benefits and the environmental impacts made by the oil sands, and as such are the ones we should use as well. With issues like these, human perception is critical, and thus using the same resources as the majority of stakeholders do is crucial.
Government of Alberta (2015). Alberta’s international exports by industry: A 10-year review,
2004 to 2014. Retrieved from http://www.albertacanada.com/files/albertacanada/SP
EH_AIME-10-year-review.pdf
This is a government-produced report on Alberta’s international exports from 2004 to 2014. It focuses on a wide variety of industries, but devotes a large portion towards oil. This is an important resource because it has a very large number of statistics relating to oil and demonstrates oil’s domination of the provincial economy. This information is drawn primarily from Statistics Canada. The report thus functions best as a dataset, with a large number of numbers provided for analysis. Unfortunately, it does not offer much explanation of them, and this is something that we must do by relating these statistics with the other, more analytical sources.
Honarvar, A., Rozhon, J., Millington, D., Walden, T., Murillo, C.A., Walden, Z. (2011).
Economic impacts of new oil sands projects in Alberta (2010-2035). Calgary, AB:
Canadian Energy Research Institute. Retrieved from www.library.ubc.ca
This is a study that aims to evaluate the economic impacts of Alberta’s new oil sands projects through an Input Output model and using projections to try and predict what they could be in the future. It is a useful source for a variety of reasons, notably that it is by far the most extensive and includes a massive amount of research. It allows us to observe not just the existing economic output of the oil sands, but that which may occur from new and expanded projects as well. In addition to this, it also mentions the economic impact on the US, which is relevant based on the large number of American stakeholders. Research was amassed from both government and academic sources and was used primarily as material with which to perform calculations. This source is reliable as it was written by academics who specialise in energy economics, though this does open it up to bias. So while the findings are likely accurate, it must be kept in mind that it is written primarily from one, an economic, perspective.
Mansell, R.L. & Schlenker, R.C. (2006). Energy and the Alberta economy: Past and future
impacts and implications. Calgary, AB: Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy. Retrieved from www.abll.ca/references/download/357/ABEnergyFutures-01.pdf
This is a peer-reviewed article studying the “historical and future role of oil and gas in the development and performance of the Alberta economy.” This paper is important because it does not only focus on the economic output of the oil sands, but on their role in the greater Alberta economy. This is useful since it allows us to see beyond the numbers and look into the larger relevance of the oil sands to Alberta and its other industries. The article draws its research from a well-balanced number of sources including both government and non-government organisation reports, academic papers as well as data provided by Statistics Canada, which allows it to gain as much as information as possible, while at the same time cancelling out any biases. The paper’s reliability is further enhanced by the publishing organisation’s diverse staff, which includes academics, scientists and energy company representatives.
Oil Sands Operations, Alberta Energy (SD). (2015). Alberta’s oil sands projects and upgraders.
Retrieved from http://www.energy.alberta.ca/LandAccess/pdfs/OilSands_Projects.pdf
This is a map produced by the government of Alberta and should primarily be thought of as a dataset. It includes the location of every oil sands drilling and upgrading projects operating today, excluding those that have produced less than 1,000 gallons of bitumen in the last 6 months, as well as the location and statuses of future projects. This map is important not only to assess where environmental impacts could be concentrated, but are also important when looking at the economics of this issue as the locations of these projects are likely to be heavily invested in the oil sands. It draws attention to smaller cities who also benefit economically from the oil sands, rather than just Edmonton and Calgary. The map was made from several different government databases and is thus up-to-date and reliable.
Toneguzzi, M. (2015, July 9). TD Economics predicts recession for Alberta this year.
Calgary Herald. Retrieved from www.calgaryherald.com
This is a newspaper article discussing the forecasts blaming falling oil prices for the economic recession in Alberta. Despite the many positives that the oil sands provide economically, this article demonstrates that over-reliance on them leaves the province vulnerable to outside forces and shows how even other industries, such as construction, rely on the continued success of the oil sands. This information is important to keep in mind when studying the economic benefits of the oil sands because it demonstrates how fragile this growth can really be. The findings here are taken from TD Economics, though it mentions other sources have come to similar conclusions, lending the article credibility.