the Environment and Alberta’s Tar Sands Focusing on Labor

Analysts argue that Canada’s oil sands in Alberta have a major effect on both the climate and the economic condition of the country. Specifically, the mining of tar sands in the Alberta region contributes to the loss of forests and thereby reduces the frequency of rainfall experienced by the area. Gasses created by the oil sands industry often impact the health of employees and animals in the surrounding areas. Consequently, the industrial activities in Alberta have negatively impacted the biodiversity and the climatic conditions of Canada (Poveda & Lipsett, 2013). The sand tar industries in Alberta have also played a critical role in the region’s economic growth and the development of the entire economy of Canada. Notably, the extraction processes and other activities that occur in the tar sands sector has offered employment to 478000 people and enhanced the volume of energy exports that Canada trades to other nations (Rosa et al., 2017).

An examination of the oil sands production sector indicates that the industry faces significant challenges from the workers’ unions, which are consistently demanding for the improvement of safety measures for the employees (Ferguson, 2011). Apart from the labor unions, environmental activists have lodged various complaints concerning the adverse impacts the sand oil extraction processes and related industrial activities have on the surrounding. For instance, the sand extraction processes lead to the development of tailings ponds, which pose high risks to the workers and aquatic lives. Besides, the carbon and nitrogen compound that the industries release into the air leads to the development of acid rains, and destruction of the ozone layers thus adversely affecting the welfare of the workers (Paskey &Williams, 2013).The environmental policies that the regulatory authorities have established affect both the economic and health of the workers. For instance, the environmental policies have led to the relocation of the workers who were residing close to the industries and a reduction in the number of women who works in the extraction sites. According to Poveda and Lipsett (2013), the tar sands exploitation has also faced objections from the Aboriginals. Finally, the environmental policies have increased the economic statuses of the workers because companies provide the employees with health risk allowances (Ferguson, 2011).

Part B: Annotated Bibliography

Ferguson, N. (2011). “From coal pits to tar sands: Labor migration between an Atlantic Canadian region and the Athabasca oil sands.” Just Labor, 17.

In the article above, Ferguson analyses the impacts of oil sands on the labor movements in Canada, especially among the Albertan region and other parts of the country. According to the report by Ferguson, the tar sands often provide high levels of income to the employees thereby increasing the labor supply, and a majority of the Canadians immigrate to the Albertan region to work as casual laborers or skilled employees. Although the demand for employment in the tar sands production sector has attracted people from various origins, an analysis of the employment status in the different industries indicates that women are the minority employees due to some policies that the labor relations agencies have established.

Paskey, J., Steward, G., & Williams, A. (2013). The Alberta Oil Sands Then and Now: An Investigation of the Economic, Environmental and Social Discourses across Four Decades.

The article by Paskey and Williams is crucial in the examination of the future impacts of the oil sands extraction on the welfare of humanity and other organisms. According to the article above, the tailings ponds that extractors use during the exploitation of tar sands accumulate dangerous compounds that are hazardous to the aquatic life. Also, the greenhouse gases that the industries release from the tar sands production adversely affects the health of humankind. In the article, it is evident that various policies have played a critical role in the reduction of environmental pollution. Notably, the Kyoto Protocol established that the developed countries need to reduce the levels of environmental pollution and improve the welfare of humanity and other organisms.

Poveda, C. A., & Lipsett, M. G. (2013). ”The Canadian Oil sands: environmental, economic, social, health, and other impacts.” WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, 173, 575-587.

According to Poveda and Lipsett, a majority of the Canadians are employees of the industries that undertake the sand oil production processes thus increasing the levels of incomes that the Canadians receive. Economists argue that in 25 years, the compensation for the workers in tar sands extraction amounts between $650 billion to $ 1417 billion thus indicating that a majority of the employees in the industry above significantly benefit from the investments in the sector. The article above is necessary for the analysis of the social and health impacts of the oil sands extraction on the workers and communities in Alberta. Specifically, the industrial activities adversely affect the ecosystems and the Aboriginal communities living in the area.

Rosa, L. Davis, F.K., Rulli, C.M., D’Odoricco, P. (2017). ”Environmental Consequences of Oil Production from Oil Sands.” Earth’s Future 5(2).

The article above is crucial in the examination of the environmental impacts of tar sands extraction on the environment. Rosa, Davis and D’Odoricco postulate that most of Canada’s land has forests thus the exploitation of the oil sands leads to the loss of biodiversity and destruction of ecosystems. Besides, the destruction of forests to allow for the extraction of the tar sands adversely affects the climatic conditions of Alberta region and the entire Canada. According to Rosa et al., the tar sands extraction in the Alberta area has led to the establishment of environmental policies to help enhance the welfare of humanity by reducing environmental pollution through the emission of dangerous gases such as carbon.

References

Ferguson, N. (2011). From coal pits to tar sands: Labor migration between an Atlantic Canadian region and the Athabasca oil sands. Just Labor, 17.

Retrieved from: http://www.justlabour.yorku.ca/volume17/pdfs/08_ferguson_press.pdf

Paskey, J., Steward, G., & Williams, A. (2013). The Alberta Oil Sands Then and Now: An Investigation of the Economic, Environmental and Social Discourses across Four Decades. Retrieved from: https://era.library.ualberta.ca/files/j6731549r/TR-38%20-%20Paskey%20Then%20and%20Now.pdf

Poveda, C. A., & Lipsett, M. G. (2013). ”The Canadian Oil sands: environmental, economic, social, health, and other impacts.” WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, 173, 575-587. Retrieved from: https://www.witpress.com/Secure/elibrary/papers/SDP13/SDP13048FU1.pdf

Rosa, L. Davis, F.K., Rulli, C.M., D’Odoricco, P. (2017). ”Environmental Consequences of Oil Production from Oil Sands.” Earth’s Future 5(2). Retrieved from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2016EF000484/pdf