The true cost of oil
-
0:00 - 0:06The world's largest and most devastating
environmental and industrial project -
0:06 - 0:10is situated in the heart of the largest
and most intact forest in the world, -
0:10 - 0:11Canada's boreal forest.
-
0:11 - 0:16It stretches right across
Northern Canada, in Labrador, -
0:16 - 0:19it's home to the largest remaining
wild caribou herd in the world: -
0:19 - 0:21the George River caribou herd,
-
0:21 - 0:23numbering approximately 400,000 animals.
-
0:23 - 0:26Unfortunately, when I was there,
I couldn't find one of them, -
0:26 - 0:28but you have the antlers as proof.
-
0:28 - 0:29All across the boreal,
-
0:29 - 0:33we're blessed with this incredible
abundance of wetlands. -
0:33 - 0:37Wetlands, globally, are one
of the most endangered ecosystems. -
0:37 - 0:40They're absolutely critical ecosystems,
-
0:40 - 0:43they clean air, they clean water,
-
0:43 - 0:46they sequester large amounts
of greenhouse gases, -
0:46 - 0:49and they're home
to a huge diversity of species. -
0:49 - 0:52In the boreal, they are also the home
-
0:52 - 0:56where almost 50 percent of the 800 bird
species found in North America -
0:56 - 0:58migrate north to breed
and raise their young. -
1:01 - 1:06In Ontario, the boreal marches down south
to the north shore of Lake Superior. -
1:06 - 1:10And these incredibly
beautiful boreal forests -
1:10 - 1:14were the inspiration for some of the most
famous art in Canadian history, -
1:14 - 1:18the Group of Seven
were very inspired by this landscape, -
1:18 - 1:23and so the boreal is not just a really key
part of our natural heritage, -
1:23 - 1:26but also an important part
of our cultural heritage. -
1:27 - 1:31In Manitoba, this is an image
from the east side of Lake Winnipeg, -
1:31 - 1:35and this is the home of the newly
designated UNESCO Cultural Heritage site. -
1:37 - 1:40In Saskatchewan,
as across all of the boreal, -
1:40 - 1:42home to some of our most famous rivers,
-
1:42 - 1:47an incredible network of rivers and lakes
that every school-age child learns about, -
1:47 - 1:51the Peace, the Athabasca,
the Churchill here, the Mackenzie, -
1:51 - 1:55and these networks
were the historical routes -
1:55 - 1:57for the voyageur and the coureur de bois,
-
1:57 - 2:00the first non-aboriginal
explorers of Northern Canada -
2:00 - 2:03that, taking from
the First Nations people, -
2:03 - 2:06used canoes and paddled to explore
-
2:06 - 2:09for a trade route,
a Northwest Passage for the fur trade. -
2:10 - 2:14In the North, the boreal
is bordered by the tundra, -
2:14 - 2:17and just below that, in Yukon,
-
2:17 - 2:20we have this incredible valley,
the Tombstone Valley. -
2:20 - 2:25And the Tombstone Valley is home
to the Porcupine caribou herd. -
2:25 - 2:28Now you've probably heard
about the Porcupine caribou herd -
2:28 - 2:31in the context of its breeding ground
in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. -
2:31 - 2:33Well, the wintering ground
is also critical -
2:33 - 2:36and it also is not protected,
-
2:36 - 2:41and is potentially, could be potentially,
exploited for gas and mineral rights. -
2:43 - 2:45The western border of the boreal
in British Columbia -
2:45 - 2:47is marked by the Coast Mountains,
-
2:47 - 2:49and on the other side of those mountains
-
2:49 - 2:52is the greatest remaining
temperate rainforest in the world, -
2:52 - 2:53the Great Bear Rainforest,
-
2:53 - 2:56and we'll discuss that in a few minutes
in a bit more detail. -
2:56 - 2:58All across the boreal,
-
2:58 - 3:03it's home for a huge incredible range
of indigenous peoples, -
3:03 - 3:05and a rich and varied culture.
-
3:06 - 3:08And I think that one of the reasons
-
3:08 - 3:12why so many of these groups have
retained a link to the past, -
3:12 - 3:14know their native languages,
-
3:14 - 3:16the songs, the dances, the traditions,
-
3:16 - 3:20I think part of that reason
is because of the remoteness, -
3:20 - 3:21the span and the wilderness
-
3:21 - 3:25of this almost 95 percent
intact ecosystem. -
3:25 - 3:27And I think particularly now,
-
3:27 - 3:30as we see ourselves in a time
of environmental crisis, -
3:30 - 3:32we can learn so much from these people
-
3:32 - 3:34who have lived so sustainably
in this ecosystem -
3:34 - 3:36for over 10,000 years.
-
3:37 - 3:41In the heart of this ecosystem
is the very antithesis -
3:41 - 3:43of all of these values
that we've been talking about, -
3:43 - 3:45and I think these
are some of the core values -
3:45 - 3:47that make us proud to be Canadians.
-
3:47 - 3:49This is the Alberta tar sands,
-
3:49 - 3:53the largest oil reserves on the planet
outside of Saudi Arabia. -
3:53 - 3:57Trapped underneath the boreal forest
and wetlands of northern Alberta -
3:57 - 4:01are these vast reserves
of this sticky, tar-like bitumen. -
4:02 - 4:04And the mining
and the exploitation of that -
4:04 - 4:09is creating devastation on a scale
that the planet has never seen before. -
4:11 - 4:14I want to try to convey
some sort of a sense of the size of this. -
4:15 - 4:17If you look at that truck there,
-
4:17 - 4:19it is the largest truck
of its kind on the planet. -
4:19 - 4:22It is a 400-ton-capacity dump truck
-
4:22 - 4:29and its dimensions are 45 feet long
by 35 feet wide and 25 feet high. -
4:29 - 4:31If I stand beside that truck,
-
4:31 - 4:34my head comes to around the bottom
of the yellow part of that hubcap. -
4:35 - 4:37Within the dimensions of that truck,
-
4:37 - 4:41you could build a 3,000-square-foot
two-story home quite easily. -
4:41 - 4:42I did the math.
-
4:43 - 4:47So instead of thinking of that as a truck,
think of that as a 3,000-square-foot home. -
4:48 - 4:50That's not a bad size home.
-
4:50 - 4:53And line those trucks / homes
back and forth -
4:53 - 4:57across there from the bottom
all the way to the top. -
4:58 - 5:03And then think of how large
that very small section of one mine is. -
5:04 - 5:07Now, you can apply that same kind
of thinking here as well. -
5:07 - 5:10Now, here you see --
of course, as you go further on, -
5:10 - 5:12these trucks become like a pixel.
-
5:13 - 5:16Again, imagine those
all back and forth there. -
5:16 - 5:18How large is that one portion of a mine?
-
5:20 - 5:24That would be a huge,
vast metropolitan area, -
5:24 - 5:27probably much larger
than the city of Victoria. -
5:27 - 5:30And this is just one of a number of mines,
-
5:30 - 5:3310 mines so far right now.
-
5:33 - 5:35This is one section of one mining complex,
-
5:35 - 5:39and there are about another 40 or 50
in the approval process. -
5:39 - 5:42No tar sands mine has actually
ever been denied approval, -
5:42 - 5:44so it is essentially a rubber stamp.
-
5:45 - 5:48The other method of extraction
is what's called the in situ. -
5:48 - 5:50And here, massive amounts of water
-
5:50 - 5:53are superheated and pumped
through the ground, -
5:53 - 5:56through these vasts networks of pipelines,
-
5:56 - 5:59seismic lines, drill paths,
compressor stations. -
5:59 - 6:03And even though this looks
maybe not quite as repugnant as the mines, -
6:03 - 6:06it's even more damaging in some ways.
-
6:06 - 6:11It impacts and fragments
a larger part of the wilderness, -
6:11 - 6:14where there is 90 percent
reduction of key species, -
6:14 - 6:16like woodland caribou and grizzly bears,
-
6:16 - 6:19and it consumes
even more energy, more water, -
6:19 - 6:22and produces at least
as much greenhouse gas. -
6:22 - 6:28So these in situ developments are at least
as ecologically damaging as the mines. -
6:30 - 6:32The oil produced from either method
-
6:32 - 6:37produces more greenhouse gas
emissions than any other oil. -
6:37 - 6:40This is one of the reasons
why it's called the world's dirtiest oil. -
6:41 - 6:42It's also one of the reasons
-
6:42 - 6:47why it is the largest and fastest-growing
single source of carbon in Canada, -
6:47 - 6:52and it is also a reason
why Canada is now number three -
6:52 - 6:55in terms of producing carbon per person.
-
6:57 - 7:01The tailings ponds are the largest toxic
impoundments on the planet. -
7:02 - 7:05Oil sands -- or rather,
I should say tar sands -- -
7:05 - 7:07oil sands is a PR-created term
-
7:07 - 7:10so that the oil companies
wouldn't be trying to promote something -
7:10 - 7:14that sounds like a sticky tar-like
substance that's the world's dirtiest oil. -
7:15 - 7:17So they decided to call it oil sands.
-
7:17 - 7:21The tar sands consume more water
than any other oil process, -
7:21 - 7:24three to five barrels of water
are taken, polluted -
7:24 - 7:27and then returned into tailings ponds,
-
7:27 - 7:29the largest toxic
impoundments on the planet. -
7:29 - 7:33SemCrude, just one of the licensees,
in just one of their tailings ponds, -
7:33 - 7:38dumps 250,000 tons
of this toxic gunk every single day. -
7:39 - 7:43That's creating the largest toxic
impoundments in the history of the planet. -
7:43 - 7:48So far, this is enough toxin to cover
the face of Lake Erie a foot deep. -
7:50 - 7:54And the tailings ponds
range in size up to 9,000 acres. -
7:55 - 7:58That's two-thirds the size
of the entire island of Manhattan. -
7:59 - 8:02That's like from Wall Street
at the southern edge of Manhattan -
8:02 - 8:03up to maybe 120th Street.
-
8:04 - 8:08So this is one of the larger
tailings ponds. -
8:08 - 8:11This might be, what? I don't know,
half the size of Manhattan. -
8:11 - 8:13And you can see in the context,
-
8:13 - 8:17it's just a relatively small section
of one of 10 mining complexes -
8:17 - 8:21and another 40 to 50
on stream to be approved soon. -
8:22 - 8:25And of course, these tailings ponds --
-
8:25 - 8:28well, you can't see
many ponds from outer space -
8:28 - 8:31and you can see these, so maybe
we should stop calling them ponds -- -
8:31 - 8:35these massive toxic wastelands are built
-
8:35 - 8:38unlined and on the banks
of the Athabasca River. -
8:39 - 8:42And the Athabasca River drains downstream
to a range of aboriginal communities. -
8:43 - 8:47In Fort Chipewyan, the 800 people there,
are finding toxins in the food chain, -
8:47 - 8:49this has been scientifically proven.
-
8:50 - 8:52The tar sands toxins
are in the food chain, -
8:52 - 8:55and this is causing cancer
rates up to 10 times -
8:55 - 8:57what they are in the rest of Canada.
-
8:58 - 9:03In spite of that, people have to live,
have to eat this food in order to survive. -
9:03 - 9:06The incredibly high price of flying food
-
9:06 - 9:09into these remote
Northern aboriginal communities -
9:09 - 9:11and the high rate of unemployment
-
9:11 - 9:13makes this an absolute
necessity for survival. -
9:14 - 9:17And not that many years ago,
I was lent a boat by a First Nations man, -
9:18 - 9:20and he said, "When you
go out on the river, -
9:20 - 9:23do not under any
circumstances eat the fish. -
9:24 - 9:25It's carcinogenic."
-
9:25 - 9:30And yet, on the front porch
of that man's cabin, -
9:30 - 9:31I saw four fish.
-
9:31 - 9:33He had to feed his family to survive.
-
9:34 - 9:40And as a parent, I just can't imagine
what that does to your soul. -
9:40 - 9:42And that's what we're doing.
-
9:44 - 9:48The boreal forest
is also perhaps our best defense -
9:48 - 9:50against global warming and climate change.
-
9:51 - 9:56The boreal forest sequesters more carbon
than any other terrestrial ecosystem. -
9:57 - 9:59And this is absolutely key.
-
10:00 - 10:02So what we're doing is,
-
10:02 - 10:06we're taking the most concentrated
greenhouse gas sink -- -
10:08 - 10:10twice as much greenhouse
gases are sequestered -
10:10 - 10:14in the boreal per acre
than the tropical rainforests. -
10:14 - 10:17And what we're doing is we're destroying
-
10:17 - 10:19this carbon sink,
turning it into a carbon bomb. -
10:20 - 10:23And we're replacing that
with the largest industrial project -
10:23 - 10:24in the history of the world,
-
10:24 - 10:30which is producing the most high-carbon
greenhouse-gas emitting oil in the world. -
10:31 - 10:35And we're doing this on the second largest
oil reserves on the planet. -
10:36 - 10:40This is one of the reasons why Canada,
originally a climate change hero -- -
10:40 - 10:43we were one of the first
signatories of the Kyoto Accord. -
10:43 - 10:46Now we're the country
that has full-time lobbyists -
10:46 - 10:48in the European Union and Washington DC,
-
10:49 - 10:51threatening trade wars
-
10:51 - 10:56when these countries talk about wanting
to bring in positive legislation -
10:56 - 10:59to limit the import of high-carbon fuels,
-
10:59 - 11:02of greenhouse gas emissions,
anything like this, -
11:02 - 11:06at international conferences,
whether they're in Copenhagen or Cancun, -
11:06 - 11:09international conferences
on climate change, -
11:09 - 11:12we're the country that gets
the dinosaur award every single day, -
11:12 - 11:15as being the biggest
obstacle to progress on this issue. -
11:17 - 11:20Just 70 miles downstream
-
11:20 - 11:23is the world's largest freshwater delta,
the Peace-Athabasca Delta, -
11:23 - 11:27the only one at the juncture
of all four migratory flyways. -
11:27 - 11:31This is a globally significant wetland,
perhaps the greatest on the planet. -
11:31 - 11:35Incredible habitat
for half the bird species -
11:35 - 11:38you find in North America, migrating here.
-
11:39 - 11:43And also the last refuge
for the largest herd of wild bison, -
11:43 - 11:47and also, of course, critical habitat
for another whole range of other species. -
11:48 - 11:50But it too is being threatened
-
11:50 - 11:54by the massive amount of water
being drawn from the Athabasca, -
11:54 - 11:56which feeds these wetlands,
-
11:56 - 11:58and also the incredible toxic burden
-
11:58 - 12:01of the largest toxic unlined
impoundments on the planet, -
12:01 - 12:05which are leaching in to the food chain
for all the species downstream. -
12:06 - 12:10So as bad as all that is, things are going
to get much worse -- much, much worse. -
12:10 - 12:12This is the infrastructure
as we see it about now. -
12:13 - 12:16This is what's planned for 2015.
-
12:16 - 12:19And you can see here
the Keystone Pipeline, -
12:20 - 12:24which would take tar sands raw
down to the Gulf Coast, -
12:24 - 12:29punching a pipeline through
the agricultural heart of North America, -
12:29 - 12:31of the United States,
-
12:31 - 12:36and securing the contract
with the dirtiest fuel in the world -
12:36 - 12:39by consumption of the United States,
-
12:39 - 12:42and promoting a huge disincentive
-
12:42 - 12:45to a sustainable clean-energy
future for America. -
12:46 - 12:51Here you see the route
down the Mackenzie valley. -
12:52 - 12:55This would put a pipeline
to take natural gas from the Beaufort Sea -
12:55 - 13:00through the heart of the third largest
watershed basin in the world, -
13:00 - 13:03and the only one
which is 95 percent intact. -
13:03 - 13:07And building a pipeline
with an industrial highway -
13:07 - 13:10would change forever
this incredible wilderness, -
13:10 - 13:13which is a true rarity
on the planet today. -
13:15 - 13:20So the Great Bear Rainforest
is just over the hill there, -
13:20 - 13:23within a few miles,
we go from these dry boreal forests -
13:23 - 13:26of 100-year-old trees,
maybe 10 inches across, -
13:26 - 13:29and soon, we're in the coastal
temperate rainforest, -
13:29 - 13:32rain-drenched, 1,000-year-old trees,
-
13:32 - 13:3520 feet across, a completely
different ecosystem. -
13:35 - 13:38And the Great Bear Rainforest
is generally considered to be -
13:38 - 13:41the largest coastal temperate rainforest
ecosystem in the world. -
13:42 - 13:44Some of the greatest densities
-
13:44 - 13:47of some of the most iconic
and threatened species on the planet. -
13:48 - 13:51And yet there's a proposal,
of course, to build a pipeline -
13:52 - 13:56to take huge tankers,
10 times the size of the Exxon Valdez, -
13:56 - 14:00through some of the most
difficult-to-navigate waters in the world, -
14:00 - 14:03where only just a few years ago,
a BC ferry ran aground. -
14:04 - 14:07When one of these tar sands tankers,
-
14:07 - 14:10carrying the dirtiest oil,
10 times as much as the Exxon Valdez, -
14:10 - 14:12eventually hits a rock and goes down,
-
14:12 - 14:15we're going to have
one of the worst ecological disasters -
14:15 - 14:17this planet has ever seen.
-
14:18 - 14:21And here we have the plan out to 2030.
-
14:21 - 14:25What they're proposing is an almost
four-times increase in production, -
14:25 - 14:29and that would industrialize
an area the size of Florida. -
14:30 - 14:35In doing so, we'll be removing
a large part of our greatest carbon sink -
14:35 - 14:41and replacing it with the most high
greenhouse-gas emission oil in the future. -
14:42 - 14:45The world does not need
any more tar mines. -
14:46 - 14:49The world does not need any more pipelines
-
14:49 - 14:51to wed our addiction to fossil fuels.
-
14:52 - 14:54And the world certainly does not need
-
14:54 - 14:57the largest toxic impoundments
to grow and multiply -
14:57 - 14:59and further threaten
the downstream communities. -
14:59 - 15:01And let's face it, we all live downstream
-
15:01 - 15:04in an era of global warming
and climate change. -
15:05 - 15:08What we need, is we all need to act
-
15:08 - 15:12to ensure that Canada respects
the massive amounts of freshwater -
15:13 - 15:14that we hold in this country.
-
15:15 - 15:17We need to ensure
that these wetlands and forests -
15:17 - 15:21that are our best and greatest
and most critical defense -
15:21 - 15:23against global warming are protected,
-
15:23 - 15:27and we are not releasing
that carbon bomb into the atmosphere. -
15:28 - 15:33And we need to all gather together
and say no to the tar sands. -
15:33 - 15:34And we can do that.
-
15:34 - 15:37there is a huge network
all over the world, -
15:37 - 15:39fighting to stop this project.
-
15:39 - 15:41And I quite simply think
-
15:41 - 15:45that this is not something
that should be decided just in Canada. -
15:45 - 15:47Everyone in this room,
everyone across Canada, -
15:47 - 15:49everyone listening to this presentation
-
15:49 - 15:52has a role to play
and, I think, a responsibility. -
15:52 - 15:57Because what we do here
is going to change our history, -
15:58 - 16:00it's going to color
our possibility to survive, -
16:00 - 16:04and for our children to survive
and have a rich future. -
16:06 - 16:08We have an incredible gift in the boreal,
-
16:08 - 16:13an incredible opportunity to preserve
our best defense against global warming, -
16:13 - 16:15but we could let that slip away.
-
16:16 - 16:19The tar sands could threaten
not just a large section of the boreal. -
16:20 - 16:23It compromises the life and the health
-
16:23 - 16:27of some of our most underprivileged
and vulnerable people, -
16:27 - 16:30the aboriginal communities
that have so much to teach us. -
16:31 - 16:34It could destroy the Athabasca Delta,
-
16:34 - 16:38the largest and possibly greatest
freshwater delta in the planet. -
16:38 - 16:42It could destroy
the Great Bear Rainforest, -
16:42 - 16:44the largest temperate
rainforest in the world. -
16:45 - 16:47And it could have huge impacts
-
16:47 - 16:51on the future of the agricultural
heartland of North America. -
16:51 - 16:55I hope that you will all,
if you've been moved by this presentation, -
16:55 - 16:57join with the growing
international community -
16:57 - 17:01to get Canada to step up
to its responsibilities, -
17:01 - 17:05to convince Canada to go back
to being a climate change champion -
17:05 - 17:07instead of a climate change villain,
-
17:07 - 17:09and to say no to the tar sands,
-
17:09 - 17:11and yes to a clean energy future for all.
-
17:11 - 17:13Thank you so much.
-
17:13 - 17:16(Applause)
- Title:
- The true cost of oil
- Speaker:
- Garth Lenz
- Description:
-
What does environmental devastation actually look like? At TEDxVictoria, photographer Garth Lenz shares shocking photos of the Alberta Tar Sands mining project -- and the beautiful (and vital) ecosystems under threat. (Filmed at TEDxVictoria.)
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 17:40
Krystian Aparta commented on English subtitles for The true cost of oil | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for The true cost of oil | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for The true cost of oil | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for The true cost of oil | ||
Thu-Huong Ha approved English subtitles for The true cost of oil | ||
Thu-Huong Ha accepted English subtitles for The true cost of oil | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for The true cost of oil | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for The true cost of oil |
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was updated on 12/13/2016.