Canada in His Book Tar

Canada

In his book Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent, Andrew Nikiforuk outlines his "12 steps to energy sanity." These are

Admit the magnitude and complexity of the energy crisis

Slow down tar sands development and cap production at two million barrels a day

Establish a national energy strategy for energy security and innovation

Impose a carbon tax with a 100% dividend

Challenge the first law of petropolitics

Challenge continental energy integration

Relocalize food production

Abandon economic dead-end activities such as carbon capture and storage

Orient all rural and urban planning to renewable energy

Pick the lowest-hanging fruit first

Don't wait for government

Renegotiate NAFTA

Of these twelve steps, the most important for Canada's environmental well-being is to orient all rural and urban planning to renewable energy. This step works best in conjunction with steps 10 and 11, but this essay will show that this one step alone will have a substantial impact on our environmental well-being.

The first reason that orienting all rural and urban planning to renewable energy is the most important is because so many of our energy problems revolve around our lifestyle choices. Nikiforuk notes that the Japanese use one-third the energy of Canadians per capita and Europeans one-half. Even when we set aside climate differences -- we need more fuel for winter heating than do most countries -- Canada has still made very poor choices with respect to urban and rural planning. Our cities are predominantly comprised of suburban sprawl. The sprawl pattern is incredibly energy inefficient in a number of ways. Houses are far larger than the occupants truly need, and the amount of paved roadway needed to make suburbs work properly is exceptional. Urban planners have emphasizes the hub-and-spoke planning model where people are essentially forced to live far from where they work, necessitating long commutes. Local governments are responsible for zoning, and make this choice deliberately because in many cases they earn more revenue from residential development than commercial or industrial. Provincial governments also contribute to this problem by developing transportation strategy that emphasizes the automobile. BC's new Port Mann Bridge is a good example of such a project, as this will only encourage further suburban sprawl in the Fraser Valley.

The current approach can be replaced by energy efficient approaches used in Europe and Japan. Their cities emphasize density, public transportation and bicycle lanes. With a history of these transportation modes, Japan and Europe do not have the same intense car culture that we have in Canada. You simply do not see the public outcry over new bike lanes in Europe that downtown Vancouver has seen. By focusing effort for all urban planning to emphasize energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy such as solar panels, wind turbines and in most parts of the country hydroelectric power, the culture that surrounds energy consumption will also change. It is the culture of energy consumption that feeds existing patterns, thereby shaping political discourse and policy, and providing strength to the inertia that stands as a barrier to change.

At present we are driven by an approach that already seems outmoded. Europe and Japan consume far less energy despite having the same quality of life. They do this with strong investment in public transportation. They have also built compact cities, where ours sprawl. Additionally, nations that have limited domestic supplies of hydrocarbons tend to innovate with respect to their energy usage. Canada will benefit from undertaking a reorientation of energy consumption away from hydrocarbons before it becomes a necessity. This way, we will guarantee our energy future over the long run, rather than just the short run that our current policies promote.

Rural policy is another area that needs a re-think.. At present, rural areas are given preferential treatment in the House of Commons and in policy in general. Yet, the structure of Canada's rural areas is energy inefficient. Setting aside the same issues of car culture that apply to suburbs as well, rural areas are shaped by the structure of our agriculture and resource industries. Canadians rely heavily on imported food because we are not sufficiently oriented to our own food production outside of grain. Both grain and our mineral and forest wealth shape rural life, but are based on long shipping times using energy-intensive vehicles. A shift to developing renewable energy for use in these areas, and more sustainable practices in general, will allow for a dramatic reduction in energy consumption.

However, the culture change factor is the single biggest driving force why shifting the focus to renewable energy in daily urban and rural life is the most important factor for achieving energy sanity. Once Canadians are oriented towards renewable energy and to energy issues in general, they will be more likely to adopt the other eleven steps. In particular relocalizing food production is an essential step because it reduces demand for trucking. Only with awareness will there be pressure on governments to support local food production industries and only with awareness will consumers begin to make better choices with respect to the food they purchase. Another example of how culture change stemming from a re-orientation of mindset is that consumers will feel empowered to take initiative. The problem right now is so huge that the natural tendency is to assume that only government has the resources to deal with the issue. When ordinary citizens are oriented towards renewable energy, they are less likely to wait for government. Additionally, they are more likely to support government initiatives that do happen, making a carbon tax more politically feasible than it is today.