Environmental and social impacts of Alberta's oil sands development

Environmental Case Study (Alberta's Oil Sands)

Alberta's Oil Sands represents one of the international environmental problems facing Canada and close to seventy countries across the globe. Albert's Oil Sands proves to be a new course of political conflict within the setting of Canada and at the international level. Oil Sands development is responsible for rapid economic growth of Alberta. This creates ethical or moral dilemma because there is a massive risk in association with the development of Oil Sands within the province. Oil Sands contribute towards ecological harm thus having a negative impact on the living conditions of the individuals in the province and the entire planet. This ethical dilemma leads to mobilization processes by environmental entities to help alleviate the situation. This is because some prominent political outfits such as Peter Lougheed recognize that the rate of the development of the oil sands in Alberta is not socially or economically beneficial to the province or entire Canada (Fairley 52).

These developments of events surrounding the oil sands make it critical for the creation or formulation of effective and efficient solution to the puzzle facing Alberta and the planet. The responsibility for development of economic, social, and political policies in the country rests with the government; therefore, it is crucial for the authority to come up with applicable solution to oil sands environmental problem. Another puzzle surrounding this environmental case is that the government is unwilling to address the issues surrounding Oil Sands in Alberta (Fairley 52). The government is generally hostile against attempts to moderate the influence of the oil sands in Alberta. This leads to continuous development of the ecological problem thus putting the lives of the future generation at risk. There are many stakeholders in the development of the oil sands environmental problems hence critical solution should be in place to reduce the negative harms to the human race.

Hypothesis

Alberta's Oil Sands possess key environmental, social, political, and environmental problems in the contemporary world hence should undergo extensive moderation in relation to its development.

Possible Solutions to Alberta's Oil Sands Problems

In order to help solve the puzzle, the government of Alberta should focus on different resource conservation. The first approach should emphasize on land through the creation of protected areas. The protected areas should be 50% of the total land coverage to allow enough chances for survival of the human race and other creatures. The government should also set maximum categories or levels for development of the oil sands in Alberta. This would help in controlling the pace and the overall harm to ecology. The authority should adopt reclamation process aiming towards achievement of liability management. This approach would reduce the social, economic, political, and environmental effects of the production of oil sands. The last approach in relation to land conservation should consider reclamation of the woodland caribou. This reflects gigantic step towards conservation of the natural resources against the negative influence of the production and development of oil sands (Brown 7-16).

The government of Alberta should also work towards conservation of water resources. This includes protection of the rivers and streams against withdrawals during the low flow periods, reduction or elimination of end pit lakes, minimization of the production of wet tailings, and protection of non-saline groundwater resources. The relevant authorities should adopt the use of high quality air standards to enhance the existence of the human race and other creatures. There should be targets for the reduction of the production of greenhouse gases hence managing negative effects on the global climate. There should be development of extensive penalty in the event of pollution to the environment (Brown 7-16). This would lead to development of preventive measures hence limitation of the pollution levels relevant to production of oil sands. Producers of the oil sands should invest in facilities that capture and store carbon thus, reducing the extent of air pollution and negative impact on global climate. The authority need to invest in principles enhancing air, biodiversity, surface water, and groundwater monitoring process. These attempts would enable the authority to minimize the extent of negative effects of the production of oil sands to ecology. This approach would guarantee sustainability of the future generations as well as improving the environmental conditions in Alberta.