oil

Edward Burtynsky: OIL

- Adam Clare

Edward Burtynsky: OIL is the photographer’s examination of how humanity uses oil through photographs. The project started as a display at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and has been translated to book form and, more recently, as an app for iPads.

I love the use of art to showcase our relationship with the commodities that we consume and Burtynsky does that quite well.

In addition to revealing the rarely-­‐seen mechanics of its manufacture, Burtynsky captures the effects of oil on our lives, depicting landscapes altered by its extraction from the earth, and by the cities and suburban sprawl generated around its use. He also addresses the coming “end of oil,” as we confront its rising cost and dwindling availability.

Bridging the disconnect between our consumer world and that of the oil industry, Burtynsky’s photographs, transfixing in their clarity, take us on a journey. Starting at the source Burtynsky shows us international drilling sites and refineries, then continues to distribution methods and the motor culture of freeways, eventually, leading us to the inevitable end of oil at scrap-­‐yards, recycling grounds and abandoned oil fields.

The Oil iPad app is well done and has the photos from the exhibition plus commentary from Burtynsky. Throughout the app he narrates some photos and provides his thoughts on how we can improve our knowledge about oil use in modern culture.

If anybody out there still thinks that oil extraction as it’s currently practised is fine for people and the environment do the world a favour and tell that person to check this out.

You maybe lucky enough to catch the exhibit in person too. The BURTYNSKY: OIL exhibition is at The Photographers’ Gallery in London May 19 – July 1, 2012. After that it travels to the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno (July 9–September 23, 2012); to the Taubman Museum in Roanoke (October 19, 2012–January 6, 2013); and to the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa (June 4–September 2, 2013)

Oil is Too Expensive for Wasteful Use

- Adam Clare

Looks like those “crazy environmentalists” were right all along: the cost of oil has gotten so high that companies are looking for alternatives. When it comes to companies that rely on petroleum-based products they’ve noticed that their profits are dwindling because the cost of oil has gone up, so the bioplastics industry is now on the rise.

Hopefully this increase in the insane consumption of oil will spur on more companies looking for alternative options. These options exist and are being produced already, we just need the forethought to use them now.

“A lot of brand owners, particularly those that rely heavily on packaging, are interested in protecting their long-term costs,” said Douglas A. Smock, a plastics analyst who wrote a report for market research firm BCC Research that predicted a boom in plant-based bioplastics. “They want more predictable cost structures going forward. The high price of oil is responsible for the rapid emergence in interest in bioplastics.”

Ford said it has eliminated 5 million pounds of petroleum annually by using soybean-based cushions in all of its North American vehicles. The company said it got rid of an additional 300,000 pounds of oil-based resins a year by making door bolsters out of kenaf, a tropical plant in the cotton family.

“Finding alternative sources for materials is becoming imperative as petroleum prices continue to rise and traditional, less-sustainable materials become more expensive,” said John Viera, Ford’s global director of sustainability and vehicle environmental matters.

Read the rest of the article.

Vermont Says Frack No

- Adam Clare

Vermont has decided to ban freaking in the state! This follows Quebec’s ban on the ridiculously dangerous way to get oil.

This is a big deal,” Gov. Peter Shumlin said Wednesday. “This bill will ensure that we do not inject chemicals into groundwater in a desperate pursuit for energy.”
Shumlin said fracking contaminates groundwater and the science behind it is “uncertain at best.” He said he hopes other states will follow Vermont’s lead in banning it.

Read more.

Fracking Banned in Quebec

- Adam Clare 2 Comments

People love putting oil in things so much that they’ll cause fracking earthquakes. Quebec has decided there’s no fracking way in their province as the hydraulic fracturing method to get oil out of hard to reach places is too dangerous.

It’s really good to see at least one Canadian province take an educated, knowledge-based, approach to oil.

Quebec issued a temporary ban on hydraulic fracturing pending further study last March, putting a halt to exploration in the province, though companies had expected limited drilling for research purposes. Environ-mental groups, farmers and others in Quebec had spoken out against shale gas development in the province.

The committee will order several more studies with a deadline of next spring, Joly said Tuesday, with the final report targeted for completion some time in 2013. He reported that the committee learned a lot from public hearings held from November 2011 to January 2012 and said there would be further hearings, geared toward specific sectors.

Committee members plan to also travel to Alberta and B.C., and to Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, where there are also shale-gas deposits.

Read more.

USA Rejects Keystone XL Pipeline

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

Yesterday saw two very effective protest movements in the USA, one was in regards to SOPA/PIPA and the other saw the Obama administration reject the Keystone XL pipeline.

There are also concerns about carbon emissions from oil sands production in Alberta, a western Canadian province.

Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, a group that has protested the Keystone XL project, praised President Obama for taking a stand against the “fossil fuel lobby”.

“This isn’t just the right call, it’s the brave call,” Mr McKibben said in a statement.

The legislature of Nebraska passed a measure requiring state approval of any route before TransCanada could start construction.

The pipeline would also pass through the US states of Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.

The White House had tried to postpone a final decision on the project until after the 2012 presidential election.

But during a congressional impasse on a payroll tax holiday in December, Republicans forced the Obama administration to agree to make a decision on the pipeline within two months.

Read more at the BBC

Greenpeace (amongst many others) is now asking Canadians to help them stop the next threatening pipeline the Northern Gateway pipeline.

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