The Valuation of the Alberta Oil Sands

The Alberta oil sands reserves represent a very valuable energy resource for Canadians. In 2007, Statistics Canada valued the oil sands at $342.1 billion, or 5 per cent Canada's total tangible wealth of$6.9 trillion. Given the oil sands' importance, it is essential to value them appropriately. In this report, we critically review the methods used by Statistics Canada in their valuation of the Alberta oil sands. We find that the official Statistics Canada estimates of the reserves (22.0 billion barrels) of Alberta's oil sands are very small compared to those obtained using more appropriate definitions, which results in an underestimation of the true value of the oil sands. Moreover, the failure to take into account the projected growth of the industry significantly magnifies this underestimation. We provide new estimates of the present value of oil sands reserves based on a set of alternative assumptions that are, we argue, more appropriate than those used by Statistics Canada. We find that the use of more reasonable measures of the total oil sands reserves (172.7 billion barrels), extraction rate (a linear increase from 482 million barrels per year in 2007 to 1,350 million barrels in 2015, and constant thereafter) and price ($70 per barrel, 2007 CAD) increases the estimated present value of the oil sands to$1,482.7 billion (2007 CAD), 4.3 times larger than the official estimate of $342.1 billion. Using our preferred estimate, Canada’s total tangible wealth increases by$1.1 trillion (17 per cent), and reaches $8.0 trillion with oil sands now accounting for 18 per cent of Canada’s tangible wealth. The importance of these revisions is also demonstrated by their impact on the per-capita wealth of Canadians, which increases from$209,359 to $243,950, or by$34,591 (or 17 per cent). Given the importance of the oil sands for Canada, Statistics Canada should undertake a review of its methodology. In light of the growing body of climatologic literature supporting an association between anthropogenic GHG emissions and global climate change, no analysis of the „true value? of the oil sands would be complete without an accounting of the social costs of the GHG emissions that arise from oil sands development. According to our baseline estimates, the oil sands impose a total social cost related to GHG emissions of $69.4 billion. In making this estimate, we assume that each barrel of oil sands output imposes a social cost of$2.25 (based on a cost of $30/tCO2-e and an intensity of 0.075 tCO2-e/bbl). Our preferred estimate of the net present value of oil sands wealth net of GHG cost is thus$1,413.3 billion, 4.1 times greater than the Statistics Canada estimate which does not account for any environmental costs. This report does not account for non-GHG related environmental and social costs. A comprehensive valuation of all environmental costs are needed to assess whether future benefits derived from oil sands development are outweighed by even larger environmental costs.Cost-Benefit, Oil Sands, Environmental Damage, CO2 Emissions, Alberta, Energy, Natural Resources, Valuation

A Forest of Blue - Canada's Boreal Forest, the World's Waterkeeper

Describes how the lakes, rivers, and wetlands comprising the boreal forest preserve biodiversity, mitigate global climate change effects, and offer food and cultural benefits to rural communities. Suggests policies to limit damaging industrial activities

Keystone XL Pipeline Project: Key Issues

[Excerpt] This report describes the Keystone XL Project as it is proposed in the 2012 Presidential Permit application and the process that the State Department is obligated to complete to issue or deny that application. To the extent that they may affect the State Department’s decision to issue or deny the current permit application, this report discusses selected issues related to the project proposed in 2008 and issues that have arisen since the State Department denied the initial permit application in 2012. This report also summarizes key arguments that have been raised, both for and against the pipeline, by the pipeline’s developers, state and federal agencies, environmental groups, private property owners, and other stakeholders. Finally, the report discusses the constitutional basis for the State Department’s authority to issue a Presidential Permit, and opponents’ possible challenges to this authority

Keystone XL Pipeline Project: Key Issues

[Excerpt] This report describes the Keystone XL pipeline proposal and the process required for federal approval. It summarizes key arguments for and against the pipeline put forth by the pipeline’s developers, federal agencies, environmental groups, and other stakeholders. Finally, the report reviews the constitutional basis for the State Department’s authority to issue a Presidential Permit, and opponents’ possible challenges to this authority

The future of North American trade policy: lessons from NAFTA

This repository item contains a single issue of the Pardee Center Task Force Reports, a publication series that began publishing in 2009 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future.This Task Force Report written by an international group of trade policy experts calls for significant reforms to address adverse economic, environmental, labor and societal impacts created by the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The report is intended to contribute to the discussion and decisions stemming from ongoing reviews of proposed reforms to NAFTA as well as to help shape future trade agreements. It offers detailed proposals on topics including services, manufacturing, agriculture, investment, intellectual property, labor, environment, and migration. Fifteen years after NAFTA was enacted, there is widespread agreement that the trade treaty among the United States, Canada and Mexico has fallen short of its stated goals. While proponents credit the agreement with stimulating the flow of goods, services, and investment among the North American countries, critics in all three countries argue that this has not brought improvements in the standards of living of most people. Rather than triggering a convergence across the three nations, NAFTA has accentuated the economic and regulatory asymmetries that had existed among the three countries. [TRUNCATED

Oil and Gas in the Canadian Federation

This paper provides an overview of key governance issues of relevance to the upstream oil and gas industry in Canada. The focus is on implications of Canada’s constitutional organization as a federation of ten provinces and three territories. Regulatory structures and provisions are described, as are revenue-sharing arrangements. Challenges for the environmental regulation of activities relating to oil and gas exploration, development, and production are highlighted. Implications of the evolving understanding of the rights of Canada’s aboriginal peoples are discussed. Special attention is paid to issues of importance to the federation as a whole and to the potential for the emergence of inter-governmental tensions and conflicts.Canadian oil and gas policy; federalism; energy revenue-sharing

Canada in a Climate Disrupted World

Climate change has already begun impacting economies and societies across the globe, and its impacts are expected to increase into the future. Adaptation to climate change is and will continue to be one of the greatest policy challenges facing the Canadian government. However, im- portant and much-needed work on understanding the future of climate change has not yet been completed. Gaps remain in the body of academic, government, and other policy-relevant publications. Specifically, there is a relative paucity of research done on the indirect impacts of climate change on Canada. These external impacts outside of Canada’s borders may have second-order effects, the implications of which have thus far remained largely unexplored. In this report, we identify key issue areas which are currently or potentially affected by these indirect impacts. We also undergo a thorough literature review, and locate areas in which further data re- search is required

Sustainability As: An Analysis of the Alberta Oil Sands Industry’s Metaphorical Discourse

Analysis of the Alberta oil sands industry’s sustainability perspectives from a communication, and specifically metaphorical, standpoint is a valuable endeavour due to the importance of the oil sands (both in Alberta and elsewhere) today with the world’s reliance on fossil fuels. Learning how sustainability is used and conceptualized by the industry will reward us with a more comprehensive understanding of how to approach industry sustainable development. Moreover, analysing the industry’s sustainability metaphors in a systematic manner will allow a greater variety of metaphors to be introduced and investigated, allowing us to more succinctly articulate metaphorical conceptualizations of sustainability, sustainable and energy development, environmentalism, nature, and the oil sands

Oil, a Blessing or a Curse? A Comparison of the Socio-Economic and Environmental Effects of Oil Development on Indigenous Peoples’ Livelihood in Northern Alberta and the Niger Delta

Master in Social Science - Nord universitet 201

Making Common Causes: Crises, Conflict, Creation, Conversations: Offerings from the Biennial ALECC Conference Queen’s University, Kingston 2016

At ALECC’s biennial gathering at Queen’s University in June 2016, participants came together to explore the possibilities of “making common causes” from a host of angles, yet all were anchored in an acknowledgement of the diverse more-than-human relationships that make up our common worlds. The following collection of short essays, authored by some of the gathering’s keynote speakers, explores specific aspects of making common causes. In this special section of The Goose, we deliberately invoke the plural of conversation. We understand the effort to make common causes as a process, rather than a “one and done” act. It is multifaceted and messy; it invites imagination and critique. Most importantly, it needs to cultivate the common ground whereupon these difficult conversations can be engaged