Tar Sands [Paperback]

For the  better part of their history, the Alberta tar sands have been out of sight and out of mind for most Canadians. A thinly populated wilderness and (in the words of one early bitumen booster) a “relatively undesirable environment,” it is a place few people visit. Ninety-eight per cent of the current population of Fort McMurray plan on eventually retiring somewhere else. Government operates as an absentee landlord. Such blindness and indifference spring from broad-spectrum denial of the unpleasant consequences of our addiction to oil. Calgary-based journalist and Governor General’s Award-winning author Andrew Nikiforuk covers the resultant fallout in detail, from the massive and irreparable destruction of the natural environment – turning a good chunk of northern Alberta, including the world’s third-largest watershed, into a toxic moonscape – to the political transformation of Canada into a modern petrostate. What he exposes most of all, however, is the mind-boggling short-sightedness and stupidity of the entire enterprise. Nikiforuk does overdo the figurative comparisons a bit. While volume may be handily imagined in units of Olympic-size swimming pools, it’s less helpful to know that the area covered by open-pit mining could end up being three times larger than the ancient city of Angkor Wat. But this is a minor point. Overall, Tar Sands provides an excellent guide to all of the environmental repercussions of our oil dependency. The political analysis is also good, sounding a warning about our dangerous energy “interdependence” with the declining American empire and using Thomas Friedman’s first law of petropolitics – that the price of oil and the quality of freedom invariably travel in opposite directions – to make the case for tar’s corrosive effect on democracy. Nikiforuk concludes with “Twelve Steps to Energy Sanity,” an oil-addiction recovery program. And surprisingly, many of his recommendations seem doable. We can’t avert a disaster that is already under way, but we might be able to prevent things from getting horribly worse. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

"""The Calgary author contends that Canada is starting to resemble the petro-states of South America and the Middle East -- rich in oil but short on democracy and freedom of speech--and that Alberta's tar-sands development is mismanaged, environmentally toxic, bad for Canada's autonomy and short on long-term benefits for Albertans. Nikiforuk has a point, and he has guts. He also explains the Tar Sands in a straightforward way, something government and industry have been slow to do, apparently with reason.""" (National Post 20100501)

"Tar Sands exposes the disastrous environmental, social and political costs of the Alberta oil sands and argues forcefully for a change." (Prairie Books Now 20100501)

"[Nikiforuk] argues convincingly in Tar Sands that neither Alberta nor Canada has come to terms with the true extent of the environmental devastation." (Alternatives Journal 20101101)

"The environmental problems addressed in [Tar Sands] raise the broader issue of redefining man's relationship to Earth, and underscore the connectedness of life whether tortoise, Texan, or tree." (Foreword Magazine 20080923)

"Award-winning journalist Andrew Nikiforuk explores why, while the world is going green, Canada is going black in Tar Sands, which includes a fascinating look at Fort McMurray's black-gold rush town, often lawless and corrupt." (Canadian Bookseller 20080930)

"Investigative journalist and national treasure Andrew Nikiforuk documents the exorbitant economic, social and environmental costs of building Alberta's Tar Sands." (Mainsonneuve 20081102)

"Nikiforuk...took pains to ensure his book went beyond preaching to the converted. Tar Sands begins with a bluntly worded 22-point 'declaration of a political emergency' and ends with a 12-step plan to regain 'energy sanity,' which includes action the general reader can take. In between, Nikiforuk writes not only about environmental and political concerns, but takes the reader into the frenzied boom of Fort McMurray and along the so-called 'highway to hell' that leads to it." (Calgary Herald 20081117)

"Nikiforuk believes the Tar Sands should be developed gradually and with far greater environmental sensitivity...Nikiforuk paints a picture of the current development as an environmental cesspool." (Regina Leader-Post 20081126)

"[Tar Sands] provides an excellent guide to all of the environmental repercussions of our oil dependency. The political analysis is also good, sounding a warning about our dangerous energy 'interdependence' with the declining American empire..." (Quill & Quire 20081210)

"If you want to be scared, you don't need to watch a horror movie or read the latest Stephen King bestseller. Real terror can be found by simply firing up Google Earth...[where] you can see what Albertas Tar Sands look like from space. It's not a pretty sight... A recent book by celebrated journalist Andrew Nikiforuk, Tar Sands... explores what these grey spots on Google Earth mean to Canada's environment and economy. It's an important book, one that every Canadian should read to find out how the worlds largest energy project will affect us." (Georgia Straight 20081212)

"It's an important book, one that every Canadian should read to find out how the world's largest energy project will affect us." (David Suzuki Foundation 20081218)

"The Alberta Tar Sands are a cesspool of pollution. Nikiforuk's elegantly written book delivers all the gory details about toxic lakes, heat-trapping greenhouse gases, and the fiction of reclamation. Tar Sands also reveals how Canada's new status as a petrostate has jeopardized its democracy. His 12 steps to energy sanity should be required reading for every citizen." (Georgia Straight 20090107)

"In his recent book Tar Sands...Nikiforuk lands a knockout blow on the kissers of the oil industry, oil-friendly bureaucrats, and petrol-guzzling North Americans." (Sustainablog 20090114)

"Nikiforuk documents a mind-boggling array of government abuses: mismanagement, graft, and general neglect have contributed to the problem. Further, he catalogues the massive environmental destruction necessary to make Tar Sands exploration a viable (read: profitable) enterprise. His book is at its strongest here, examining the total costs of bitumen." (Socialist Worker 20090117)

"While many Alberta businesses and employees watched with trepidation as the price of oil dropped dramatically over the past six months, Alberta journalist and author Andrew Nikiforuk sees a silver lining in a possible bust. With oil sands wealth dwindling, Canada can finally have a national conversation not only about the development of the oil sands, but also on Canada's overall energy policy, he says. The award-winning national magazine writer has authored several books on the oil and gas industry...[and] the years of research that went into these books have given him a confident, no-nonsense approach to the oil industry." (See Magazine 20090117)

"Nikiforuk has a point, and he has guts. He also explains the Tar Sands in a straightforward way -- something the cheerful websites of government and industry have been slow to do, apparently with reason. Nikiforuk's language leans towards the incendiary: the oil sands are 'a provincial debacle and a national fiasco'; coal-bed methane wells are 'carpet bombing' farmland...The government website wouldn't but it quite like that. And that is exactly why one should buy this book." (Edmonton Journal 20090117)

"Canada has no cohesive energy policy. Nor does it have a cohesive environmental policy. Put the two together, and you get the Tar Sands of Alberta, in all their hideous glory. Andrew Nikiforuk's Tar Sands...lays bare the idiocy of this malignant neglect. The book is, in essence, a revolting, blush-making case for Canada to develop integrated energy and environmental regulation suitable for the post-carbon age." (Globe & Mail 20090120)

"Read Nikiforuk's book and you'll see why Harper's comment has already won the award for Biggest Understatement of 2009." (Huffington Post 20090201)

"The Calgary author contends that Canada is starting to resemble the petro-states of South America and the Middle East -- rich in oil but short on democracy and freedom of speech -- and that Alberta's Tar Sands development is mismanaged, environmentally toxic, bad for Canada's autonomy and short on long-term benefits for Albertans." (National Post 20090209)

"In his 2008 book, Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent, Nikiforuk offers a scathing critique of what he calls the corporate greed and regulatory indifference that have attended development of Canada's vast oil patch. Mr. Nikiforuk spoke with Green Inc. recently about how President Barak Obama, who has promised to pursue energy independence for the United States and who is expected to make a state visit to Canada later this month, might regard the Tar Sands." (New York Times Green Inc. Blog 20090301)

"Nikiforuk's book, written in his caustic style of investigative journalism, makes [an] entertaining read, sometimes resembling a political thriller." (Canadian Dimension 20090317)

"Packed with shocking statistics that condemn the Canadian oil industry, 200 pages is more than enough to convince any reader that the Tar Sands are anything but sustainable...This book is perfect for anyone who is interested in reducing their reliance on oil products, or who is researching and fighting for change in Canadian mining practices." (Outwords Magazine 20090324)

"Award-winning author and journalist Andrew Nikiforuk sheds light and warning on the bitumen industry in Tar Sands... at the heart of Nikiforuk's scathing criticism of petropolitics are the social and environmental injustices, turning the surrounding community into 'a carbon storm and the planet's third-largest watershed into a petroleum garbage dump.' The shocking claims are not meant as a scare tactic, but rather a call for collective movement, led by the author's insightful 'Twelve Steps to Energy Sanity.'" (E Magazine 20100326)

"Nikiforuk's book is important. It's provoking. It should restart the national debate. It is an exhaustively researched, comprehensive, survey of everything about the Tar Sands, compressed into some 180 pages. As you would expect, it is not a pretty story...Nikiforuk does not belong to the 'don't worry ñ be happy' school of thought. He's genuinely concerned about our governments' ability to solve the problem that the Tar Sands present...Nikiforuk packs an emotional punch that will leave a mark on any reader." (Island Times Magazine 20090407)

"Tar Sands tells a well-known story in a new way. We see not only the large-scale environmental destruction that we have come to associate with this mega-project, but also the local social problems that result...The book's greatest strength is [his] ability to show the impacts of the Tar Sands on real people." (Literary Review of Canada 20090415)

"I made the mistake of skimming Tar Sands' introductory 'Declaration of a Political Emergency' one night before bed -- and couldn't put the book down before I had finished." (Alberta Views Magazine 20090501)

"With Tar Sands, Nikiforuk, a Calgary based writer...vividly lays out a damning assessment of energy development in Northern Alberta." (Green & Organic Lifestyles 20090526)

"Tar Sands explores the costs and benefits of the current oil sands boom, placing it in the larger context of global climate change and continental energy policy. The result isn't pretty. Not that the writing isn't compelling: it is. You'll find the same combination of comprehensive research, compelling storytelling and entertaining irony that won Nikiforuk a Governor General's Award for Saboteurs." (Alberta Views Magazine 20091128)

"I would recommend reading Andrew Nikiforuk's excellent book, Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent, in which he highlights the fiction of reclamation. I expect the majority of Calgarians would not want tailings ponds in their vicinity, or their water or air to be polluted as it is in northern Alberta." (Calgary Herald )