Customer Reviews

Stupid to the Last Drop: How Alberta Is Bringing Environmental Armageddon to Canada (And Doesn't Seem to Care)

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This should be mandatory reading for all high-school, college and University students. Every Canadian should be reading this one. As an Albertan and someone who works in the oil industry - this one is an eye-opener for myself and I've seen things those not working in Syncrude, Suncor and in Edmonton wouldn't believe.

Please Canada: Save us from our selves. We've elected more losers to make foreign companies rich, while starving our own people and the rest of Canada. Help, we're Stupid to the Last Drop and there is no 'seeming' about, we really don't care!

William Marsden is an author and investigative journalist who bravely took on the Hell's Angels biker gang in a series of books and columns. Now he's after a bigger, richer, and far more deceptive foe... the Canadian oil industry. Marsden goes to the physical and metaphorical heart of Canada's oil country to provide an incisive examination of an environmental catastrophe effected by a manipulative oil industry in denial and aided an impotent and incompetent system of governments.

Marsden begins by supplying a great deal of informative historical background of the oil sands project, including a bizarre scheme in the 1950s to extract oil via controlled nuclear explosions. He also provides an inside view of the immense scale oil sands excavations by visiting the projects and talking with the workers. This sets the stage for the critique to come.

The two primary targets polemically identified by Marsden (the "stupid" ones of the title) are the oil industry and governments within the province of Alberta.

Marsden describes a heavily subsidized industry that flouts the rule of law, uses propaganda and intimidation to achieve its ends, is deliberately deceitful, and remains astonishingly ignorant of the long term effects (environmental, social, and financial) of its activities. He illustrates how time and time again the massive public relations machine of the oil industry obscures facts and keeps citizens in the dark (for example, by stating that the toxic petrochemical-related products suddenly infusing wells and land are naturally occurring).

The second side of the problem rests with an impotent and largely incompetent provincial government. This is not a government that serves its citizens; rather, it is a veritable plutocracy under the sway of corporations and addicted to royalties delivered by the ever-increasing prices of crude oil. The politics of ignorance appear to be the central creed of the Alberta government, and there is little or no desire by elected officials to listen to citizens or take their concerns seriously. As such, Marsden takes it upon himself to visit concerned citizens and report their stories, and they are not pretty. He reports of a government bought and paid for by the oil industry and who remain astonishingly oblivious about the effects of the industry on the citizens of Alberta.

Marsden concludes that the results the industry and government action/inaction have resulted in boreal forest depletion of a massive scale, a significant and possibly catastrophic depletion of the water table, and destruction of wildlife and rural agriculture. If continued unchecked, the Alberta of the future will be a bleak monument to uncontrolled avarice, and yes, stupidity.

I've heard it said several times that this book is a polemic. It is: the tone is certainly strident. But it's very difficult to argue with the facts that are presented in it. Between what we are doing in northern Alberta to the Aboriginal communities along the Athabasca River, and the disregard our government seems to have for its citizens who have been affected by oilsands or coalbed methane development, it's enough to drive you to distraction. Reading this book, you begin to understand, even if you can't condone, those who take the law into their own hands. The government of Albertan appears totally unwilling, or unable, to put the brakes on this runaway train of an industry. The entire system appears stacked completely in favor of industry. If even half of what is presented in this book is factual (and I'm quite sure that much more than that is), it would still be a stinging indictment of "business as usual" in the oil province.

All this from one who lives here.

After reading this book, I find that the author really changes your perception from what is said in the media, and what the actual and very detailed truth is of the oil business.
A lot of the material and facts presented in this book are things that the media will never go into depth with because it is very complex, and is beyond basic understanding. When you read this book you will see that there are reasons the price of gas is so high and all though you may not accept gas prices, you will have an understanding of how they got there, and what is expected to happen in the future, and from the way that this author presented the material, he gives you the idea that this gas battle has just started and that many of the major problems (demand & supply) are just starting to surface.
I will stop there because I don't want to spoil it, but I do recommend that you read it. Although it may be hard for some people to read because it is not an easy read, as it has many senoir University level words in there

When I first learned about 'Stupid to The Last Drop,' by William Marsden, I knew that I had to read it. Not only did it relate to the oil and gas industry, it specifically focused on part of Canada. And even better, it was about Alberta, a province where I work every summer. In fact, I work in the oil fields (although I work for forestry companies, not for the energy industry). And saying that I work in 'the oil fields' is probably misleading or non-instructive, since just about the entire province qualifies for this descriptor.

The product description for this book gives you a good idea of what it's all about: 'In its desperate search for oil and gas riches, Alberta is destroying itself. As the world teeters on the edge of catastrophic climate change, Alberta plunges ahead with uncontrolled development of its fossil fuels, levelling its northern Boreal forest to get at the oil sands, and carpet-bombing its southern half with tens of thousands of gas wells. In so doing, it is running out of water, destroying its range land, wiping out its forests and wildlife and spewing huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, adding to global warming at a rate that is unrivalled in Canada or almost anywhere else in the world. It's digging, drilling and blasting its way to oblivion, becoming the ultimate symbol of Canada's ' and the world's ' pathological will to self-destruct.' Well, at least there is no misunderstanding of the author's opinion about what's happening in Alberta.

This book is not really focused on peak oil issues, although it touches on them. Rather, it is more written as a hard look at the current state of the industry, and mismanagement of the existing resources. The book has several separate sections which didn't necessarily flow into one another, but which rather should be looked at as separate aspects of Alberta's past and current history:

Thermonuclear Oil Extraction ' believe it or not, in the late 1950's, geologist Manley Natland proposed a plan to extract oil from the sands by detonating nuclear bombs under the sands, allowing them to collapse and collect into a spherical reservoirs, for easier extraction. Ironically, the science behind the plan was quite sound, although Natland was fairly dismissive of the consequences of radiation. The proposal was almost carried through, with the US government selling a test nuclear device to a Canadian company, and the federal and provincial government appeare to endorse the experiment until Diefenbaker's Conservative government turned the tables by banning nuclear testing on Canadian soil.

The Importance Of The Oil Sands ' the Canadian/US energy relationship is discussed, and a number of external international implications are brought into light, in an effort to explain the importance of Canada's supplies of oil and natural gas. The book makes clear the value of oil to the United States, and talks about NAFTA and GATT implications.

Provincial Politics In Oil ' a few chapters are devoted to Jeff Tonkin and a slew of Alberta O&G industry scandals including Stampeder Energy, Westar Petroleum, and Big Bear Exploration. I generally found these chapters to be pretty irrelevant and boring.

Reserve Depletion ' everyone knows that fossil fuels will run out someday. Former Geological Survey of Canada geologist has speculated that Canada's natural gas reserves could run out by 2014, if not earlier. 'We have to drill an increasing number of gas wells just to keep up with demand. In 1996 we drilled four thousand productive wells to get 15.7 billion cubic feet per day of gas. By 2001 we were drilling 10,757 wells to get 17.4 billion cubic feet per day. These drilling figures have continued to rise. In 2005 we drilled fifteen thousand wells to get 17 billion cubic feet per day. Coal Bed Methane, which is another form of natural gas, was supposed to be the savior ' [Hughes] came out with figures that showed recoverable gas was ' enough to replenish our reserves for maybe another eight years at most.' This section made me want to re-read 'High Noon For Natural Gas.'

Fort McMurray ' there is all sorts of discussion about 'Fort Mac' and the municipality of Wood Buffalo. Fort McMurray has suffered immensely with the problems that face any boom town with a rapidly expanding population and an inability to develop supporting infrastructure in a timely manner. What surprised me was the relatively low financial support levels that O&G companies in the area provide to the municipality. I would have thought that they would want to contribute a lot more funding to improving the city, because of the dividends that it would pay off in managing their work forces more effectively.

Contamination Of The Environment ' there are several chapters devoted to groundwater contamination, the deleterious effects of drilling and 'frac'ing' wells, and the general environmental destruction that the O&G industry is causing. Specific references have been made to the Rosebud River Valley's water well contamination problems (water so saturated in combustible chemicals and gases that it will support combustion, right out of household taps), and Wiebo Ludwig, the 'oil patch terrorist' who bombed sour gas wells in 1998 due to his belief that they were harming his family.

All in all, the subjects are fairly disjointed, but appropriately, the book has been segmented somewhat into different sections. Being able to identify with a large number of the locations discussed, and the 'grass roots' implications of the problems identified, I found this book to be a pretty interesting personal read. However, the book doesn't seem to have any real editorial 'conclusion' to it. At the end of the day, I got less of a sense of 'so much for a sustainable future' and more of a sense that 'you can't mess with oil & gas.' I think the book would have benefited from a final chapter that discussed how readers or Albertans could take specific steps to improve the future of the province. Nonetheless, I was glad that I took the time to read it, and I did learn quite a bit in doing so.

In a honest yet provacative manner the author, William Marsden, has revealed Canada's deep, dark and ugly secret. The secret is that the country that is well known for its environmental beauty is selling its soul to the highest bidder. There is little concern in Alberta for what the oil sand industry is doing to not only its own province but for the world as a whole as global warming becomes a more and more immediate threat. Ecologists be damned is their mantra! An economy of a country that is solely linked to the maximum output of oil is like depending on a local prostitution tax to keep its inner city streets maintained! It is long past time that we as a naive and vulnerable public continue to allow such publications as this quality book to be merely 'good reading material'. It is time for us as inhabitants of a decaying world to DEMAND that such practices cease immediately. We are destroying our environment so quickly that it is no longer a question of whether our natural beauty will be there for our grandchildren to see. It is now doubtful whether even our children will see it!

Well documented, researched and presented, this work is a real eye-opener as to what Big Oil is really doing with the complicity of Alberta's Conservative Party. Pillage, I think, is too light a description!
This is wonderfully enlightening book on a subject we should all know and care deeply about! It has been kept very well under wraps for reasons that become obvious. And as we still (after all the crying and moaning) give our resources away for a song, Alberta's future slowly slips away. An entralling read! Highly recommended!

Everyone knows about Alberta's Tar-Sands, but to most it is a far-away disaster. Marsden''s book grabs you from the opening paragraph, and takes you on a journey to the heart of the Tar Sands, meeting local characters such as Damien, driver of the world''s biggest dump truck, who earns $100,000 a year carrying 200 barrels of oil per load.

I cannot speak highly enough of this book. You could visit Alberta a hundred times and never gain the insights he lays out into the mindsets, politics, machinations, ecological denial, and the fortunes that some Albertans are making at the expense of the boreal forest, the wildlife, the planet, and everything we hold dear.

He also delves deeply into Alberta''s coal-bed methane, a toxic mess that poisons local water supplies and even sets them on fire, that is trying its hardest to come to BC. For convincing evidence of the corruption and folly of Alberta''s oil and gas-controlled politics, this is your baby - it won the National Business Book Award for good reason.

Book combines on-the-ground first hand investigation with historical context, a broad overview, pointedly specific and lucid stories of technological and scientific issues, and an interesting yet concise writing style. See, for example, page 218 where author writes, in considering the contamination of water wells by fracturing of coal beds to more readily extract methane:

While the EUB [Energy Utilities Board, of Alberta] maintains in public a happy confidence in CBM [coal bed methane], in private the agency's worries about water contamination are rising. Evidence of this can be seen in the EUB's CBM licensing permits, which are public but which almost nobody in the public ever reads. They are now replete with indications of concern over groundwater contamination. The agency began requiring that gas companies install monitoring wells in aquifers close to their CBM drilling to monitor any changes to the groundwater'a clear indication of concern over water well contamination. It also began insisting on improved well bore casing protections.

And so on. If the public rarely sees these Alberta government licensing permits, that an investigative journalist had the insight and discipline to read them and report on his findings is but one indication that the author is presenting a fact-based case.

'Polemical' would be to deliver a one-sided argument. I think here the evidence is pretty well stacked up on one side of the issue, showing the Alberta, and incidentally also the Canadian Federal government, generally wanting to foster an oil industry irrespective of environmental damage, or harm to the health of First Nations and other communities. An objective observer could well find that the evidence on the other side of the issue that might allow one to argue that side is so weak in considerations other than corporate profit and spin-off jobs that to speak in favour of it, although thereby hewing to what in this case would be an empty criterion of 'balanced argument,' would be in effect unethical. Let the corporations and governments present their own case.

Mind you, author Marsden rides in the huge shovels and trucks of the gigantic open pit oil sands deep 'extraction' sites and reports his conversations with the drivers, with other company personnel, and with local officials with even-handed, sometimes empathetic tone. But what is clearly documented in this account is that his judgment has shown an awesome scale of imbalance that effectively precludes occupying the writer's and readers' time with the corporate and government case, though risking the label of 'polemic.' I don't think Marsden is sufficiently aggressive or argumentative to properly deserve the term.

If corporations and large-scale centralized governments cannot conduct business that does not harm the public interest, broad-based public decisions, if allowed, may be to evolve away from those forms of organization. Alberta needs to rethink their economic base as contained within a physical environment providing guidance and limits to economic activity, rather than treating the environment as an irritant contained within their economy.

This book should be reqired reading for all politicians at all levels. VERY ILLUMINATING!