The World I Know
This post was brought to you by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers via sheblogs. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
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Whoosh – the thermostat clicks on early morning as the temperature dips below 18 degrees Celsius. The alarm buzzard is soon upon me and I’ll hop in the shower to wake up. A hot, steamy shower to start the day awakens the senses and the skin! Freshly laundered towels soak up the drops, as the whistle blows from a kettle of newly piped tea in the next room...
Now imagine all that without the benefits of oil. ( Hot water, power, heat.)
While I am sure I can ‘camp’ for a stretch knowing that one day I’ll return to the land of unlimited power, or I may even espouse to live off-grid one day via solar – the truth of it all is this:
Life’s greatest comforts are just too good to pass up.
Laura Ingalls was a cool gal, but I kind of like my natural gas fireplace. It provides warmth and at the click of a button it begins and I do not have to forage all the wood. Also, the whole entire population is not foraging for wood… and I kind of like trees too, after all.
Annually, the oil and gas industry in Canada makes payments to the government averaging $18 billion/year – most of which goes towards public services such as roads, schools and hospitals. The industry also employs more than 550,000 people across Canada (directly or indirectly). The Canadian stock exchange holds value in oil and gas, while many Canadian companies supply goods and services to the Oil Sands to construct and to operate their projects, mines and upgrades.
Then there is me. I NEED A VEHICLE.
If I lived in the city, I would take public transit when allowable and I would walk many places. However, I live at least fifteen kilometres from the closest town, so even biking or running is out of the question. (Especially in the winter.) I am not completely up on my horse keeping skills, but I am pretty sure feeding a horse monthly might actually cost more (and damage the environment just as much) than feeding my trusty, well maintained vehicle.
After all… living in Alberta, I don’t have to look far to see the powers of oil production at work. In fact, they are right outside my living-room window –
Being that we are the 5th largest producer of crude oil in the world, we should probably know more and care about the oil and natural gas industry, right? I aim to be mindful of the environment and the more I research this industry, the more I learn about the efforts many companies are making to do this right.
I mean, I am not 100% ready to give up my way of life just yet – I like having fruits and vegetables to eat that are not indigenous to my area, I like my children taking the school bus to and from school (car-pooling at its finest) as well. And in these parts… a lot of our friends work in the industry, making us that much more invested.
This post was brought to you by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers via sheblogs. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
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