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8/3/2019 Sputnik Issue 5 - Page 2
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Matt Mente // [email protected]
NEWS
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Kyle W. Brown
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ART EDITOR
Bridget Parker
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The Sputnik is an editoriallyindependent newspaper published by
Wilfrid Laurier UniversityStudent Publications, Waterloo. ContactErin Epp - WLUSP, 75 University Ave
W, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3C5The Sputnik is a proud member of the
Canadian University Press (CUP)
Opinions expressed in The Sputnikare those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect the Editorial staff,The Sputnik, WLUSP, WLU or CanWeb
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Page One photo credit: Venetia Bodanis
SECTION EDITORS
Kiley Bell, A&E
Jillian Cour tney, FeaturesKristen Curtis, Student Life
Kyle Denton, Sports
Matt Mente, NewsLin Abdul Rahman, Opinion
Kiley BellAllison Bowerman
Kyle W. BrownVenetia BodanisJillian Courtney
Kristen CurtisKyle DentonBrent DuguidMarcie Foster
Craig HagermanAllison Leonard
Kyle LowryMatt Mente
Ahmed MinhasNikyta Polyak
Lin Abdul Rahman
Leisha Senko
CONTRIBUTORS
WLUSP BRANTFORD
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Allison Leonard
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WEB EDITOR
Katelyn [email protected]
COPY EDITORS
Matthew Cook
Alicia Saunders
The Sputnik // Thursday October 132
Canadas oil sands have been a touchy sub-
ject for years. They have been cited as a de-structive force in the Albertan landscape andenvironment.
The same oil sands are now attempting toexpand and incorporate a brand new pipeline,dubbed Keystone XL, between Alberta and
Texas.This has brought forth extreme opposition
from environmentalists across Canada and the
U.S. It has been argued that CO2 gas emissionsfrom oil sands are the highest in comparison toother sources. Bitumen, or asphalt, the prod-
uct pulled from the oil sands causes signicantenvironmental damage both near and far fromthe oil sands.
Bitumen is a highly viscous form of petro-leum trapped within sand and clay. Environ-
mental groups are concerned because of thelarge amounts of rening required to get tothe bitumen.
One environmental concern is that the re-
nement process releases polluted water wastethat travels into Albertas Firebag River andother freshwater sources. Another concern is
that the pipeline will inevitably leak the bitu-men into the surrounding environment duringits 3,186 km journey from Hardisty, Alberta to
Nederland, Texas.The pipeline extends over the Ogallala
Aquifer in the U.S., which supplies eight states
including Texas with clean, fresh water.Economic benetsAlthough there is an impact to the envi-
ronment through the growth of Albertan oilsands, there is a huge economic benet.TransCanada argues that the Keystone XL
pipeline and the expansion of the oil sandswill create thousands and thousands of jobs
especially during an
economic downturn.Natural ResourcesMinister Joe Oliver
also sees the economicbenet.
The oilsands,
weve been told, cangenerate $2.3 trillion ineconomic activity over
the next 25 years, Oli-ver told reporters.
If Keystone goes ahead, that would addanother $600 billion and hundreds of thou-sands of jobs can ow from the oil sands de-velopment.
Nobel Peace laureatesThe oil sands are such a serious concern
that Nobel laureates have become involved. A
group of Nobel laureates have signed a letterasking Stephen Harper to stop the expansionof the oil sands.
The laureates include Mairead Maguire,Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jody Williams,and Shirin Ebadi, among others.
In the letter they ask Harper to reject theKeystone XL pipeline, citing the environmen-tal damage through the release of greenhouse
gases and the impact it will have on humanlives through violent conict and instability,as well as famine.
The laureates also call for an end on thedependence of non-renewable energy sourc-es, and instead to focus on renewable energy
sources as it is the right thing to do.--The expansion of Albertan oil sands will
be pending an approval on the Keystone XLpipeline. Both Canada and the U.S. will decidenear the end of this year.
The approval of the pipeline comes at thesame time as the European Union is pending adecision to classify bitumen dirtier than con-
ventional crude.
Ahmed S. MinhasStaff Writer
Whats really going on in the oil sands
Thousands of protestors have descended onWall Street in downtown New York City over
the past three weeks, creating one of the larg-est revolutions in America in recent memory.The leaderless movement, called Occupy Wall
Street, have no set demands but are protestingeconomic issues such as corporate greed, theinuence of money over government ofcials,
and the imbalanced distribution of wealth inAmerica. The original idea behind the protestcame from the Canadian group Adbusters,
though they have no direct role in the pro-tests.
New York police ofcers have had a hard
time dealing with th protestors.Over the rst few days of the protest, nu-
merous arrests were made. Most arrests were
for obstructing trafc though some protestorswere charged with disrupting the peace andresisting arrest. On Oct 1, protestors set out to
cross the Brooklyn Bridge. After they were onthe bridge, police arrested 700 people for dis-rupting trafc, sparking even more outrage as
protestors alleged the police forced them ontothe streets.
The police used busses to clear the pro-
testors from the bridge, and were later suedby the drivers for comandeering city busses.Later, the New York City Transit Union offered
solidarity with the protestors, and no longerwill use city busses to transport detained pro-testors.
Some people have critisized the protests
for being unorganized and lacking cohesionthough others point out that many social
movements and revolutions started out in asimilar fashion. Regardless of any individualspersonal opinion, there is no denying that the
protest is happening and the scent of revolu-tion appears to be in the air. Many are compar-ing this movment to that of the Republican-
sided tea partiers, which is similar in form buthas a radically different impact and focus.
The protestors are no longer on Wall Street
but based at the nearby Zuccotti Park. Severalhundred protestors have been sleeping at the
park each night where, among other things,
protestors have set up a media station consist-ing of wireless routers and laptops powered
by a generator. During the day numbers swell.The largest number of protestors yet was dur-ing a march on Oct. 6 which saw over 15, 000
protestors march through lower Manhattan.Political response to the protests has been
mixed. Republican candidates have been
largely disissive and critical of the movmentwhile Democrats have generally been sup-portive. With President Obama stating that, I
think it expresses the frustrations the Ameri-
can people feel. In addition to politiciansmany labour unions have begun to show thier
support for the movment. On Oct 5 ,represen-
tatives from over fourteen of Americas larg-est unions attended the protests to show thier
support.Since the protests began, the word has
spread across the country and indeed the
world. Similar protests have begun to pop upin dozens of cities across the states as well asinternationally. The movement is expected
to reach Ontario this Saturday, when similarmovements have been organized for both Ot-tawa and Toronto.
Occupy Wall Street Continues To Pick Up SteamMatt MenteNews Editor
The 1% versus the 99%. (Art by Bridget Parker)
