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Jacques Ellul and the Technological Society in the 21st Century pp 159–175Cite as

Homo Energeticus: Technological Rationality in the Alberta Tar Sands

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Part of the book series: Philosophy of Engineering and Technology ((POET,volume 13))

Abstract

The Prime Minister of Canada has described the development of Alberta’s unconventional oil resources as “an enterprise of epic proportions, akin to the building of the pyramids or China’s great wall, only bigger” (Financial Post 2006). Its proven oil reserves of 170 billion barrels are surpassed only by Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, but both Venezuela and Alberta consist mostly of the “unconventional oil” source known as oil sands or tar sands.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    There is a rhetorical struggle over whether to call these bitumen deposits “tar sands” – a term used since the nineteenth century – or “oil sands” – which has more recently become the official designation used by industry, government, and the mainstream media. Because the term “tar sands” is perceived to carry a negative connotation (e.g., Who likes “tar”?) while “oil sands” is supposed to carry a more positive connotation (e.g., Everyone “needs” oil), there really is no value-neutral shorthand available (Kidner 2010). We have decided to use the term “tar sands,” as our view is not fundamentally at odds with a negative assessment of the petroleum status quo in Alberta.

  2. 2.

    “[T]echnology does not endure any moral judgement. The technician does not tolerate any insertion of morality into his work. His work has to be free” (Ellul 1980: 145).

  3. 3.

    The very term “side-effect” attests to the assumption that no problem with technology is essential to technology itself.

  4. 4.

    Nikiforuk (2008) provides the most accessible account of the oil sands history, production processes, relation to provincial political and economic systems, and environmental and social impacts.

  5. 5.

    One of a myriad of such reports, Look Before You Leap is produced by a think-tank and tries to demonstrate the significance of the Western Canadian economy (heavily reliant on energy extraction) to the national economy, as part of an argument that the federal government should NOT regulate tar sands further, nor implement carbon emission caps. Watts (2005) asserts that think-tanks are a crucial component of the oil complex.

  6. 6.

    Ludwig is a conservative religious leader in northern Alberta who leads a self-sufficient religious commune. Dangerous sour gas wells drilled near the communal property and homes led to altercations with the rural Alberta populace and the oil and gas industry, including wellsite bombings and a gunshot death. Ludwig was eventually convicted for involvement and spent nearly 2 years in jail, becoming publically known as Alberta’s first convicted eco-saboteur (Nikiforuk 2002). Ludwig died during the final editing of the present chapter, on 9 April 2012.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. Joseph’s College, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2J5, Canada

    Nathan Kowalsky

  2. Faculty of Social Sciences, The King’s University College, 9125 50 St NW, Edmonton, Alberta, T6B 2H3, Canada

    Randolph Haluza-DeLay

Authors
  1. Nathan Kowalsky
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  2. Randolph Haluza-DeLay
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Correspondence to Nathan Kowalsky .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technical University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Helena M. Jerónimo

  2. University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    José Luís Garcia

  3. Liberal Arts and International Studies, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado, USA

    Carl Mitcham

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Kowalsky, N., Haluza-DeLay, R. (2013). Homo Energeticus: Technological Rationality in the Alberta Tar Sands. In: Jerónimo, H., Garcia, J., Mitcham, C. (eds) Jacques Ellul and the Technological Society in the 21st Century. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 13. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6658-7_12

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