Every time I clock into my job I wonder, how all this oil I’m extracting is really making my hands any cleaner then they really are? 

(Grabbing my gloves and jumpsuit off the rack)

Working for a job that is extracting too much of the tar sand here in Canada and is overflowed with oil, they say they have a plan to move it to a United States refinery in Texas. I’ve been working with Shell to provide for my wife and kids back home, by mining the tar sands of Canada, which are not a pretty site to behold. Usually more of a barren land without nature, some say lands wealth, but I see nothing but destruction of our earth. Plus building a full proof pipeline through 6 states seems impossible to many workers and not just me. Just this past summer while shipping oil through the pipeline placed in Montana, the oil from Exxon exposed major spills through out the pipeline. Causing the land around it to become devastated with oil ruining the Yellowstone River and contaminating their major water source. I can’t imagine anything worst then building one through 6 well populated US states, and even guarantee that it won’t leak and cause big problems around those areas. I wonder am I contributing to these acts since I’m currently working for shell my hand can’t be as clean as I think they are. Causing destruction to the earth just to make an honest dollar and provide for my family. I wish I was in a higher position so I could do something better for this abundance of oil, there has to be another way out of this mess; but seeing as though I’m just a worker what can I do. Losing my job couldn’t be an option because the wealth around here is made through the trade of oil. Working with oil makes me feel that every day we take for granite our earth’s resources to make a profit, but all we are doing is soiling the ground that we eat, drink, and sleep off of.

Jail of Opinions 

(Sitting against cold wall in Washington D.C. Jail looking through the bars of the cell staring at the Poster of Barack Obama)

Back in 2008 I chose Barack Obama to be my president of the United States, now that the keystone pipeline bill is getting pass by congress we can now see why we chose him to be our leader. He can save us from being a country that only cares of money and energy, to being the country that is willing to make the right decisions for our environment. I’m sitting in a cellblock in Washington D.C. jail, not because I’ve done something wrong only because I’ve spoken my opinion, yelling through the outer gates of the White House. Like many others I sit here because our government care only about profit and will stop at nothing to get their top dollar. They only are proving this when they decided to pass this bill for the formation of a mile lone pipeline that would run from southwest Canada through 6 state well-populated states to a refinery in Texas. I’ve seen the BP oil spill of the gulf and read of how it effected their waterways and killed animals and sea life. At this point I believe we are almost reaching a point where we have a choice to make, to save our earth or make a profit off of it. To me this choice is obvious save the earth we need to take care of our planet instead of building a pipeline that would be prone to leaks and spills that would affect our earth. Obama decision could be game over for the environment or a lucky save that would help our days on earth stretch a little longer. This jail cells are cold, but if I’m ever going to get my opinion heard I have to keep protesting the Keystone XL pipeline.

My Land

(written by Rose Knibbe)

(Talking to a truck dealer, given him the tomatoes, and complaining about the pipeline)

“He’s just some environmentalist person who happens to be living in Texas.”  That’s probably what some people think when they hear my story. But it’s not true. I’ve lived here all my life. 

(Passes box of tomatoes to the driver as he starts to pack them into his truck to sell.)

 Once I was old enough I bought my old land, and started my family on that land. Where I live had never been a problem and it had always been my land until TransCanada decided to show up one day. They randomly showed up on my land, I wouldn’t have even known they were there unless I had seen the stakes they had placed through out my property, later that month I received a letter in the mail asking for my permission to look at my property. To bad for them, I had already pulled out the stakes and made up my mind that I wouldn’t be a part of this. A couple months latter I received another letter telling me that if I didn’t accept they would take me to court. Of course I quickly accepted and let them come under the conditions that they would give me a 24 hour warning and that I would be with them every time. But they only followed through on that agreement once. After that time I would find them on my land claiming it must be a misunderstanding of some sort. Now I’m not just being an over protective landowner. I have concerns that are legitimate. I’m this pipeline ends up happening it will take up 50 ft. of my land. Once the pipeline is placed that land can never be replanted. There is also the strong possibility of erosion from the pipe rusting. Lastly the pipeline would be harmful to many people due to the fact that the pipelines have to be heated. This is a bad thing because it will affect the grounds temperature and plants are very sensitive to ground temperature. Altogether there is another side to the Keystone XL pipeline that TransCanada and our government it not telling us. 

(Passes the last box to the man and the truck driver responds with a solemn node and tells him he understands what he's going through.)

What to Do?

(written by Rose Knibbe)

“There seems to be a lot of controversy over this matter sir” “Do you really think risking our environment is worn the money?” Questions and questions are asked to me about this project. The Keystone XL pipeline could possibly be the most controversial project I’ve worked on yet. This project started out with only benefits in my mind. Think about it, our economy is going through one a huge crisis. We need whatever help we can get to boost our economy. Why don’t people just see it that way? This project will provide 20,000 high wage jobs. Not to mention the amount of money that our nation will gain from this. The tar sands have so much oil that we can depend on it being around and providing us oil for at least a hundred years. This will give us more energy security then we have had in the past. As an organization we are dedicated to minimizing environmental impact. The possibilities of a spill are highly unlikely and if they do spill we understand that it is our full responsibility to clean up. Also we understand our responsibility for an alternative water supply if ground wells are affected. Why don’t people see the positive things this project has? Have they completely ignored the fact that pipelines are the safest, most reliable economical and environmental way to transport oil? I just wish people would look at the other side of the matter and see that there are positive things this project could bring to the table. 

Pipeline

That little bird, with its hatching eggs, doesn’t know that soon that tree will be along one of the biggest pipelines in the U.S. The future for this bird is not going to be bright while I’m around. There is so much controversy over me. There are environmentalists who don’t want me to be around and then there are the planners of this project. They act as though I am there new best friend. I am the keystone XL pipeline. To be honest I am a little bugged that no one has asked me my opinion on this project. They probably just assume I want to be placed on strangers land. But if they asked me I would tell them I didn’t know how I feel about this project despite the fact its revolved around me. Sure of course I want to exist but is that all worth sacrificing peoples land? I would need a lot of up keep and I can’t tell if they would be able to take care of my high demands. Seeing as Trans Canada is trying to make me 1,700mi long, I can’t remember the last time they built one of my pipes this long. Also the pressure that is put on me to 800,000 barrels of hot crude oil is just too much not to leak. The area I’m around is counting on me to keep their waterways clean, if I do leak they will never forgive me. Plus laying my pipeline would create erosion around the land and kill and disrupt the environment. 

Maryam

Biuibrahim

 

First monologue:

 

Its Monday morning as Michelle Obama is getting ready to say her speech to every one that disagrees with the pipeline situation, she’s nervous she is not sure if she knows how to react to angry people, almost one hundred and 50 people got arrested in front of the white house because they were trying to say there opinions, to reject the key stone pipeline, her husband is not there to say the speech, so she has to step up and take his part, she is trying to rephrase the words in the head, it was a hot day she’s sweating, she looks out the window she sees hundreds of people waiting for her, she needed a drink of water , she knew that when she gets out there she had to look strong , deep down she does not agree with the pipeline she know that it’s wrong she also know that it will harm a lot of people , but she closed her eyes and put her opinion to the side , she made sure she had a lot of security, she never knows what might happened , the security guard walked her down , as she stands in from of hundreds of people , she took a min to look around , she saw innocent faces looking up to her as she sais:

Good morning every body, I know that you are hear to fight for what you believe in, and I know no matter what we do we can not change your opinions , but am speaking for my husbands behalf , and if he was here he would of told every one that we know that the pipeline is dangerous , and we know that it harm a lot of people, but at the same time we have the think about the positive things that comes from it , the economy it getting worst people are suffering to get jobs to feed there family, and if the pipeline can get people a lot of jobs why should we take that away, and I hope that people can try to think about the positives as well, before getting angry at us , we want the best things for every one , and I know people want a clean environment , but we cant change that in one that , it takes time to reach a goal , so all I want to say is that people need to be patient .

She decided to give a couple of people the chance to ask questions:

Question one: we know that yours speaking for your husband but is that what you really think?

She wanted to say no but she said yes we are one person and we take the same decisions.

Question two: how long do we have to wait until we see a change?

Patience is key that all I have to say.

The more questions she was getting she started thinking did they even try to change anything during the 2 years, thoughts were going trough her mind as she exists.

 

Second monologue:

Its Saturday night as the Canadian guy is watching the news about the pipeline situation and how it is affecting Canada in a lot of ways, he is a single 39 years old guy, that likes to write , after he finished watching the news , he wanted to say how he felt to someone , and the only thing he could find is his computer to talk to, he sat down with a cup of coffee  in his hand , took a deep breath and started typing :

“ I usually don’t talk about things like this in my diary but it is really upsetting me in a lot of ways so I will talk about it, its bad enough that the world is not an equal place, and that some places are suffering more then others, but they say that they cant do nothing about it so we try to understand but when it comes to a point when you can stop something this bad in a heartbeat and people are still questioning if they should , then that’s careless , I feel like America only cares about jobs and what they can get from poor people, the pipe line is not only hurting America but its hurting my people too, I don’t understand why cant they find other way to make jobs available , without hurting other they don’t know that they may be hurting a single mother, a dad, a son , a daughter, or a sister , I feel like they need time to go trough what they’re doing . Because enough is enough.

He got really mad he couldn’t even finish his writing, so he said to him self with a strong look on his face that he will go to Washington to fight for what he believes in.

 

Third monologue:

Its Texas its an early rise as the a hard working father wakes up to do his farm work, he has five kids there all girls and in his back yard there is a pipeline, he did not think it was bad until he herd about the oil leak in china , he started getting worried about it a lot every time he wakes up he goes in his back yard and just keep looking at it , he wants Obama to stop it , maybe then he could get some sleep at night , he is worried that if the oil ever leaks what would he do , how would he survive , and all his hard work will be gone , every time he thinks about it he shakes , he has so much anger inside he just wants to say why does no one care about what were are going trough some people cant sleep  because of this pipeline, some people just want to leave everything they worked hard for just to go some place were they can be safe , but of course if he say that we get arrested , we should have freedom of speech and we should fight for what we believe in.

 

 

​Intro Paragraph: Within this project, my goal was to show each characters opinions' and perspectives' about the Keystone XL pipeline. I spoke through the characters to express real emotion and the emotions that would be expected. For example, when writing from water's perspective, I was able to imagine some of the properties. This was possible by acting as if water were a man.

Monologues:

The Beginning to Change

 

Bill Mckibben walks to the podium           

                                   

This is my first speech as an environmentalist. The white paper in my hand was folded into a square and had about one hundred fifty black words on it. It is shaking as if it was a table and my hand was an earthquake. I couldn’t help but think that this could be the beginning to our earth diminishing or it being saved.  The actual power is in the hands of President Obama but the people of the United States influences his decisions. I could influence theirs. After finally unfolding the paper, it looked as if the words were blurred. I couldn’t ready anything. This is just my imagination. Images of clear lakes and no pipeline signs were in front of me drawn onto cardboard in front of the white house. These people want change. I could be the voice of reason.  The nervousness left me.

I stood tall and said:

“It is the second largest pool of carbon on Earth. It is tar sands, which are oil sands. The main component of this oil would be bitumen. Bitumen is the most toxic form of petroleum, which is called tar. This is a form of crude oil. Last year alone, theses tar sands had 12 spills. This pipeline is predicted to go from Canada to Texas. What happens if another spill occurs and it goes into the ocean or another water supply area? Then what happens if we drink this water?”. “We have lost the battle for the last 10 years to for anything about greenhouse gasses. The process of refining this crude oil needs natural gas. In return, refining the tar sands oil apposed to regular conventional oil causes more greenhouse gas emissions. We shouldn’t use the pipeline. There are too many issues that could arise because of it. We have to take global warming seriously.” Finishing and feeling successful I folded my paper up and put it into the inside of my jacket pocket. The crowd cheered and clapped as I walked off the stage. This is the begging to change.

Future Leaders

Here I am, walking to another class full of students in the middle of the first quarter. My old class was a group of unwilling to learn students. They would sit in their chairs like zombies and say nothing. No one raised his or her hand. Instead they sat holding their phone underneath a desk texting someone across the room or writing notes about me and passing it to the person in front of them. My new room, 304, had my name carved into a wooden plate with gold lettering.  After opening the door, I was greeted with blank unwelcoming faces.

 

She grabs her lesson plan out of her purse

 

 “My name is Mrs. Lou. Today we are going to be discussing the Tar Sands pipeline. In Alberta, Canada, there are Tar Sands. These sands produce toxic and thick oil. The United States is trying to refine and clean the oil so that we can use it in things such as cars. To do this, they are sending a pipeline from Canada to Texas. The problem with this idea is that the oil that would go through the pipeline is too thick. Therefore, it would have to be heated up as it was going through. That just makes us more prone for danger such as the oil leaking. Also the oil is too acidic to transport safely in the pipelines. The same kind of oil that was spilled into the Kalamazoo River last year has the same viscosity of the Tar sands oil. The oil sunk to the bottom of the river and is no longer retrievable”.

The kids in front of me are actually starting to pay attention. Instead of slouching in their seats they were sitting up straight. I could also tell that some of them were trying to raise their hand ad voice their opinions like leaders.

“ The pros of the pipeline would be that it could create jobs for Americans, give us more oil, and allow us not to rely on other countries for oil”. I ended. “ I can see that some of you would like to voice your opinions, write your name on the board in one of the categories, for or against”. The kids immediately got up. Most of them were standing in line to write their names on the left side, against. I am glad that they agree with me.

If you don’t, I will

 

My name is Niagara. My children Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Superior are the people I care most about. We have our own type of family flow. We understand each other’s problems. I travel around the continent to visit their houses all the time. We support each other because we are a family. I would never leave them in the dust.

The United States is planning on putting a pipeline from Canada to Texas. It’s supposedly going to carry this toxic and crude oil so that they could refine it. Politicians talk about how we are going to be okay because the pipe is not supposed to leak. Do they not remember what happened to my cousin Kalamazoo? His whole house was covered in oil because of an oil leak that was “not supposed to happen” but did about twelve times. Now, he has oil in his basement that he can’t get out. Do they not remember my cousin Gulf? Last year she has approximately 4.9 million barrels of crude oil spilt into her home. It didn’t just affect her, but it affected the animals that lived with her.

What happens if the oil from these pipes leaks out? This could immediately affect my son Superior and daughter Michigan. It could also affect the people who use this water to drink and put into bottles. Why would they do something like this? President Obama can make the decision to put my family at risk or protect us. Just in case, I have to call my family and tell them to brace themselves for the worst and hope for the best.