Muck.

I was approached recently by a friend who wanted my assistance in a great endeavor at some point this summer. She has been trying to seek information about the Oil sands up in Northern Alberta. Not unlike the oil sands themselves, finding proper information about the area is a quagmire. It's one of those issues that I cherish so much due to the fact that you're either all for it, or all against it. Personally, this fence is starting to feel like a couch. While the environmental concerns as well as the sociological issues really bother me, there are some genuine benefits to the oil sands themselves. To just get rid of them would be disastrous to the Canadian economy, let alone Alberta.

A different opinion was what I needed. So I asked a relative of mine what her thoughts were.
She works for the government in the energy department. In the ranks, she's fairly high up there. She even has her own office. I knew for sure that she'd have some words about the sands.
To begin our conversation, I asked her about the environment around the sands and their influence on the land. She shifted in her seat.
-Well firstly, I've been to Fort McMurray many times, she started, and I know a thing about the whole situation.
Immediately, I could observe that she was on the defensive and that she took me for a environut.
-If you want to talk about damage to wildlife, she continued, then ask about how many ducks have been decimated by the windmills down south.
I failed to see how talking about the ducks would enhance my education about the oil sands. I told her so.

At this point I realized that with such an issue when brought up, brings people to the emotion not the information. I had better tread carefully, this is the woman's livelihood. I tried to be as general and elementary as possible. Looking in her eyes, I asked what are the three biggest misconceptions about the oil sands.
- For one, she said, they don't destroy the land as much as people think. Suncor, when finished with a plot of land, returns the acres it uses to the same if not better condition that it was in when they got there.
Wondering if this is true, I urged her to continue.
- And the amount of water that they use per barrel to get the oil has decreased greatly over the last ten years. I know how much people whine about extraction and it's environmental effect.
This was in fact mostly true.
-As well as that, she paused and thought for a second, the statistic that the oil sands account for one third of the nations emissions is completely false.

In general our conversation wasn't very good. She either felt threatened by my inquisitive nature or was tired of talking about it. Asking her if she does have any issues with the oil sands, she leaned back and put her hands beside her hips on the seat and pushed her spine straight.
-Of course I do, but they aren't about the oil sands themselves. There are too many loopholes for corporations to get around. From the beginning the loose nature of the regulations for businesses to....
She went on to talk for another ten minutes about highly inconsequential topics, which gave me little information and in a manner that for a grown woman seemed very jejune.

After ending our talk, I was of the opinion that finding information about the oils sands will be harder than I thought. The emotion it stirs in people is an odd thing. For an issue as big as this, finding the 'facts' is going to be impossible, but finding somewhat accurate information might be achievable. I just have to be wary not to get distracted by the ducks.