Human history has often been described as a progressive relinquishment from environmental constraints. Now, it seems, we have come full circle. The ecological irrationalities associated with industrial societies have a lengthy history, and our purpose in the proposed book is not to catalogue this litany of wrongs. Rather, this book is about political responses to global environmental crisis at a crucial turning point in history, by focusing on the political discourses surrounding the tar sands in Alberta, Canada.

This book focuses on the political discourse surrounding the proposed extraction of oil from the Athabasca tar sands in Alberta, Canada, tracing how language and visual representations are used to reinforce or challenge the legitimacy of oil extraction there.

New feature

Two intersecting moments of the Twenty-first Century define our politics, economies, and future prospects for civilization: the mounting evidence for global climate change, now unequivocally attributed to socio-economic activities, and its de-stabilizing effects on our biosphere, combined with the end of easy oil and the easy wealth it generates. On the energy question, non-conventional fossil fuels have been promoted by political elites as the next most attractive development option. The development of nonconventional fuels, however, does nothing to alleviate either climate change or the falling rate of energy supply, and generates multiple social and environmental consequences. The largest endeavour marking this historic nexus?indeed the largest industrial project in history, is the extraction and processing of the Athabasca tar sands in Alberta, Canada. The social, environmental, and most importantly political outcomes of this grand experiment will reverberate throughout the global polity, and either encourage or caution against increasing our dependence on such non-conventional fuels and assuming the multiple costs such dependence will entail. Planning for reflexive societal change requires that we first ask how such giga-projects are legitimated, and who is challenging this legitimacy? In this book we trace how language and visual representations are used to reinforce or challenge the legitimacy of development of the Athabasca tar sands, and draw on our insights to contemplate likely energy and climate futures.

1.Look Who's Talking The Future Is Here All Eyes on Albera What Follows : Outline of the Book References 2.Observing Global Flows Metaphor-Making The Tools of the Trade Discourse and Environmental States It's All in the (Power to) Name Visual Discource Mapping Flows : Words and Images in the Network Society References 3.Visualizing the Tar Sands Throuht Time Incubation A Seed Is Planted The Scientists Arrive Industrialization Continuities : Visual Threads, Ideological Mainstays References 4.Capital, Labor, and the State Background The Current Boom Our Fair Share A Closer Look at the Cost Benefit Equation References 5.Ecological Disruption Footprints in the Tar Land Water Climate References 6.Energy Matters Why Worry? Another Spin on Our Energy Futures Energy Plitics Today The Said and the Unsaid References 7.Lessons from the Study The Fragility of Legitimacy Re-Articulating Citizenship Tar Sands as Ideology References 8.A View from the Future Where We Are Now Scenario 1: Well-Traveled Pathways Scenario 2: Transitions to Resilience Sings Eight Chapters in Two Paragraphs References Appendix Index