Pipeline Monologue Project

  In this project the goal was to show different perspectives about this environmental issue. Tar Sands oil and the XL Pipeline. My purpose was to have a typical citizen's point of view. Since this is a topic isn't known by most of America, I wanted my monologues to slowly form an opinion on this issue, assuming these people didn't have prior knowledge. This project is about the domestic concern for the XL Pipeline, that might cover six states. 

Monologues: 

Rich Loris:
All I saw were angry, concerned people outside my favorite window of the White House. My window had a clear view of all the action happening outside. *read slower* Picket signs….. Banners…. Police…. *pick up a bit more speed reading*I could barely hear the chants from my window, but they had a sense of confidence in each one. *talks slower* Canada….. *sound confused*Tar Sands…? Oil…. Nasty oil… Crude oil….. Foreign oil…. Oil…. Oil…. *gets angered* OIL! That’s all it ever is! *gets calm again* *takes a deep breath* That’s all I ever hear from my colleagues, I can’t do anything. I can’t say anything. If I do, I’ll seem like a threat. A threat to their self being. They only worry about themselves. I’m just the head of security. I don’t make any decisions. I just protect the man that does.

Hey, *shurgs*I even voted for him myself. The man had a dream I agreed with. It was different. I thought it was nice to have some color in the White House. This man’s dream opened my eyes to something more than what it should have been exaggerated to. I realized the place we live on won’t last forever. The way we live on this planet now, it’s destined to not be safe enough for our kin. Something needs to change. My actions may not make a dent in earth’s health, but it makes a dent in how I see things now.

It’s hard to hear men joke about this. They ultimately think it’s going to blow over and a 1700-mile pipe will cover six states of our domestic territory! The idea just doesn’t sit right with me. I cared too much for some unknown reason. I didn’t know the actual impact of this, in my heart it didn’t seem legit. It didn’t seem….moral.

I couldn’t help what I felt at the time, but I didn’t think twice about running out the door towards the dedicated protesters. I was about 200 meters from them. All I wanted to do was join then. Join a triumph waiting to happen. *clenches fists so veins show**takes a deep breath* I was tackled. I believe his name was Ben… Ben Hanks. I’m the one in charge of him, I should definitely know his name. I tried to pry his grip off me, but a sting in my left side *places his left hand on his left side* and I was out.

I woke up here. This jail cell. With a cold floor, a silver, metallic toilet and serious talking. *feels the floor and shivers* Then I looked up to a red haired girl blankly looking at me. 

Laury Ellis:

*Sits in a cornet near the bars of her cell

I woke up this morning with a purpose. I woke up to march… March for a relevant cause to my president. *fixes shirt* He is the one who can stop it all. He’s the man I have all my hopes in right now. I tied my hair back for a serious persona and dressed in a simple pair of nice of jeans and a Obama shirt I got at the beginning of his election. I bought an extra shirt just in case I was displeased at the president for a moment. I knew I was going to out there for awhile, but I didn’t think I’d end up in a jail cell at the end of the day. All I Americans were allowed to express what their opinions were. Right or wrong, it can still be said. But I guess when it goes up against the White House, it’s always going to be wrong. I realized that today.

            *Speaks in a “matter-of-fact voice* I’ve seen that the no one had denied a permit for the pipeline. All permission was given. Canada wants to get rid of it and the U.S. is willing to take it, since it’s an ally’s oil. I also checked out what TransCanada is doing about the land their taking from domestic owners. In addition to the government getting millions of dollars in revenue, around 600 million to be exact, their giving a small portion of the profits to the landholders their taking away property from. I couldn’t argue with that. I mean… I’ve my land was taken, I’d probably take up the offer of getting some type of compensation. But I’m seriously worried about what it’d to the environment. Plowing through acres and acres of lands that houses animals, plants, and freshwater. It’s a shame to see what could be lost with this pipe. It there any other way this could be done? Instead of a pipeline, maybe thousands of truck drivers and money to be put in oil transportation? I don’t know. That might be worse… A lot is at jeopardy, but I’m just a citizen. I can’t do anything. I can only stand for something.

            Now, I stare at this man. Dressed in a suit and tie with ear piece that you usually see officials. I don’t know who he is. He seems interested. Maybe he knows something about it all. 

Ben Hanks:

*Ben sits at the bottom of a tree trunk with his head in his hands.*

I didn’t know who he was. I didn’t know he had more authority than me. I didn’t know anything about this man. I didn’t know what my boss looked like. *Slowly lifts his head out his hands.* He could have been Indian for all I cared.

            I was told to watch for anyone making trouble. That’s my job. That’s what I’m paid to do. The protesters were pretty much under control. The picket signs were all too offensive, so I wasn’t worried about today. Things seems relatively fine. I stood there, at my guard and I was prepared for anything.

            I kept hearing things about this “crude” oil. I couldn’t look it up on my blackberry at the time, but it didn’t seem bad. These people seemed to be against what I thought is   exactly what we need. Oil from a place close by. Right? It’s better than getting overseas in that terrorist country. We fight for all of what we have and why not take a chance and get something we deserve. It’s said that the pipeline won’t leak and that’s good enough for me. Hey, it’s not going to impact me in D.C. so why should I worry about it? I sorry for those who live out there, but my living arrangements aren’t at all going to be ruined.

            As I was contemplating about this issue a man runs across the White House field. I couldn’t tell who he was, nor where he came from. My first instinct was to tackle him. He tried to struggle out of my grip so I tazed him. I cuffed him and gave to the others. I was then informed later on… He was the big boss.