Pipeline Monologue Project

Posted by Anonymous in World History - Block on

video of lamar county from Sadie Sprague-Lott on Vimeo.

Introduction:

During our 10th grade world history course at Science Leadership Academy we began discussing the Keystone Pipeline proposed by Trans Canada. We learned about the advantages and the disadvantages of the pipeline. We did research on our own, watched videos and had to come up with monologues. My partner and I came up with five different monologues portraying five completely different possible effects that the pipeline can have on people.  One of the people in our monologues is the earth, and how the climate will be changing.  Another article is Obama and how his decision approval or disapproval can change the election. A different monologue is portraying a family that is being kicked off their land in order to build the pipeline. The next one is about a person working on a power plant in the middle east. All of these monologues show a large variety of effects because of the keystone pipeline. By doing these monologues and seeing different views of why the Keystone Pipeline should or should not be built. We gained insight on the possible climate changes, money issues, and changes for our society.

Monologues:

Mother Earth


(Earth is located between Venus and Mars, the Moon is Right behind the earth located more to the right of earth, while the sun is located to the left of earth. Earth is making very sick, she’s constantly coughing and sneezing because of the pollution inside of her. She has a handkerchief and a nice warm fuzzy sweater. The sky is black with a lot of shiny stars in the sky.)

*Cough Cough*
I have always tried my hardest to be the best I can be, reaching my full potential. I have  many responsibilities. My mother, the universe is relying on me. Yet I never get any recognition for the work I do. You know I do get dizzy spinning around non stop. The sun’s bright rays constantly trying to get through my sisters layer. I feel a loss of respect I am never thought about. Key decisions worldwide usually never reflect how this will affect me long term. The air has always been my friend but now, it has become my enemy. Air is thicker, the fog is killing me. I don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve been sending everyone signs, the extreme heats in the summer and the winters getting colder each year.  I don’t know if I could take the keystone pipeline. This pipeline says to be good for the economy of the United States but its killing me and everything inside of me.(Cough Cough*)Even the little tiny people inside of me that worry more about the economy than their lives.
I mean I have a sister the atmosphere to look out for, as well as my blood the ocean, imagine if there were an oil spill. My blue cold blood would not be able to handle the thick grey oil that will kill my creations the creatures of the sea and of the land. My life is depending on the prevention of the keystone pipeline. I remember when I was younger, life was  much easier. There was no cars, no planes. Nothing.  i remember when the tiny human people would ride a horse to get from the one side of a country to another. Trains were really helpful too. I had  a few coughs a years but not as much as now. (Ahh Ahh Ahh Chouuuuu!) I am about to explode!   
Instead of the  Keystone Pipeline XL I have a better plan.
My cousin the sun emits multiple rays into the earth. A few years ago, scientist realized that these rays are energy and it can be stored. Well they created solar panels to start storing it for little things like light inside the house or the radio. Let’s think big now. What if these solar panels, can be put on top of a train. The train will travel from point A to point B while its getting the energy from the solar panels. Cough cough )This way the little people inside of me can go from one place to another, and bring goods from one state to another without having to waste coal, or waste energy on cars for gas. It’s not only faster but it saves me and every little thing inside me. Please replace the Keystone Pipeline XL with this idea. Even tho it will take a little bit of work, it will create energy to transport people and goods from one side of the United States to the other. Say no to the Keystone Pipeline XL and say yes to the Solar Powered train system. Together we can save me and everything inside.


Earth Monologue from Sadie Sprague-Lott on Vimeo.

Our Home


Margret, Margret! Come meet me in the kitchen.
(pacing around the kitchen, wife walks in and he sits down)
Some people from the government just came. Talking about some they can take our land. Only gonna offer us some 15,000 dollars, don’t make much sense if you ask me since we got a good 5 acres of land (foot begins tapping).  Honey I know, I know but there aint nothing we can do about it. They said  something about eminent domain, meaning we have no rights for this land. (jumps up)
This is not fair! I worked too hard to get where I am today. I have a barn out back with five horses three cattle and I can’t just pick up and leave. We just got a new pump out back, Jimmy just got braces, and the chickens got a new cewp. There is nowhere for us to go what do they expect us to do. Coming through a small town like Lamar County.
(sigh) I wonder what we’re going to do about my grandmother too been living on the acres next to us coming close to a century now. She put all her life savings trying to keep our family acres together. They come in here don’t even know what we’re going through the struggles that we will face because of this pipeline. What is the keystone pipeline anyway? Don’t we already have oil in the middle east? Taking our land not even going to  explain to us what for, where’s my vote on whether or not I want that pipeline or not. (pause, turns to wife) Alright well don’t go on telling the kids yet.

video of lamar county from Sadie Sprague-Lott on Vimeo.

My Future


(Soda drops from the vending machine)

Todays the day, today is the day. I can’t wait to tell everyone that our work from America is being cut down. After all these years of depending on them for our trade we are done. The Keystone Pipeline, muah (blows kisses). Nothing better than it. Now I can relax not have to worry about whether or not we need to ship out to those Americans. Yeah, you know how much they over use their oil, at least we won’t be the ones helping them. (turns head as his friend begins to talk) I never thought of it like that though. We do ship almost half of our oil to them what about our oil plants? I don’t know but it’s not like there are many other jobs here for  us that pay paying low. This pipeline is bad for the environment. It’s bad for everyone. Creating this pipeline will destroy my life now that i think about it.  What about my job, less oil means less of a need for me. The keystone pipeline won't only destroy the environment even more it will put me and others out of a job. I hate the keystone pipeline.



Election of a Lifetime

I have hope for this nation. Sadly nobody will be able to have a dream if I don’t win the 2012 election. In 2008, i promised that I will make the economy better. I also promised the U.S will help clean this pollution.that we the American citizens, will clean this mess.But I will assure you that our kids and the upcoming generations will have a place to live in and breathe freely without having to worry about possessing a disease that will not only harm them, but potentially kill them. How will I do this with the keystone pipeline though.

(tying his tie, looks down at index card into the mirror)

Let me try this speech again. We need to become independent from other countries. The keystone pipeline will allow us to create jobs helping our economy. (deep breath) I can’t do this anymore. I don’t think I want the keystone pipeline, it is damaging our environment it is putting people out of their houses leaving people homeless. Is it worth creating jobs when people are losing homes? I need to find a way to make it work. Have the people whose homes we are taking be the ones getting the jobs building the keystone pipeline. (rubs hand on head)

Before I was Barrack Obama the president, I was Barrack Obama the boy living in hawaii with my grandmother. Ugh I can’t keep forgetting this. My grandmother who risked everything to make sure that I am where I am today. What if this were her? But is it worth it the fact is this will help the States. it is too close to the election to be rocking the boat what do the people want? ( begins pacing up and down) The fact that my election can be based on something as dependance on foreign oil. There are other solutions we need to work our way up to no dependance on these oils. There are other solutions, such as solar energy. You know I’ve never really agreed with George Bush, but when he said that we were “addicted to oil”, yeah I have to agree with that. But what do I do when my opponent will kill me for doing this changing my opinion this far down the line, so close to the election. But I will not lie to the people I will be the voice of for four years. I will say the truth and hope for the best that’s all I can do. (walks out the door)

A Voice in Society


(Waiting in front of the court building for the trial. Looking through all the pictures and the evidence that has been left by the cops. The documents from the hospital, the pictures of the injuries the cop left all over my body. A phone in my right pocket with a few leftover dollar in my wallet in my left pocket.) All the witnesses are here with me, well the ones that are ready to testify.)
This is injustice!  After looking at all of the images when I can be doing way more. I don’t even understand how or why on Earth I would get this hurt? Don’t we have the right of freedom of speech? my voice had to be heard I had to stop it but the abuse got unbearable. I didn’t quit because thats why i am here. (The plaintiff’s lawyer asked him if he was fighting for the earth’s rights, and/or his rights. The plaintiff replies extremely fast trying to not sound stubborn but reassuring. Well of course sir. I’m here to fight for what’s right! and the Keystone pipeline XL is not right! it emits more three times more toxins than gas can release in one year.
I understand that this is a country where we all want what’s good and cheap. But what they did to me another fellow activist and what they will do to our country is not acceptable. To start of these gases that will be emitted into the atmosphere will hurt the earth more than two times than regular gas. They will first extract tar sands from Canada. The process of extraction will cause a great amount of pollution but then processing it through the pipelines from Canada to Texas will cause a greater disaster. (Ring,Ring,Ring.It’s the lawyer calling. the layer is waiting inside of the courtroom. He is rushing the plaintiff to go inside because the judgement will start in ten minutes.) Okay I will be ready in a few more minutes. Yes I know we will be proceeding into the courtroom any minute but I want to make sure that everything that I have brung in is used without being jeopardized. Okay well back to concentration. so these pipelines will create a gas that evaporated and won’t be used. It will stay in the ozone layer and will create a massive disaster to the world. The gas that will be created from the tar sands would be used to fuel up cars and a few members from the government claim that it will boost up the economy. But what will the economy without an Earth? Nothing of course.
if this injustice continues then we will have no earth and according to the amendments we have the right to sleep. I know for sure that a lot of rights are broken. I am a slave to The Pipeline. I am afraid of falling asleep and waking up in a world which we would have to use masks to breath. This pipeline will be the death of me.(The plaintiff walks inside the building and the scene ends with him shutting the door.)

Appendix:

1. There is the possibility that if the Keystone Pipeline does happen that families will lose their homes. Because of eminent domain they will have no choice but to leave their homes. One article saying,  "[...] TransCanada has threatened to use disputed eminent domain powers to condemn privately held land, over the owners’ objections. And that’s creating unusual allies — Occupiers, Tea Partiers, environmentalists, individualists — united to stop TransCanada from threatening water supplies, ancient artifacts, and people’s basic property rights." (talkingpoints)

2. The Keystone pipeline still has some possible problems. One of these being the possibility of an oil spill because of the uncertainty of any pipeline. There have been many attempts to prevent the pipeline because of this. "But environmental groups and some landowners have been mounting a campaign to stop or delay construction because of the threat a leak might pose to rivers and wetlands." (washingtonpost)

3. Some people believe that the pipeline will have great benefits for our economy. As well as causing less of a dependence on other countries. A white house memo says "But the foreseeable future, we will continue to rely on oil to help fuel our transportation system. As a result, we must safely and responsibly develop our oil resources at home, as part of an all-of-the-above energy strategy to grow our economy and make us more secure." (whitehouse)

4. The keystone pipeline has the opportunity to develop jobs for many people. "Republican leaders and other pipeline supporters have offered up a wide range of claims about how many jobs Keystone XL (ultimately a temporary construction project) will create—anywhere from 20,000 to 500,000. But a series of media reports and studies say even the lower figures are wildly exaggerated. A Cornell University study argued that the project would create fewer than 5,000 jobs and could cause job losses in some parts of the country." (yesmagazine)

5.  The issue of the Keystone Pipeline also produces the question of how this is going to affect our environment. "To extract oil from tar sands, companies must destroy fragile forest ecosystems and then use a very energy-intensive upgrading and refining process to turn that oil into transportation fuel. Tar sands mining and production harm the boreal forest’s fragile ecosystem, waste enormous amounts of water, and disrupt the lives of indigenous people in the area." (foe)

6.  The Keystone Pipeline also proposes an issue of how native people will be affected by it. " They have trouble practicing their cultural traditions because of the destruction caused by tailing ponds and strip mining operations. The people downstream from the toxic tailing ponds have high rates of rare cancers, renal failure, lupus, and hyperthyroidism. Indigenous groups have organized and protested to stop the expansion of tar sands operations." (foe)

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