World History Keystone XL monologue project

​     The purpose of these monologues was to illustrate different viewpoints on the construction and use of the Keystone XL Pipeline. While on the surface there seem to be only two sides of the argument, it’s actually a much more complex issue. The First Monologue is meant to depict the point of view of an opposing company, who would want the profit for themselves. but for the sake of public relations probably wouldn’t want to say so out right. The Second Monologue is from my own point of view, your average teenager’s ideas about the pipeline and what it means for my generation’s future. The third is from the point of view of an investor in BP, and is meant to depict a purely economic viewpoint, or what this might mean for certain individuals.

Monologue 1:

As the C.E.O of Green Gas Enterprises.

Dear Mr. Obama,

 

I think that the tar sands of Canada are undoubtedly one of the most reliable energy sources known to man, however we at Green Gas Inc. strongly protest that Exxon Mobile and TransCanada are given any access to it. Doing this would be both economical and environmental suicide. Exxon mobile would have us believe that this oil will save our country’s economy, but the reality is it would give them a near monopoly on the country’s oil market. If one corporation is given that much power it’s very possible that they could take a lot of the government’s power.

Aside from that, TransCanada, their partner company has already pushed to violate standard safety laws. We feel if we had access to this oil we would handle the oil with better environmental practices as well as distribute the benefits among oil companies. We also would be able to transport the oil using cheaper and safer methods by running a pipeline down to Montana, the second largest oil production state, shortening the pipeline by about half a country. This not only reduces the cost but also lessens the chance of leakage along the pipeline. Furthermore the jobs that Exxon and trans Canada would provide wouldn’t last more than a year or two except for a few hundred high requirement jobs only available to a certain set of highly qualified individuals. We however can hire a regular staff of day-to-day maintenance workers. Please act now and give Green Gas Inc. the rights to the Keystone XL Pipeline.

 

Thank you for your time,

 

 

Howie Thrive

C.E.O., Green Gas Inc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monologue 2:

 

Writing as: Myself

9/23/11

Dear diary,

            This week in world history we’re learning about the Keystone XL Pipeline, which is a giant pipeline that will run all the way from Canada to Texas, transporting billions of gallons of oil per day. The oil in the tar sands of Canada, and getting it out involves pouring thousands of pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, making it borderline toxic. TransCanada, the company responsible for building the pipeline, seems to be openly corrupt. There are allegations that the engineers who built the pipeline tried to violate the safety regulations for the minimum thickness and maximum pump pressure. There’s also the risk of spills, since the pipelines run through several peoples’ homes and through several natural parks and reserves. The forests it goes through are very remote so if a leak occurred somewhere along the pipeline it could be days before anyone found out.  I strongly doubt they will take the appropriate safety measures to prevent this. On top of that Exxon Mobile is literally the wealthiest oil company in the world, so if they are given this opportunity it would generate a huge imbalance in the world’s economy. We may be forced into a dystopia, where giant corporations like Exxon Mobile have the final say on everything. Personally I would love to be out there with the protesters right now, but that kind of thing takes time that I don’t have. 

 

 

 

Monologue 3:

 

Written as: an Exxon shareholder:

 

[Wakes up in bed to phone ringing, reluctantly answers phone]

            H’lo?

[Pause]

            Exxon what now?

 [Pause]

A pipeline?

[Pause]

             How much oil are we talking?

[Pause]

[Sits up in bed and starts smiling]

 Well yea I want you to buy more shares, do you know how much profit they can make off that? It’ll boost at least a hundred dollars or so per share. Who else knows about this? Have you told the rest of the Firm?

[Pause]

Well people against it aren’t exactly gonna invest now are they?

[Pause]

             Just wait until this gets to the presses, Wall Street’s gonna go crazy. Hell if this all works out we could retire early!

[pause]

What?

[Pause]

Drawbacks? What are they? How could there be drawbacks to something like…

 [Pause]

             Leaks? They can’t just patch it if that happens?

[Pause]

That’s just ridiculous, 50,000 gallons per hour?

[Pause]

[Stands up slowly and begins to pace.]

Ok here’s what we’ll do. We’ll wait till the pipeline is running, then about a month in pull EVERYTHING out of the market before something bad happens. And I mean hell if something bad does happen its not like Exxon is gonna go outta business, if we sell our shares, and then something happens we can re buy them at a lower price. In fact its probably better for our sake if something does happen.

[Pause]

All right, you inform the rest of the firm and I’ll look into this more. I’ll call you back at 2 o’clock.

 

 

Written by Cameron Klales