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​     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

The purpose of these monologues were to illustrate different point of views of the pros and cons about the Keystone XL Pipeline. Mr. Block had assigned 3 monologues and my point of view was from a Protestor, Police Officer, and a Farmer. These people will tell you what they think about the Keystone XL pipeline project. 

​Voice of a Protestor

From a long day at work, I sat down in my comfy couch and turned on the television to see what was on to watch. Flipping through channel to channel, the news had reported an impact and issues about the pipeline.  My name is Stephanie Zhu. I live in Canada and I am thoroughly against this pipeline situation. There are many reasons why I’m against Keystone XL pipeline.  Canada has been one of the biggest and most supplier of oil, exporting two millions barrels per day. United States has been using Canadian Tar Sands oil and the more oil that is being exported, the harder it is to find. The oil in Canada is made from Bitumen which is really expensive, and yet we have been receiving dirty and cheap stuff, which isn’t the best thing we could have here.This is where the protests had begun. I drove all the way from Canada to the White House to support the rest of the protestors about this pipeline tragedy. There were hundreds and thousands of people rising above one another outside the White House protesting about the KeyStone XL pipeline project. I was there too, and got arrested.

 “Nothing isn’t going to change my mind, officer.” 

I hesitated. I chose to be locked up. know it was illegal to protests outside the White House, but I was just trying to help others support this oil situation.The officer pulled my hands together behind my back, handcuffed me, and threw me in the car.

Pipeline Point of View from Officer Berkle William 

Hi, I’m Berkle William and I’m an officer who have yet involved in this protesting tragedy. 

(Gripping his hands together as he speaks)

 I’ve been out here all day arresting more than two hundreds people who has been standing outside of this White house protesting about the KeyStone XL Pipeline. I don’t get why these people are here trying to wait for Obama and other people in the White House to accept their words? Why here though? They’re making my job even harder. It’s even more difficult when I tried to convinced all the protestors to go back to their place. There were two options for them, two options for all the protestors to choose. Either vacate from this property or lock up. They all hesitated and decided to go for the jail house. I then realized this isn’t a game for them, they were all serious about this project. This is horrible. I have to come out here and handcuffs hundreds of people on something I am totally not against disagreeing about.There’s nothing that I can do about it. The president can’t just sit still and ignore this, he needs to do something about it. What’s even worse? Having to hear the protestors scream and yell all over the place. It’s like a nightmare. Hopefully, this tragedy will be situated. I’m tired from all this complaining. Please, do something about this.

 (Hand motions gesturing; speaking in an aggressive tone) 

Point of view from a Farmer Mary Jane 

Hi, my name is Mary Jane and I’m a farmer of my own farmland in Zionsville, Canada.

There has been major issues occurring in the farmland for the past few months, and it relates to the Keystone XL pipeline. I didn’t know it was happening, but many companies had canceled their order from exporting my products. I was very concerned to why this is happening. From then on, I’ve been observing the farmland day by day, and there were just many crops and produce that weren’t in good condition. I find it really strange until I read the news paper and found out about the Keystone XL Pipeline project. I want this pipeline situation to stop. It can’t be happening. The chemical of cheap and dirty stuff from the pipeline is affecting the produce and the business . Not only that, but it affect the family. We have been working hard; sweating from our head to toes each day. I’m very disappointed  and it really upsets me when this had happened to our family farmland. If the business is down, I can’t afford to fix this. I wanted to know more about this Pipeline, so I then searched up on the internet to see some updates on this tragedy and how might this problem be solved

[Sits in her office desk in an aggressive mood and read through each pages of the Pipeline stories. ] [sighed in relief as she scrolled from pages to pages]

There must be a way out, but I have to get this problem situated or else the business will go out of luck.

​ This project started off with us watching a video called 'The Story of Stuff.' The video was about the journey of how we get our materials that we use for a normal day. Then, we learned about a company called TransCanada, and about their new project. They are planning to make a series of pipelines from Alberta, Canada all the way to Texas. The pipelines would carry crude oil from Canada to different refineries in the midwest and to refineries in Texas. The project is called Keystone XL Pipeline. 

We read about different point of views of what people think about the pipeline, and then we were suppose to write three different monologues from a person/thing/animal affected by the pipelines. I picked to be a Native American, a protester (against the pipelines), and a bobcat (living in the area). I wanted to take point of views that don't really get to express their opinions. The Native Americans can protest but, nobody will actually listen to them. The protester is locked up for protesting and nobody actually will sit down to talk to them. Finally, I picked a bobcat because the people who started to project didn't care about the wildlife, they just acted like they did to please the public. I want people to know from all the research how these mammals would feel and what they have to worry about because of this pipeline project. These monologues are how I think they would feel. I hope for everyone who reads to understand and look at their point of view because they matter too. 

Monologues


Rally For The Cause

Makya Sparrow, the best hunter of the whole tribe, stepped up to the stage. She had something important to say and she wasn’t holding it back. Everybody has been thinking about it, she is going to say it. Makya grabs the microphone.

I’ve never seen anything more disrespectful than this. Why can’t they just leave us alone? They already forced us onto this reservation. The reservation isn’t even a place of high quality, we are forced to use horribly built houses, use food stamps, and there are barely any jobs. Now, they want to build pipelines through our sacred land! This is the land where we buried our ancestors, laid them to peace! Building these pipelines mean they are going to have to bury them up our people.

With every word, Mayka tightens her grip on the microphone.

Every time, they find something new here. They just want to take and take. We can’t just stand here and not do anything! We have to stand up for ourselves! We have to go to Washington D.C and show them they we can protest and stand up for our rights. We have to show them that no matter what they take from us, we will always have our pride.

We have to show them they can’t take our land again! They can’t contaminate our water with their crude oil. We don’t pollute the atmosphere; they don’t give us enough supplies to even try!

Why do we have to suffer for their mistakes? We shouldn’t have to! TransCanada say that we will be able to work in these factories and refineries that they will have. They say they will keep us updated about what it going on with the pipeline. But, we know from experience they won’t. I learned that there were 12 spills in 1 year for one of the TransCanada pipelines! We can’t let that happen to us.

Come my people. Let’s move from the rocks and hills of the reservation. We need to make our way to Washington D.C and stand up for our land.

WHO IS WITH ME? 

Makya thrusts the microphone in the air. 

Stand Tall

Alice Hall just got arrested for protesting in front of the White House. She gets into the jail and a police officer takes an interest in her. He starts to question her.

My name is Alice Hall. I am from Montana, 3 miles away from Yellowstone National Park.

I’ve lived there for my whole life.

Alice starts to get an attitude.

No, I am getting arrested for a legitimate reason. 

I don’t care if this on my ‘permanent record’. I am not five years old. I am standing up for what I believe in. I believe that the Keystone XL Pipeline is totally and utterly wrong.

What’s my problem? What is your problem? I was taught that if I didn’t agree with something, that I should state it in a non-violent way. And I am standing up for my opinion just like the 120 others in this jail with me.

I’ve lived in Montana for my whole life. My house was home to 4 generations of my family before me. I’ve live 3 miles from Yellowstone National Park; I got married in that park. My family and I have seen the park evolve into what it is today. I was there when they put the Yellowstone Pipeline in, I was there when the pipeline had a leak, I was there when everybody had to evacuate. I saw the horrid faces on the people that lived around the park, when they saw the oil slug start to run down their own streets. The whole place was filled with grief all we did was cry. The animals were soaked in the oil and most of them died we couldn’t even help. We weren’t specialized in the removal of oil, what do we do? We watched on the TV 750 to 1,000 barrels – 42,000 gallons of oil was leaked into the river for a half hour before the shut it down.

And now they want to build another pipeline? What makes this pipeline anymore safer?

How can they guarantee that the pipeline won’t leak? The same place where the pipeline leaked is the same place where they want to build the new pipeline. They cross each other over 4 states. I will not let my children grow up into a world where the water and national parks are polluted. I am standing up for what I believe in, you can call me an environmentalist. I don’t care.

I Hate Humans

Betty just had her 3 cubs 70 days before; they have finally opened their eyes. So, they are finally able to eat their own food, but first Betty has to get food for them to eat. Betty walks a few feet from her cave when she hears noise and sees things. She goes to check them out.

What are those noises? Are those people over there? What are they doing with those different machines? I have to go in and get a closer view.

Betty goes up into a tree to watch the people from above.

Okay, I am in a good spot. I should listen in now. Pipelines? Crude Oil? More jobs? Dirty water? What? So, they are building pipelines right under the aquifer and the pipelines are suppose to be moving crude oil from Canada all the way to Texas. Apparently, the pipelines leak too, they leak more than predicted most of the time.

Betty digs her nails into the tree.

Pipeline carrying the dirtiest oil is supposed to go through my neighborhood. I can’t allow that. My babies, my newborn babies. What happens to them? What happens to them when they have to go a hunt for food and land in a puddle of oil? I can’t stand humans. They just take and take until they have nothing else to take. Some of my friend animal species are already endangered. They were living so peacefully without the humans, they lived so peacefully when the humans didn’t even care about this area of the forest. My babies have to live to see tomorrow, but I don’t want them to see tomorrow if they can’t drink tomorrow’s water. I have to protect my children. I have to keep my children healthy. I can’t let them see this nonsense. They can never come this way. I will make a mark on this tree, so they know to stop right here. So, they know not to go any far.

Betty scratches a hexagon into the tree.

My food supply, what will I do about that? I have to watch out for animals with diseases. Some animals may not be smart enough to not drink the dirty water. I have to think about my family. I have to go up higher in the mountains to find my food, just to make sure my kids are safe. Being on the ground, may be too dangerous for my cubs. Maybe I can just move them. I need to figure this out before they all die. Before I die.

Humans, I hate them.

 

 

For this project we needed to write monologs from the perceptive of someone that had to do with the Keystone pipeline project. This project helped me understand more about what was going on with the Keystone project. The best thing about this project was the knowledge I gained from the research I needed to do to be able to write my monologs. I wanted to look at the project from different perspectives which is why i wrote one monolog from each side of the matter.

Written By Rose: My Land
Talking to a truck dealer, given him the tomatoes, and complaining about the pipeline

“He’s just some environmentalist person who happens to be living in Texas.”  That’s probably what some people think when they hear my story. But it’s not true. I’ve lived here all my life. Passes box of tomatoes to the driver as he starts to pack them into his truck to sell. Once I was old enough I bought my old land, and started my family on that land. Where I live had never been a problem and it had always been my land until TransCanada decided to show up one day. They randomly showed up on my land, I wouldn’t have even known they were there unless I had seen the stakes they had placed through out my property, later that month I received a letter in the mail asking for my permission to look at my property. To bad for them, I had already pulled out the stakes and made up my mind that I wouldn’t be a part of this. A couple months latter I received another letter telling me that if I didn’t accept they would take me to court. Of course I quickly accepted and let them come under the conditions that they would give me a 24 hour warning and that I would be with them every time. But they only followed through on that agreement once. After that time I would find them on my land claiming it must be a misunderstanding of some sort. Now I’m not just being an over protective landowner. I have concerns that are legitimate. I’m this pipeline ends up happening it will take up 50 ft. of my land. Once the pipeline is placed that land can never be replanted. There is also the strong possibility of erosion from the pipe rusting. Lastly the pipeline would be harmful to many people due to the fact that the pipelines have to be heated. This is a bad thing because it will affect the grounds temperature and plants are very sensitive to ground temperature. Altogether there is another side to the Keystone XL pipeline that TransCanada and our government it not telling us. Passes the last box to the man and the truck driver responds with a solemn node and tells him he understands what hes going through.

Written by Rose: What to do?

“There seems to be a lot of controversy over this matter sir” “Do you really think risking our environment is worn the money?” Questions and questions are asked to me about this project. The Keystone XL pipeline could possibly be the most controversial project I’ve worked on yet. This project started out with only benefits in my mind. Think about it, our economy is going through one a huge crisis. We need whatever help we can get to boost our economy. Why don’t people just see it that way? This project will provide 20,000 high wage jobs. Not to mention the amount of money that our nation will gain from this. The tar sands have so much oil that we can depend on it being around and providing us oil for at least a hundred years. This will give us more energy security then we have had in the past. As an organization we are dedicated to minimizing environmental impact. The possibilities of a spill are highly unlikely and if they do spill we understand that it is our full responsibility to clean up. Also we understand our responsibility for an alternative water supply if ground wells are affected. Why don’t people see the positive things this project has? Have they completely ignored the fact that pipelines are the safest, most reliable economical and environmental way to transport oil? I just wish people would look at the other side of the matter and see that there are positive things this project could bring to the table.

Written by Roger:

Are My Hands Clean?

Every time I clock into my job I wonder, how all this oil I’m extracting is really making my hands any cleaner then they really are?

(Grabbing my gloves and jumps suit off the rack)

Working for a job that is extracting too much of the tar sand here in Canada and is overflowed with oil, they say they have a plan to move it to a United States refinery in Texas. I’ve been working with Shell to provide for my wife and kids back home, by mining the tar sands of Canada, which are not a pretty site to behold. Usually more of a barren land without nature, some say lands wealth, but I see nothing but destruction of our earth. Plus building a full proof pipeline through 6 states seems impossible to many workers and not just me. Just this past summer while shipping oil through the pipeline placed in Montana, the oil from Exxon exposed major spills through out the pipeline. Causing the land around it to become devastated with oil ruining the Yellowstone River and contaminating their major water source. I can’t imagine anything worst then building one through 6 well populated US states, and even guarantee that it won’t leak and cause big problems around those areas. I wonder am I contributing to these acts since I’m currently working for shell my hand can’t be as clean as I think they are. Causing destruction to the earth just to make an honest dollar and provide for my family. I wish I was in a higher position so I could do something better for this abundance of oil, there has to be another way out of this mess; but seeing as though I’m just a worker what can I do. Losing my job couldn’t be an option because the wealth around here is made through the trade of oil. Working with oil makes me feel that every day we take for granite our earth’s resources to make a profit, but all we are doing is soiling the ground that we eat, drink, and sleep off of.

Written by Roger:

Jail of Opinions

(Sitting against cold wall in Washington D.C. Jail looking through the bars of the cell staring at the Poster of Barack Obama)

            Back in 2008 I chose Barack Obama to be my president of the United States, now that the keystone pipeline bill is getting pass by congress we can now see why we chose him to be our leader. He can save us from being a country that only cares of money and energy, to being the country that is willing to make the right decisions for our environment. I’m sitting in a cellblock in Washington D.C. jail, not because I’ve done something wrong only because I’ve spoken my opinion, yelling through the outer gates of the White House. Like many others I sit here because our government care only about profit and will stop at nothing to get their top dollar. They only are proving this when they decided to pass this bill for the formation of a mile lone pipeline that would run from southwest Canada through 6 state well-populated states to a refinery in Texas. I’ve seen the BP oil spill of the gulf and read of how it effected their waterways and killed animals and sea life. At this point I believe we are almost reaching a point where we have a choice to make, to save our earth or make a profit off of it. To me this choice is obvious save the earth we need to take care of our planet instead of building a pipeline that would be prone to leaks and spills that would affect our earth. Obama decision could be game over for the environment or a lucky save that would help our days on earth stretch a little longer. This jail cells are cold, but if I’m ever going to get my opinion heard I have to keep protesting the Keystone XL pipeline.

Written by Roger Bracy and Rose Knibbe: Pipeline

That little bird, with its hatching eggs, doesn’t know that soon that tree will be along one of the biggest pipelines in the U.S. The future for this bird is not going to be bright while I’m around. There is so much controversy over me. There are environmentalists who don’t want me to be around and then there are the planners of this project. They act as though I am there new best friend. I am the keystone XL pipeline. To be honest I am a little bugged that no one has asked me my opinion on this project. They probably just assume I want to be placed on strangers land. But if they asked me I would tell them I didn’t know how I feel about this project despite the fact its revolved around me. Sure of course I want to exist but is that all worth sacrificing peoples land? I would need a lot of up keep and I can’t tell if they would be able to take care of my high demands. Seeing as Trans Canada is trying to make me 1,700mi long, I can’t remember the last time they built one of my pipes this long. Also the pressure that is put on me to 800,000 barrels of hot crude oil is just too much not to leak. The area I’m around is counting on me to keep their waterways clean, if I do leak they will never forgive me. Plus laying my pipeline would create erosion around the land and kill and disrupt the environment. 

 

Every time I clock into my job I wonder, how all this oil I’m extracting is really making my hands any cleaner then they really are? 

(Grabbing my gloves and jumpsuit off the rack)

Working for a job that is extracting too much of the tar sand here in Canada and is overflowed with oil, they say they have a plan to move it to a United States refinery in Texas. I’ve been working with Shell to provide for my wife and kids back home, by mining the tar sands of Canada, which are not a pretty site to behold. Usually more of a barren land without nature, some say lands wealth, but I see nothing but destruction of our earth. Plus building a full proof pipeline through 6 states seems impossible to many workers and not just me. Just this past summer while shipping oil through the pipeline placed in Montana, the oil from Exxon exposed major spills through out the pipeline. Causing the land around it to become devastated with oil ruining the Yellowstone River and contaminating their major water source. I can’t imagine anything worst then building one through 6 well populated US states, and even guarantee that it won’t leak and cause big problems around those areas. I wonder am I contributing to these acts since I’m currently working for shell my hand can’t be as clean as I think they are. Causing destruction to the earth just to make an honest dollar and provide for my family. I wish I was in a higher position so I could do something better for this abundance of oil, there has to be another way out of this mess; but seeing as though I’m just a worker what can I do. Losing my job couldn’t be an option because the wealth around here is made through the trade of oil. Working with oil makes me feel that every day we take for granite our earth’s resources to make a profit, but all we are doing is soiling the ground that we eat, drink, and sleep off of.

Jail of Opinions 

(Sitting against cold wall in Washington D.C. Jail looking through the bars of the cell staring at the Poster of Barack Obama)

Back in 2008 I chose Barack Obama to be my president of the United States, now that the keystone pipeline bill is getting pass by congress we can now see why we chose him to be our leader. He can save us from being a country that only cares of money and energy, to being the country that is willing to make the right decisions for our environment. I’m sitting in a cellblock in Washington D.C. jail, not because I’ve done something wrong only because I’ve spoken my opinion, yelling through the outer gates of the White House. Like many others I sit here because our government care only about profit and will stop at nothing to get their top dollar. They only are proving this when they decided to pass this bill for the formation of a mile lone pipeline that would run from southwest Canada through 6 state well-populated states to a refinery in Texas. I’ve seen the BP oil spill of the gulf and read of how it effected their waterways and killed animals and sea life. At this point I believe we are almost reaching a point where we have a choice to make, to save our earth or make a profit off of it. To me this choice is obvious save the earth we need to take care of our planet instead of building a pipeline that would be prone to leaks and spills that would affect our earth. Obama decision could be game over for the environment or a lucky save that would help our days on earth stretch a little longer. This jail cells are cold, but if I’m ever going to get my opinion heard I have to keep protesting the Keystone XL pipeline.

My Land

(written by Rose Knibbe)

(Talking to a truck dealer, given him the tomatoes, and complaining about the pipeline)

“He’s just some environmentalist person who happens to be living in Texas.”  That’s probably what some people think when they hear my story. But it’s not true. I’ve lived here all my life. 

(Passes box of tomatoes to the driver as he starts to pack them into his truck to sell.)

 Once I was old enough I bought my old land, and started my family on that land. Where I live had never been a problem and it had always been my land until TransCanada decided to show up one day. They randomly showed up on my land, I wouldn’t have even known they were there unless I had seen the stakes they had placed through out my property, later that month I received a letter in the mail asking for my permission to look at my property. To bad for them, I had already pulled out the stakes and made up my mind that I wouldn’t be a part of this. A couple months latter I received another letter telling me that if I didn’t accept they would take me to court. Of course I quickly accepted and let them come under the conditions that they would give me a 24 hour warning and that I would be with them every time. But they only followed through on that agreement once. After that time I would find them on my land claiming it must be a misunderstanding of some sort. Now I’m not just being an over protective landowner. I have concerns that are legitimate. I’m this pipeline ends up happening it will take up 50 ft. of my land. Once the pipeline is placed that land can never be replanted. There is also the strong possibility of erosion from the pipe rusting. Lastly the pipeline would be harmful to many people due to the fact that the pipelines have to be heated. This is a bad thing because it will affect the grounds temperature and plants are very sensitive to ground temperature. Altogether there is another side to the Keystone XL pipeline that TransCanada and our government it not telling us. 

(Passes the last box to the man and the truck driver responds with a solemn node and tells him he understands what he's going through.)

What to Do?

(written by Rose Knibbe)

“There seems to be a lot of controversy over this matter sir” “Do you really think risking our environment is worn the money?” Questions and questions are asked to me about this project. The Keystone XL pipeline could possibly be the most controversial project I’ve worked on yet. This project started out with only benefits in my mind. Think about it, our economy is going through one a huge crisis. We need whatever help we can get to boost our economy. Why don’t people just see it that way? This project will provide 20,000 high wage jobs. Not to mention the amount of money that our nation will gain from this. The tar sands have so much oil that we can depend on it being around and providing us oil for at least a hundred years. This will give us more energy security then we have had in the past. As an organization we are dedicated to minimizing environmental impact. The possibilities of a spill are highly unlikely and if they do spill we understand that it is our full responsibility to clean up. Also we understand our responsibility for an alternative water supply if ground wells are affected. Why don’t people see the positive things this project has? Have they completely ignored the fact that pipelines are the safest, most reliable economical and environmental way to transport oil? I just wish people would look at the other side of the matter and see that there are positive things this project could bring to the table. 

Pipeline

That little bird, with its hatching eggs, doesn’t know that soon that tree will be along one of the biggest pipelines in the U.S. The future for this bird is not going to be bright while I’m around. There is so much controversy over me. There are environmentalists who don’t want me to be around and then there are the planners of this project. They act as though I am there new best friend. I am the keystone XL pipeline. To be honest I am a little bugged that no one has asked me my opinion on this project. They probably just assume I want to be placed on strangers land. But if they asked me I would tell them I didn’t know how I feel about this project despite the fact its revolved around me. Sure of course I want to exist but is that all worth sacrificing peoples land? I would need a lot of up keep and I can’t tell if they would be able to take care of my high demands. Seeing as Trans Canada is trying to make me 1,700mi long, I can’t remember the last time they built one of my pipes this long. Also the pressure that is put on me to 800,000 barrels of hot crude oil is just too much not to leak. The area I’m around is counting on me to keep their waterways clean, if I do leak they will never forgive me. Plus laying my pipeline would create erosion around the land and kill and disrupt the environment. 

This project was a very productive project, it makes me really put my self in other peoples lives and take on the effect that the Pipeline will have on people.This projects really helps people to decide what their opinion is on the the pipeline. Last it helps to show people what the government is willing to do for a better economy. 

​The single mother takes action.

{As she gets up form her front seat and steps up to the microphone}

I am Bon Qui Qui a loving single mother of four. I want to voice my opinion on the TransCanada XL Pipeline. {She says while picking up the paper with her speech written on it.

 I think this is very important factor that could change my children’s lives and me in both positive and negative ways. I would 1st like to thank my state representative for picking me as one of the people to speak at this meeting. She grips the microphone as if she was nervous and then says

 “ I Love my Children” but I also would love for them to have a better future. This is a plan that is proven to provide many more jobs, but the jobs aren't safe working around air-born chemicals eight hours or more a day. Also it is not safe because if the XL pipeline were to break, crack, or get a leak there may be chemicals that could endanger the workers. This is where loving my kid’s come into factor. Since the love I have for my kids is the thing I put first she says as she releases her tightened grip on the microphone and smiled. I love my kids and this what makes me both for and against the TransCanada XL pipeline the life of my children could be put into danger if the chemicals were to be spilled out or leaked into our water resources which can be dangerous for my children to drink. If this does happen to the faucet water the there would be no other way for me to provide water for my children since I am already unemployed and bottle water is to expensive to fit into my budget.

Put two things that are important to me in life hand and hand I’m not quite sure if I’m for it or against it because I want to best possible future for my children and I would love to get them the things the want when they want it, which consists of getting a good enough job. Also I would love to give my children as much safety as possible and the TransCanada XL Pipeline is not guaranteed to be safe. So with that said I think it should be held off until it is completely safe. She stoops toward the microphone and says “Thank You”. Then walks off while being applauded. 

 

Making a good end of career reputation.

Hello, everyone and Welcome to the TransCanada XL Pipeline meeting. I am Ed Stelmach and you all know me as the Political Leader of Alberta Canada. Today I will be addressing my views on the XL pipeline.  He puts his paper on the podium.

I will be backing down from office on October 1^st and my decision is to go with the XL Pipeline. I would support the TransCanada pipeline because Alberta Canada is such a beautiful and natural place and with the XL pipeline being a provider of natural oil that will make our economy better I think this was a very brilliant plan. He Picks up his paper and begins to read the viewpoints of his speech.

Alberta Canada will be very lucky if this plan goes through because it will bring many tourist, many allies and, many other countries to rely on our natural resources. This will provide Canada with help if we ever need it and a bundle of money coming from different things. This also will not take up as many resources as it will be producing. This wont be using as many resources because after the needed resources are used once they are reused. An example of this is the water that the XL pipeline uses, once it is used once it is used continuously for the rest of the process. He flips his page and begins to look over it as if decided not to say everything he had written.

I want the best for my citizens and I would like to lift the burdens of poverty, a failing economy, and higher taxes. I would like for them to have things like better education, easier living styles, and less of a stress form working tremendously hard every workday for their families. This is the opinion that I have and after being in office like I was it might make you have the same opinion because this seems to be the turning point for us. I know that my opinion counts because every opinion counts but mine will change minds, decisions, and life styles. Hopefully the next person in office see’s it the way I do. Thank you for attending and caring enough to listen. He grabs his papers, folds them and leaves the stage.

 

Losing a Father

                                                                                                Oct 16, 2015

{She sat at the kitchen table and wrote}

Dear Ed Stelmach and President Obama

            I am Shanayia Roland and I am a United States citizen. I don’t know much about the Canadian government but I know enough about the US government to address my opinion on the TransCanada pipeline leak. I am a 12-year-old girl living in Montana and my father was one of the 5500 people who took the job, but was also 1out of the 500 people died while working. I would like to address the leaks in the TransCanada XL Pipeline. She fiddles with the work jumpsuit that she holds in he hand, she smells it and then begins to speak as she writes:

 I guess this is what failure and lost lives smell like, that would be the smell of tar sands. The tar sands smell stuck in my fathers work jumpsuit as I hold it in my arms and mourn about my father’s death. I don’t blame you guys for the failures of the XL pipeline I just blame you for not making sure that this plan was safe before you guys did it for the better economy purposes. The economy was not worth 500 lives lost because of the leaks in the XL pipeline. Also 7 billion dollars was put into the pipeline that is now wasted because of the leaks. Now my mom and me are trying to save as best we can on water because faucet water isn’t safe. Tears from her eyes failing onto his jacket as she writes more:

We struggle with out my father he supplied our income, now my mother will have to find two jobs which will be even harder to find now because there will be a rescission even bigger there the one in 2011.

I thank you guys because you are both leaders but my fathers gone and I’ll never get him back. It’s as his life is as important to me as the economy is to you. As he sat stuck under slowly running out of air the economy slowly become the worse it ever was before. It was like two hearts failing at once. She hugs the jumpsuits tight as if it were her last hug to him, tears we’re pouring down her face she finished by writing:

 I don’t know if you’ll read this but my voice is little now but it will get bigger. In loving memory of Percy Roland.                                                                                                                                                 Sincerely,

                                                                        Shanayia Roland 10/16/2015

With my monologues, I want all of my viewers to see how much time and thought my class/stream spent the last two weeks on this topic. We;ve learned about everything from how things are made in different countries to how far politicians will go for more money in their pockets. I want people to see and read about the different stories and views the monologues provide. I want them to keep in mind how the pipeline effects every one around it from the view of a child to the view of a worker. ENJOY!

Monologue #1: From the Movie: Splash to Making a Splash in “Dirty Oil”!

Daryl Hannah’s Internal Thoughts:

Daryl Hannah is an actress. She’s acted in many movies, we’ve seen in the movie theaters through out the nation. Today, she was arrested because she wouldn’t move out of the way for the police to get through, so her and a couple of her other companions were arrested and taken to the slammer. In the main holding cell, Daryl is accumulating more anger for the pipeline and realizes she has to keep her protest for what she knows is right!

“No to the Keystone pipeline!” was the last thing I shouted to my fellow protestors to keep their faith and continue protesting as more were taken a long with me. With that one cry for change, the U.S Park Police zip-tied a nylon cuff restraint onto my writs and threw me into the back of the car and I was brought to the slammer. Surprisingly, it’s quite bright in the back of the car because as I was driving away, I saw all of the posters, signs, and banners everyone made for the sit in. They all had pictures that held exactly eight million words. The same amount of barrels of dirty crude oil that will be transferred through out part of Canada and across the great plains of America. On other banners there was this familiar pipe, the “Keystone Pipeline”, this one pipe would pollute all the water, plains, and skies surrounding it. All it costs to build is a mere thirteen billion dollars, coming out of our back pocket. Now that’s just peachy.

When I entered the musky, humid holding cell, the police men gave us nothing but quiet time to use our imagination, imagine the dents the government were making if this proposal was past in a few weeks…harmful dents stretching from Hardisty, Alberta to Port Arthur, Texas. Also in between parts of Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma and so many other states. I pulled out a picture of a group of ranchers, their kids, and I standing on their crop ranch back in the summer of 2009. The owners of the ranch being close friends of my parents, I've been going there ever since I was a little girl. The ranch has been passed down from generation to generation but now the ranch is sitting on top of the place where the pipeline is going to be.

Their ranch,…my second home…is slowly being taken away from us. I’ve been to breath-taking lands and have seen it all, but what about the future generations? Have the politicians even thought about them and the toll this pipeline will take on them? No, because these politicians have the audacity to build a pipe, demolishing not only the lustrous grasslands residing there but also because the natives living there to experience the leaks and pollution the pipes will cause.

The current Keystone pipeline running from Hardisty, Alberta to Patoka, Illinois has leaked about twelve times throughout the year. The proposed pipeline is supposed to stretch from Hardisty, Alberta to Port Arthur, Texas. So why does no one pay mind to the harm the pollution will do to our future generations? Although the politicians aren't pay mind, many people worldwide have been working hard to reduce CO2 levels but they are still climbing. Even though we know how to stop and reduce the rates, we cannot put a dent in the CO2 levels unless the number of people working to lower it increases!

Monologue #2: “Stay in School, Kids”

Pipe Liner: Zack Saunders: Internal Thoughts:

 Zack Saunders is a pipe liner living in Hadisty, Alberta. As any pipe liner, Zack has to leave his home in order to make a living for his family of four, including himself. He doesn’t know what to do. Should he stay and kill the environment on a high salary or should he make a dent in the pollution levels and help his kids. 

            I haven’t always been like this. Thinking about two angels every day for the past two weeks and giving everything up for them. I always thought that I had the best job out there in this tough economy. But now…I’m like what…what am I doing? I’m holding a wrench in one hand and a screw in the other, slowly and painfully building the pollution for my two daughters and the whole future generation to come.

            This wrench was holding me from going home to them: my kids, my wife, and my home. Pipe liners have to move to where they are building the pipe and find housing there. This wrench was helping my crew and I build a pipe through out the country. The pipe that would cause so much pollution to everyone and everything around it. This wrench, I could be using to fix Emily and Oscar’s leaky pipe in their bathroom, their race car-princess bathroom. Those two can never agree on anything. And this screw was put into place to hold together the pipe. To hold together what everyone sitting in front of that white and all around the world is trying to change. This screw and many other screws that would soon allow the pipe to leak and burst out oil like Old Faithful, the geyser itself. The screw I could be using to fix my wife’s swivel chair. But with out me there, the chair was never fixed, so a new one was bought and the pipes still get leaky. The leaky water is slowly peeling off their racecar – princess wallpaper. An example of what could happen if we -I mean with my help also- build the thirteen billion dollar pipeline running across the great plains of our land.

            You’d have to be the worst dad in the world to be doing this. But, I can’t go home. This is the only fine paying job offered to a high school dropout and it sucks. But what can I do about it? Sulk as I work? I already do that. I can’t leave my job to go protest because no one would pay for the bills, pay for the clothes my family wears. I can’t protest if I’m the one helping build this monstrosity! No one would pay for the Twinkle Toes Sketchers Emily want. No one would pay for there’s nothing left to do but to let the President Obama end my torture, hopefully. He can say no to this and then I can go home to my country, to my family, to my house, to my happiness.

Monologue #3: “Taking Our Land, Once Again!”

Mark Mountainpeak’s Internal Thoughts:

Mark is a Native American living in South Dakota on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. His homes are one of many that are being in the thought process of being demolished by Big Corps for the Keystone Pipeline XL. With him today is an interviewer.

My hands were beet red, veins popping out of my arms, and my voice box close to exploding into a million pieces. The reporter didn’t know what to do next because she didn’t know whether I was going to go off at another question. But after a few seconds, I fixed my posture, loosened my grip on my cup of apple juice, and gave her a reassuring look.

“How does the pipeline affect you and your home?” she said with friendly smile.

Wait…why is she smiling!? It’s not her house…is she stupid?! My home, our reservation, my family…we’re loosing everything and here she sits and asks!? She isn’t living on some money loving Corp’s pipeline. She’s not being asked to move even though, her property WAS PROMISED TO HER. No, this isn’t happening to her so she doesn’t give two shits about…wait, I had to do something…what was it? I looked up at her with her intensive eyes and she nods her head for an answer.

Oh yes, I have to answer this idiotic question: “My home is sitting on top of what you people call the next big money maker. My home is going to be knocked down because Big Corps can come in and steal our things. My home, should stay! It also not only affects my home but who would want to wake up to a pipe next door every day. Especially, if it is constantly leaking dirty oil into our drinking waters and polluting everything and anything around it. I don’t want anything to change on the Res. WE DON’T WANT THE PIPE LINE. Why are they---”

My…anger…is…before I could finish that thought the reporter obviously sees my rage and concludes the interview.

Monologue #4: Losing My Dad, Life, and Past:

Janey’s inner thoughts:

            Janey has too move because her mom doesn’t want to live near the pipeline and Janey has to face losing her past and her most cherished memories!

Montana, mountains, lakes, clear skies. And I’m leaving them, my mountainside view of the lake and the clear skies reflecting off of it. My mom says to pack what ever I want to bring to the new house. We cant live here anymore. I have to leave my friends, school, and the life I was making for the past 16 years in Montana.

I know you never talk back and all you do is keep us shaded every year but hear me out. We’re going to have to leave you soon. We’re going somewhere very far away, far way from you too. I remember when daddy and I planted you here, Bruce. You were just a small gingko tree and now look what 10 years has come and done to you. Daddy and I planted you. Now daddy isn’t here anymore and we have to leave you behind.

You probably wont last that long with out us unless you can absorb dirty oil and chemicals like you do to water. I mean you could get water but you’re going to have to play tug a war with the amount of clean water you get. Mommy was googling about the pipeline and I think it’s a bunch of baloney. I mean what is an extra couple thousand of jobs going to do for this broken economy? Nothing, so why build a pipeline right next door to our home. The way big corps are treating the environment isn’t fair. We need the environment to stand strong for us to walk upon in. Mommy says that the pipeline is bad because all of the pollution and CO2 that is going into the atmosphere. She says we already have too much.

I tried to argue back saying we’re leaving you, our view of everything, and our memories but she coldly said: “It won’t be here when the pipeline moves in. The pipe liners have to clear off everything. Everything will be gone but we’ll soon be gone before it.”

At that last line Janey cries into Bruce, the tree.

 

 

Maryam

Biuibrahim

 

First monologue:

 

Its Monday morning as Michelle Obama is getting ready to say her speech to every one that disagrees with the pipeline situation, she’s nervous she is not sure if she knows how to react to angry people, almost one hundred and 50 people got arrested in front of the white house because they were trying to say there opinions, to reject the key stone pipeline, her husband is not there to say the speech, so she has to step up and take his part, she is trying to rephrase the words in the head, it was a hot day she’s sweating, she looks out the window she sees hundreds of people waiting for her, she needed a drink of water , she knew that when she gets out there she had to look strong , deep down she does not agree with the pipeline she know that it’s wrong she also know that it will harm a lot of people , but she closed her eyes and put her opinion to the side , she made sure she had a lot of security, she never knows what might happened , the security guard walked her down , as she stands in from of hundreds of people , she took a min to look around , she saw innocent faces looking up to her as she sais:

Good morning every body, I know that you are hear to fight for what you believe in, and I know no matter what we do we can not change your opinions , but am speaking for my husbands behalf , and if he was here he would of told every one that we know that the pipeline is dangerous , and we know that it harm a lot of people, but at the same time we have the think about the positive things that comes from it , the economy it getting worst people are suffering to get jobs to feed there family, and if the pipeline can get people a lot of jobs why should we take that away, and I hope that people can try to think about the positives as well, before getting angry at us , we want the best things for every one , and I know people want a clean environment , but we cant change that in one that , it takes time to reach a goal , so all I want to say is that people need to be patient .

She decided to give a couple of people the chance to ask questions:

Question one: we know that yours speaking for your husband but is that what you really think?

She wanted to say no but she said yes we are one person and we take the same decisions.

Question two: how long do we have to wait until we see a change?

Patience is key that all I have to say.

The more questions she was getting she started thinking did they even try to change anything during the 2 years, thoughts were going trough her mind as she exists.

 

Second monologue:

Its Saturday night as the Canadian guy is watching the news about the pipeline situation and how it is affecting Canada in a lot of ways, he is a single 39 years old guy, that likes to write , after he finished watching the news , he wanted to say how he felt to someone , and the only thing he could find is his computer to talk to, he sat down with a cup of coffee  in his hand , took a deep breath and started typing :

“ I usually don’t talk about things like this in my diary but it is really upsetting me in a lot of ways so I will talk about it, its bad enough that the world is not an equal place, and that some places are suffering more then others, but they say that they cant do nothing about it so we try to understand but when it comes to a point when you can stop something this bad in a heartbeat and people are still questioning if they should , then that’s careless , I feel like America only cares about jobs and what they can get from poor people, the pipe line is not only hurting America but its hurting my people too, I don’t understand why cant they find other way to make jobs available , without hurting other they don’t know that they may be hurting a single mother, a dad, a son , a daughter, or a sister , I feel like they need time to go trough what they’re doing . Because enough is enough.

He got really mad he couldn’t even finish his writing, so he said to him self with a strong look on his face that he will go to Washington to fight for what he believes in.

 

Third monologue:

Its Texas its an early rise as the a hard working father wakes up to do his farm work, he has five kids there all girls and in his back yard there is a pipeline, he did not think it was bad until he herd about the oil leak in china , he started getting worried about it a lot every time he wakes up he goes in his back yard and just keep looking at it , he wants Obama to stop it , maybe then he could get some sleep at night , he is worried that if the oil ever leaks what would he do , how would he survive , and all his hard work will be gone , every time he thinks about it he shakes , he has so much anger inside he just wants to say why does no one care about what were are going trough some people cant sleep  because of this pipeline, some people just want to leave everything they worked hard for just to go some place were they can be safe , but of course if he say that we get arrested , we should have freedom of speech and we should fight for what we believe in.

 

 

This Project had us research the Trans-Canada Keystone Pipeline Project and learn both sides of the story. We then had to write a series of monologues to illustrate what we'd learned. My stories show the lives of an Amish and Trans-Canada employees.

(An Amish Farmer is distressed about a decision he made under stress)

(Pacing back and forth) I didn't have much of a choice when I was offered the chance to have the pipeline run through my land. But how will my neighbors react to it when I tell them? (Waves arms) The Amish of Kansas don't let this sort of thing happen, I should have been a better person and put the land and nature before myself, but I needed money.

I don’t make much money as it is, I never really have (sigh and glance down). The farming business isn’t something I’m good at, but it’s my only option, it's all I know. When TransCanada came to offer me money for the land they needed for the big pipe they were building, I wasn’t doing very well back then either. I was in between plantings after a failed harvest and I needed money pretty bad. These men offered me a deal; they would pay me lots of money if I let them cut through my land with big machines. And lay down this big pipe that would pump thousands of barrels of dark, crop killing oil from Canada to Texas.

            I’M A FARMER! (Shouts) What was I thinking? One mistake along any inch of that huge thing could completely destroy my work, my house, and I wouldn’t be able to plant for years afterwards. Not even the huge amount of money they paid me would be able to help me then. I’d have to leave everything I know behind. That poisonous fuel would forever taint all of my work, my father’s work, and his father’s work.

        I can’t turn back now. I’ve already signed a contract. I just wanted to be able to support myself, but I might end up destroying myself. I can only hope that our president stops the company from building the pipe. It might be selfish, because I know it will give a lot of people jobs. But if I ever have kids, I guess I want them to carry on my legacy here on the farm.

 

A Change of heart

(Trans-Canada employee wonders if what he does for a living is ethical)

 

I’ve worked on these oil sands for most of my adult life, long before these protesters started objecting to what we did over in America. I’ve taken part in setting up a lot of the more recent extraction plants too. (Shakes head) I grew up here in Alberta and witnessed the start of the dirty oil era. (Stretch arms and yawn) My life hasn’t really taken off yet though. At least, I hope it hasn’t. I spend all day operating the steam extraction machinery, and the pay isn’t great. (Cough) I’ve been wondering lately if working like this is worth the years taken off my life from inhaling the fumes.

Maybe those people down in Washington have the right idea; they’re working for a good cause fighting against the new Keystone pipeline. They’re passionate about what they believe in.

For a long time I saw the oil as a good thing. It was a miracle of modern science that we could extract fuel directly from the earth, without expensive drilling equipment. I was proud to work for the sake of helping people drive and provide oil to the world. I felt like a pioneer, leading my country forward.

(Nods) These Americans have opened my eyes though. If I help with the Keystone project, I could take a huge part in the pollution and destruction of North America. Sure, I might help a man get to work, but I might also kill someone by polluting his or her water supply. I don’t want that blood, or oil, on my hands.

 

Russ Girling (CEO of TransCanada):

 

            Walks into room and sits on couch. Today was a tough day at work. It’s hard to hear myself think with so many protestors yelling outside your window. I know a lot of these people just see me as some greedy CEO that will do anything to get more money. Is that really me? I know I wouldn’t see myself as that, but if I look from their perspective, put myself in their shoes and look at myself? What am I? This pipeline would bring so much money to this company, and would benefit Canada and the USA in many ways. Jobs, money, oil. Does all that outweigh any potential environmental impacts? Right now we need oil, and we need a lot of it. In the future we may not need oil so much, but right now we do. This would at least postpone the energy problem for a while, until we have the means to postpone it further, or maybe even finally solve it. But is that what we really need? Would that make the problem worse? I doubt there will be any problems caused by this while I’m alive, but what about my children? No, I don’t think this pipeline will make or break the environment. It’s just one pipeline, and what people really need to do is stop wasting so much. Besides, if you ignore the environmental impacts this may or may not have, this is only beneficial to everyone.

 

Bill Mckibben:

 

            We have lived and taken from our planet for tens of thousands of years. We started off just taking what we needed, but then we kept taking more and more and more, and now look at what that’s gotten us. We are polluting the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. At the same time unemployment is rising, along with gas prices and debt. It seems as if every single unsustainable thing we’ve been doing in the history of this country has finally collapsed on us at once. We need money, and oil, and jobs. We also need to conserve the environment. If we aren’t mindful of how much we waste, and render the planet uninhabitable with our pollution, the planet will be fine. After a few thousand years, the planet will repair itself, and be back to the way it was before humans. The only thing we’d be killing is ourselves, and everything we share the planet with. The XL pipeline would do two things. It would bring money, oil, and jobs to America. And it would be another nail in the coffin of environmentalism. Will this completely destroy the environment in one fell swoop? No, but will it solve our debt, and job problems? No to that too. What we have to do is weigh what options would be best overall. Should we build it and generate a few thousand jobs, and billions of dollars in revenue, or should we not build and save countless plants and animals, and reduce our oil dependency. Transcanada says their pipes will not leak, but can we really believe them when their own pipes leaked 12 times? We can’t risk it leaking, because the pipeline goes over a major aquifer that people drink from. And it would pollute the drinking supply of millions with crude oil. I don’t think we should build the pipeline, because I believe that there is other ways of improving the economy, but there is only one way to protect the environment right now, and that is to stop the XL pipeline from being built.

 

Kenneth Hewitt:

 

    I’ve been unemployed for almost a year now, and my unemployment benefits are starting to run out. I’ve been living out of this crummy apartment in this terrible neighborhood for about as long. I was laid off from my first job as a construction manager, and for the first few months nobody would hire me. After that nobody was hiring me because of how long I’d been unemployed. I heard about this new pipeline TransCanada is planning to build between Canada and Texas. I could maybe get a job helping building this, it shouldn’t be too difficult since it’s such a big project, and they’d need to hire a lot of people. Sure, it wouldn’t be permanent, but it would be something to put on my resume so employers wouldn’t immediately ignore my application due to not having been employed for a long time. But at the same time, do I want to help this project? So many people are protesting this because huge negative environmental implications. Maybe I could get a different job somewhere else, but where? This is the surest bet. But what do I care about more, my own wellbeing, or the wellbeing of my children and their children. Then again, the world’s already messed up for my kids; surely this one pipeline wouldn’t be that big of a deal. But if it’s not such a big deal, why are so many people protesting it? I can’t turn down work, but is this the work I want to do? I guess if this is going to be built I have no choice but to work on it, my only other option being unemployment. But I hope Obama blocks this from being built, so I don’t feel obligated to work on it.

 

 

​ My monologues are about a little girl who doesn't know much about the Keystone XL pipeline except her fishy might get flushed, a farmer who's land is going to get dug up so the pipeline can run under his farm, and a Hydrologist at a college with strong points and disagreements about the pipeline. 

 Sophie comes up to her fishy and sprinkles fish food in the bowl

 Sophie: Hi, fishy.

 Sighs

 Sophie: I’m upset. Mommy says that some oil company in Texas is gonna run some kind of pipe allllllll the way up to Canada, right through here in Nebwaska. And the oil might get in our water that we dwink, and that we use for your fishy tank. She says that if that happens, we might have to con… con… um, save water. That means we cant use any extwa water at all. And, and, we wont be able to clean you’re fishy tank anymore… w-we could have to flush you bye bye.

 Sophie starts to get upset, starting to cry now

 Sophie: I’m scared… I don’t wanna send you away to fishy land… I love you fishy! B-but mommy says it-its going to be bad… ‘Cause its tar sands oil.. Whatever that means… its supposed to be dirtier than regular oil… so its gonna be even worse. Oh, fishy, I really wish I was a grownup; I don’t even get a choice what happens! Mommy said that its because our country doesn’t have enough money… I made a lemonade stand and when I make enough money, I’m gonna send it to Mr. Obama, but mommy says that’s not how it works. I don’t get it! Grownups are so mean! Why cant we just all be grateful for what we have like mommy says? Maybe, Mr. Obama will say no-no, and then I can keep you forever my little fishy.

Monologue 2

 Farmer Thompson fades in wearing a pair of tattered overalls and a straw hat and starts working his crops

 Farmer Thompson: Boy, howdy! I could sure use a glass of lemonade! Hell, i'ma need a thousand glasses of lemonade after that there TransCanada oil company slicks its pipes right through my own backyard. How am I supposed to make my money then? My wife and I done lived here in Merrick County, Nebraska for 35 years a-raising cattle and a-tillin’ the land, all the while lookin after our son Randy, why, he’s a cattle buyer now, all grown up. He just went to a discussion at his church about this here Gosh dern pipeline, talking about our farm.

 It starts to rain

 Farmer Thompson: Awe, Shoot! Well, might as well get all the water it can get now. Wont be much of my crops left after this pipe is in. Hell, wont be much of my farm left if this pipe should leak into this old field. I even heard that Trans Canada already has a pipeline a-runnin past the east side of that same Aquifer here in my state.  How greedy can ya get! Wanting to squirt more of that there dilbit into the water! I’m a voter, and sonny I voted for Barak Obama because he said he was gonna help the environment. I’m a man of my word; now my question is whether or not he’s a man of his. He needs to tell that there Trans Canada oil company not to run this dang pipe over my crops!

Monologue 3

 Jason Gurdak, a hydrologist at San Francisco State University, gives a presentation to a group of students. He writes on a board as he goes

 Jason: So, in essence, we’re pretty much just taking a bunch of contaminates, mixing them together, and dumping them in the water! Lets look real quick at something called dilbit, shall we? Dilbit is short for diluted bitumen, water mixed with tar sands oil. It contains toxic heavy metals like arsenic, and chemicals like benzene, a cancer causer. This stuff isn’t just regular oil here. Its a lot more corrosive than just crude oil alone, meaning it’ll break down the inside of the pipe quicker and almost guarantee a leak, which we cant detect as quickly underground. Plus, you got the aquifer right there, and a bunch of porous soil that’s just gonna sponge all this Dilbit up, and create a mess for the water. The Dilbit is denser and heavier than other contaminates, meaning its going to do WAY more than just float on top, its going to sink to the bottom, causing so much more damage that could create a plume.

 He tosses his marker

 Jason: And TransCanada is just saying that this is the safest way to transport the petroleum and that any spills “would be limited to a small area!” You’re kidding me right? Really! ‘Cause this crap has happened before, and I gotta tell ya, that wasn’t a “small area.”

 He holds up air quotes

 Jason: July 2010, just one year ago, a river in Michigan got Dilbit spilled in it and Lo and Behold! The waterway was closed for more than six months! Look, I’m not going to keep complaining about this, but come on, obviously I cant be the only one here that doesn’t see the stupidity behind this.

My Sources:
http://www.theindependent.com/articles/2011/09/22/news/local/13936546.txt

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/09/110919-keystone-xl-tar-sands-pipeline-groundwater/

http://www.wgbh.org/content-download/?revision_id=4004392

 

​ In this project we created monologues from the perspective of different people who would have an opinion on the XL pipeline that would be built from Canada to Texas. If you worked alone, you would do three monologues, and if you worked with someone else, you would do five. Each person would then have to make a video for one of the monologues they wrote. My personal goal for this project was to make it more opinionated and personal, because I tend to make my writing very factual, which would not have worked for this type of project.

Amish Farmer (James Prell):

(Pacing back and forth) I didn't have much of a choice when I was offered the chance to have the pipeline run through my land. But how will my neighbors react to it when I tell them? (Waves arms) The Amish of Kansas don't let this sort of thing happen, I should have been a better person and put the land and nature before myself, but I needed money.

I don’t make much money as it is, I never really have (sigh and glance down). The farming business isn’t something I’m good at, but it’s my only option, it's all I know. When TransCanada came to offer me money for the land they needed for the big pipe they were building, I wasn’t doing very well back then either. I was in between plantings after a failed harvest and I needed money pretty bad. These men offered me a deal; they would pay me lots of money if I let them cut through my land with big machines. And lay down this big pipe that would pump thousands of barrels of dark, crop killing oil from Canada to Texas.

            I’M A FARMER! (Shouts) What was I thinking? One mistake along any inch of that huge thing could completely destroy my work, my house, and I wouldn’t be able to plant for years afterwards. Not even the huge amount of money they paid me would be able to help me then. I’d have to leave everything I know behind. That poisonous fuel would forever taint all of my work, my father’s work, and his father’s work.

        I can’t turn back now. I’ve already signed a contract. I just wanted to be able to support myself, but I might end up destroying myself. I can only hope that our president stops the company from building the pipe. It might be selfish, because I know it will give a lot of people jobs. But if I ever have kids, I guess I want them to carry on my legacy here on the farm.

Transcanda Employee (James Prell)

I’ve worked on these oil sands for most of my adult life, long before these protesters started objecting to what we did over in America. I’ve taken part in setting up a lot of the more recent extraction plants too. (Shakes head) I grew up here in Alberta and witnessed the start of the dirty oil era. (Stretch arms and yawn) My life hasn’t really taken off yet though. At least, I hope it hasn’t. I spend all day operating the steam extraction machinery, and the pay isn’t great. (Cough) I’ve been wondering lately if working like this is worth the years taken off my life from inhaling the fumes.

Maybe those people down in Washington have the right idea; they’re working for a good cause fighting against the new Keystone pipeline. They’re passionate about what they believe in.

For a long time I saw the oil as a good thing. It was a miracle of modern science that we could extract fuel directly from the earth, without expensive drilling equipment. I was proud to work for the sake of helping people drive and provide oil to the world. I felt like a pioneer, leading my country forward.

(Nods) These Americans have opened my eyes though. If I help with the Keystone project, I could take a huge part in the pollution and destruction of North America. Sure, I might help a man get to work, but I might also kill someone by polluting his or her water supply. I don’t want that blood, or oil, on my hands.

Russ Girling (CEO of TransCanada) (Seamus Kirby): 

            Walks into room and sits on couch. Today was a tough day at work. It’s hard to hear myself think with so many protestors yelling outside your window. I know a lot of these people just see me as some greedy CEO that will do anything to get more money. Is that really me? I know I wouldn’t see myself as that, but if I look from their perspective, put myself in their shoes and look at myself? What am I? This pipeline would bring so much money to this company, and would benefit Canada and the USA in many ways. Jobs, money, oil. Does all that outweigh any potential environmental impacts? Right now we need oil, and we need a lot of it. In the future we may not need oil so much, but right now we do. This would at least postpone the energy problem for a while, until we have the means to postpone it further, or maybe even finally solve it. But is that what we really need? Would that make the problem worse? I doubt there will be any problems caused by this while I’m alive, but what about my children? No, I don’t think this pipeline will make or break the environment. It’s just one pipeline, and what people really need to do is stop wasting so much. Besides, if you ignore the environmental impacts this may or may not have, this is only beneficial to everyone.

 

Bill Mckibben (Seamus Kirby):

 

            We have lived and taken from our planet for tens of thousands of years. We started off just taking what we needed, but then we kept taking more and more and more, and now look at what that’s gotten us. We are polluting the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. At the same time unemployment is rising, along with gas prices and debt. It seems as if every single unsustainable thing we’ve been doing in the history of this country has finally collapsed on us at once. We need money, and oil, and jobs. We also need to conserve the environment. If we aren’t mindful of how much we waste, and render the planet uninhabitable with our pollution, the planet will be fine. After a few thousand years, the planet will repair itself, and be back to the way it was before humans. The only thing we’d be killing is ourselves, and everything we share the planet with. The XL pipeline would do two things. It would bring money, oil, and jobs to America. And it would be another nail in the coffin of environmentalism. Will this completely destroy the environment in one fell swoop? No, but will it solve our debt, and job problems? No to that too. What we have to do is weigh what options would be best overall. Should we build it and generate a few thousand jobs, and billions of dollars in revenue, or should we not build and save countless plants and animals, and reduce our oil dependency. Transcanada says their pipes will not leak, but can we really believe them when their own pipes leaked 12 times? We can’t risk it leaking, because the pipeline goes over a major aquifer that people drink from. And it would pollute the drinking supply of millions with crude oil. I don’t think we should build the pipeline, because I believe that there is other ways of improving the economy, but there is only one way to protect the environment right now, and that is to stop the XL pipeline from being built.

 

Kenneth Hewitt (Seamus Kirby):

    I’ve been unemployed for almost a year now, and my unemployment benefits are starting to run out. I’ve been living out of this crummy apartment in this terrible neighborhood for about as long. I was laid off from my first job as a construction manager, and for the first few months nobody would hire me. After that nobody was hiring me because of how long I’d been unemployed. I heard about this new pipeline TransCanada is planning to build between Canada and Texas. I could maybe get a job helping building this, it shouldn’t be too difficult since it’s such a big project, and they’d need to hire a lot of people. Sure, it wouldn’t be permanent, but it would be something to put on my resume so employers wouldn’t immediately ignore my application due to not having been employed for a long time. But at the same time, do I want to help this project? So many people are protesting this because huge negative environmental implications. Maybe I could get a different job somewhere else, but where? This is the surest bet. But what do I care about more, my own wellbeing, or the wellbeing of my children and their children. Then again, the world’s already messed up for my kids; surely this one pipeline wouldn’t be that big of a deal. But if it’s not such a big deal, why are so many people protesting it? I can’t turn down work, but is this the work I want to do? I guess if this is going to be built I have no choice but to work on it, my only other option being unemployment. But I hope Obama blocks this from being built, so I don’t feel obligated to work on it.

 

​This project was to get different people opinion on the pipeline and how they see and view how it effects people and the economy. Through this monologue I wanted people to see the thoughts of the people on on the pipeline and how it effects them. The issues I wanted people to see was the pros and cons of this pipeline.

The Story No One Hears

*As Obama walks into the pressroom. He looks in the solemn faces of the people in the room and he feels sorrow*

My people hear me speak as a person not as the president talking into a microphone and listen to me and think of me as one of you. I, Obama have heard the concerns about the pipeline. But everyone puts the blame on me. But no one knows the back-story … my story of this pipeline. I do everything for this country and I try to do what is right but it can never be enough. As soon as anything goes wrong everyone points the finger at me. I try and try but I can do no right. If I have to have millions of people to hate me even though I am doing what is right for this economy so be it. If I have to ignore the screams and cries of the world because of this pipeline then I have to. If I have to look at people in the tearful eyes saying I have to do what is right for the economy and put their feelings aside then I’ll do it. But no one knows the guilt I have to face every time I open my eyes to a new day and close my eyes to end one. My family supports me in every decision I make. But I am afraid that they wont be able to look at me after the decision I make. My children will be ashamed to call me their father. This is my true horror. I’ll just sit and put in my headphones and close my eyes to blur out the screams and the tears of what this pipeline will do to people. If I have to live with guilt on my hands forever. So be it. But in the end I hope people don’t look at me as a monster but a person who try to do something right. 

Bryon E Hancock

One thing can destroy everything. 

·      He walks up to the stage of the assembly in his town and looks at everyone will a sad face with his family looking at him in the front row*

 The tar sands pipeline. People surveying my land and mumbling to each other. Those images have been staying in my head for many months on and on. How can the president just do this? How can he do this to his people? Why this land? Why does he have to kill the land I live on just for this pipeline? What did I do to deserve this sad life? All these questions just stay in my head and will never have an answer. This pipeline will destroy this land I have lived on for 15 years of my life. My family grew up on this land. I want my children to love this land and learn about when they grow up. I want my children to inherit this land. Why is one pipeline is going to take that all away from me. It will leave my family with out our home and my children without any memories of where they lived. My children will grow up and never see the land they lived on.  How can one pipeline people say with better us but is it taking away so much? Why else will it take in the years coming? What will our children have to look forward to? What state will our ecosystem be in? The tar sands pipeline is a nightmare that appeared in front of me. The nightmare of tar sands pipeline appeared on my doorstep and hasn’t left since. Will this nightmare ever end? Will it ever get better from here on?

Michel C.Weerd

 The good of the future

 *Walks on the stage full of protestors who doesn’t want the pipeline*

I have seen and heard the people voices of this pipeline but nobody sees what better it can do for our lives. People need to see the state this economy is in. We are so close to having a second depression. And people are protesting this pipeline? Why are they so selfish? Ok what if this pipeline doesn’t happen and we go down to an economic slump. What can the protesters do now? Absolutely nothing. With this oil we can look towards a new future and new beginnings. We can looks towards a brighter future. We can stop out dependence on foreign oil and stop this war over oil perhaps. All these points you just heard are the pros of this pipeline and obviously the pros outweigh the cons. This pipeline will be for the better and everyone needs to see that. Stop bashing the pipeline and see what good it will bring to this economy. This will make all the problems we have today disappears. We need this pipe like no one knows. This could be a better brighter future for us Americans. So protestors need to put their feelings aside and see the bigger better future. They need not to so selfish and see that this will affect many people lives for the better then the worse. This pipeline will fix everything and create many jobs, which we Americans are lacking and this can fix our downfall in the jobs area. We need this pipeline more then it needs us. With this pipeline the economy will hit a all time high. So people need to change their thought on protesting this pipeline.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  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. 

When I wrote these monologues I wanted to show the pros and cons of this pipeline. My different monologues talked about reasons to do it and reasons to not build it. 

Earth Less:

Does no one care anymore? Is the earth worth less than this tar sands? I believe the world is at a breaking point and it is getting closer and closer to breaking, and this will be the straw that broke the camels back. When I look at my children I think of all the countless injustices that we are doing to them. I do my part to not pollute, but not everybody is doing the right thing. These companies are trying to get as much money as possible while the earth goes up in flames. Is that fair to the animals? Is that fair to the planet? As a native american I believe that the earth is important. I ask you, is that fair to your children, your own flesh and blood? If we just stopped now and take all the money that we are putting into this, and put it into making wind farms we could make enough energy to power 175,000 house holds. This energy would be continuously renewable and would never run out. It would even create jobs for many people in production and to keep them working. This is the kind of energy people can feel good about. Its the kind of energy that could help keep this plant of ours from reaching its breaking point. I’m not asking everyone to live like me or my tribe, but if we all just did our part and invested our money in responsible companies that would work towards a brighter future. A future that I can feel good about leaving to my family when I leave the world to them.

Regrets from a president:

When I was the 43 president of America, and like 42 presidents before me, I would have never let anything like this happen. If it were still up to me, we would not get involved. While I was president, I signed legislation that said that tar sands are to dirty for the American government. This law was made just to stop the use of tar sands. It is my belief this type of fuel is not in our best interests. I know some people say that this is hypocritical. My answer to this is that I have learned from my mistakes in the past and that even though I say this, I still believe that we should drill for as much crude oil as we possibly can. This is because it can benefit our economy and give us the push we need to put us back on top of the world. Also that now that I am not in the oval office, I am free to say what I want without any fear of who will support me after I say it. It is my belief that if we use this tar sands oil, then we will be dealing a harsh blow to the environment. This oil is one of the dirtiest forms of energy that we can get. It causes dirty water and causes dirty pollutants. When I look at my family ranch and think of the problems that this generation can cause for the next. I feel terrible that my ranch might not be in existence in a couple generations, because of the tar sands.

New country for old men:

Growing up as a little boy in Texas, y’all know to recognize ai good thing when it happens. When I heard about the tar sands projects, I jumped for joy! I could finally be able to support my children, so they could go to college and have the life that I never had. They could go from college and get a better more worth while job than me and be able to support me when I get older and can’t work. It was tough for them growing, with their mother dying of cancer when they were only 2 and all. Poor Sara, and Violet. They are only 17 now, and can’t get really jobs here in Texas. The only jobs a person with out a college degree can get down here are the jobs working on oil refineries, and they are to dangerous for my precious girls to work at. Just like the ones that are opening up to refine the tar sands. The other day I talk to the man in charge of the plant. He done gave me a job. With the money from this job, I can fix that leak in the roof, or fix our old broken truck. These tar sands are your way of giving us a break for all the tough times that you has given us in the past few years. I prayed every night for a job like this, and you finally answered, you finally did it. My only question is why didn’t do it sooner? From what I understand the pipeline will create 20,000 jobs. Why are people so hesitate on this? It is perfect for a time when American needs jobs. I don’t want to seem ungrateful or something. So any way thank you god and please watch over my family and friends. Amen

​ For this project, we had to create monologues talking about the TransCanada Pipeline. I did my three monologues from the point of view of a farmer, an unemployed woman, and a child. I wanted to show the different points of view, so both the farmer and the child don't want the pipeline to be created and the unemployed woman wants it created. The issues that I mostly brought up where that there is a good chance that the pipeline could leak and that there will be more jobs and money for the United States.

A Man in Trouble

Setting: Talking in front of a crowd of people in a town meeting. He’s standing up in front of a table.

H-hello everyone. My name is Robert Friend… I- I am a Nebraskan Farmer. I have a wife and a premature, newborn, baby. I’m scared. I’m scared that because of the TransCanada Pipeline, my farm will be ruined. Wh-what if there becomes a leak? What if I lose my farm? His voice starts to shake What if I can’t take care of my family?

Everyone in favor of the pipeline is saying that it will open up more job opportunities, but nobody thinks about how many jobs it could also harm. There are a lot of farmer’s and land workers where this pipeline is going though, and its creating, what? About twenty thousand jobs at the most? When there s-springs a leak, it’s going to wipe out the farms from Canada to Texas. If you take the time to think about it, running this pipeline could lose more jobs then create.

Picks up picture of his baby from the table This is my baby, Charlie. Puts photo onto table. Charlie was born t-two months premature. My wife and I are always going to have to look after Charlie, to make sure he develops properly and is all right. If my farm is ruined how am I going to be able to take care of him? How is a-a-anybody going to be able to take care of their families?  I love my family; they mean the world to me. This pipeline cannot go though, we can’t put hundred of families in danger. I can’t make this decision for you, but I can hope you make the right decision. Th-thank you for your time.

Unemployment can be saved

Setting: Outside the White House talking to protesters, attempting to change their side about the pipeline. She is going to be speaking very professionally and to be proud of what she is saying. Behind her will be the percentage of people unemployed to show why we need extra jobs. Standing in front of a pedestal.

Hello. My name is Betty U. Freeman, and I am an unemployed woman. I live on my own in a one-bedroom apartment in Washington DC, but I can hardy pay the rent. I scramble every month to get the money I need, and I collect pennies as if I’m on a treasure hunt to get a meal. Behind me, is the percentage of people unemployed, I am not alone. Points to the chart behind her. I know one way that I can change this, and that is only if the TransCanada Pipeline gets approved.

If they allow this pipeline then I might have a chance. I could be able to pay my rent and I could be able to have a decent meal every once in a while. There could be more job opportunities, also. There will be twenty thousand jobs open for the United States and the pipeline will create eight billion dollars to the economy. This could help me so much. I’ll move wherever they need me to go. I’ll do whatever they need me to do.

People will say this pipeline isn’t creating enough jobs but it could change not only mines, but also so many other people’s lives. It won’t only help people like me; it will help everybody in the United States by creating energy security. What do we need more of right now, America? We need jobs. We need money. We need to low that unemployed percentage. By creating the TransCanada Pipeline we can. We can have a chance. Please think. Please make the right decision. Thank you for listening and thank you for your time.

Setting: A little girl, Ashley is in her bedroom writing in her diary. While she is writing she is also reading out loud. She is lying down on her bed as she is writing and speaking. She speaks in a scared tone of voice.

Oh diary! Something is going on. Mommy tells me that everything will be okay, but Alexandra is running around, and-and she seems scared. I don’t know much about what is going on. Mommy won’t tell me anything. Alexandra is going behind mommy’s back by telling me things. She hasn’t said much other then the big mean men want to create a Tar Sands Pipeline that will go through our farm and that the men who won Nobel Prizes are writing to Mr. President. I don’t know what a Tar Sand Pipeline or a Nobel Prize is, they both sound fancy.

Alexandra also told me that in the mean men make the pipeline, then-then-then our family is in danger and we might not be able to be together. Crosses out the last sentence, throws diary onto the ground. Tears start to fall because she is so scared. Goes to pick up diary and continues writing and reading what she writes. I-I need to talk to Alexandra. Oh my, I’m so scared. I can’t let the three of us be separated. Mommy, mommy, mommy, these bad guys can’t let this happen to us. They can’t make this pipeline, they can’t risk it to becomes leaky and ruin my life.

This was the fifth time I was here. On the stage where I felt safest, yet again I was paralyzed just as before. With the toughest critics I actually knew, there they were. Waiting, watching.

“Jordan!” Joy whispered from backstage.

Damn! Why did I just get up here? I though to myself.

The audience waited for me to start and seen that something was wrong with me. They knew this was what I loved to do. Perform. Sing, dance, and play the piano. So what was the reason for the delay? The truth was because I was nervous about playing in front of them. Ever since my last performance, it took me a long time to perform in front of them again.

“Jordan, what are you waiting for? The microphone is on and the piano is tuned so start.”

“Okay.”

I turned towards everyone and spoke.

“Today I’m going to be play “Fur Elise” on the piano. Yes I know you wanted me to sing but maybe next time. I said with a brief chuckle.

I turned back to the grand piano with a sudden shock of courage.

Throughout the song I heard comments of appreciation from my class and that made me even more courageous to continue to play. I was happy I was back here and knew that I could not stop my dream just because off the small errors and snickers from people. The opinions that people had of me stopped mattering to me the longer I played. This performance took place in eighth grade and the one that stopped me from playing was in sixth. Two years it took me to come back out of my shell of fear. That will never happen again. I love the things I do too much to stop again. I love music. I love my dream.

 

 

 

​ With the monologue project, I had to write three different monologues about the TransCanada XL pipeline. Each video had to include a different person, giving their point of view. I chose the point of view of an executive working there, who was for, an employed mother, who was for, and an unemployed father, who was in the middle. I want to make monologues that would show how people cope with the pipeline and the environment. 

It’s all good

He sits down

Hello my name is Ted Oils Spill

I am one of the executives at TransCanada working on the TransCanada XL pipeline

How can I be of service to you kind gentleman?

He has a smug smile on looking at the reporter

Let me guess, you’re here to find out all the juicy details of our beautiful project.

All we need is to approve to build it and construction will begin

This will be a magnificent pipeline. It will be about 1,700 miles long and stretch all the way from the tar sands in Canada to refineries in Port Arthur, Texas

 He sits back relaxed

It is estimated that 800,000 barrels of crude oil will be pumped through the pipeline per day. It would be great if it passed our expectations and reached passed the 1 million mark.

 I think the XL pipeline is a great idea!

 I know there are many people against it but its all fin. For starter, the amount of oil will be awesome. Also, with this new pipeline there will be thousands more jobs, which are really needed, in these harsh times where money is tight, people are losing their jobs, parents cannot afford a decent Christmas for their children, and people are losing their homes. Doesn’t this get you all excited? I know its all exciting so contain your exciting. Not to mention this pipeline be safer.

Well opposed to the previous pipelines, this one will be built in a different way with new technology

 He hears the reporters next question and looks nervous

And to touch on the fact that some other people think that our project is flawed. There are poorly mistaken … No other comments. 

Family Matters 

Hello my name is Deborah Harriott

 Thank you for taking time out of you very busy schedule to share my thoughts with everyone about the idiotic plan to build that stupid TransCanada XL pipeline that is in consideration of being built. It’s stupid.

 Puts on a stern look

I have my family to worry about, my three lovable children, Samantha, Nate, and Max, and my husband. This idiotic XL pipeline will go near my home and near our fresh water where me, my family and everyone else in my neighborhood depends on for their fresh water.

 Looks sad

I find this decision to be shows that the people working at TransCanada to be lacking compassion for the people that will be affected if things ever go wrong. The act as if things show good results, their desired results, that horrible repercussions will not arise later in life. It may not happen the day the XL pipeline is finished construction, maybe not the next week, month, or even that year, but good things must always come to an end. That pipeline will have a major problem one day. And do know who will suffer, probably not them, but most surely we will pay, for their mistake. I am scared for my family. What if it all goes wrong, what if we have nothing do drink. What if we cant even get clean drinking water? I built my entire life here. Too loose it all, would just be… … painful. I can’t afford to loose everything I fought so hard to keep.

 Looks pained, angry, and sad look all at the same time.

I do not know the actual details of what new tech they have for this new project, but I hear that it has shown that it is not totally reliable, and they cant even admit it.

 As for the issue with it creating jobs, I am I a very well paid doctor, as for my husband, he he’s teacher. We are doing well for ourselves without the pipeline. How does this pipeline help us.   

 

My name is Rick. I walk into the crowded room, sit on the couch and stare at the man with the tape recorder in his home, which is wearing an expensive looking suit and glasses. I think for a moment, then speak 

 Hey man, I am really glad that you came to interview me and like, get my point of view on things that be going on round here you know what I’m saying

 I pause, then adjust myself in my seat

 I think that, this trans Canada plan to make an oil pipeline is one crappy made plan. I mean like, me personally, it just don’t feel right. It seems like stuff like this has happened before. Like oil spills. I’ve heard on places like the news that like, these oil spills be getting in our water and that just ain’t cool. The fish be dying and the eco… echo… the umm environment has been suffering for stuff like that.

 It’s terrible, it aint even worth it, building such a long pipe that’s like a yard wide. It just don’t sit right with me. What if that thing like, breaks, or something like that. What happens to me? What happens to the small people? Are we all meant to be bugs under the rich mans new shiny boots? ‘Dats messed up bro.

 

I get a serious look on my face

 Do I even matter in dis equation? I ain’t good enough or something. Ain’t those executive type people stop to think, how does this crappy oil help me. I don’t even own a car, why do I need oil. I have to walk to where I need to get. We need to get a plan that helps us with our economy.

 

I give the man a sad look. My daughter walks in and sits next too me looks confused. I Sigh, then start again. I put my hand on her head.

 Even though I say that, I am a single father after all, without any job. The floorboards are messed up, the walls are stripping, and the door creaks. This is not the life I want. I need a job.  How am I gonna support my daughter. This oil thingy is gonna make jobs. It might kill the environment one day, but without a job I won’t live till that day. I don’t know what to do. Maybe I should put my pride and anger away, and get a job there, for my sweet little Melissa.

 

​Intro Paragraph: Within this project, my goal was to show each characters opinions' and perspectives' about the Keystone XL pipeline. I spoke through the characters to express real emotion and the emotions that would be expected. For example, when writing from water's perspective, I was able to imagine some of the properties. This was possible by acting as if water were a man.

Monologues:

The Beginning to Change

 

Bill Mckibben walks to the podium           

                                   

This is my first speech as an environmentalist. The white paper in my hand was folded into a square and had about one hundred fifty black words on it. It is shaking as if it was a table and my hand was an earthquake. I couldn’t help but think that this could be the beginning to our earth diminishing or it being saved.  The actual power is in the hands of President Obama but the people of the United States influences his decisions. I could influence theirs. After finally unfolding the paper, it looked as if the words were blurred. I couldn’t ready anything. This is just my imagination. Images of clear lakes and no pipeline signs were in front of me drawn onto cardboard in front of the white house. These people want change. I could be the voice of reason.  The nervousness left me.

I stood tall and said:

“It is the second largest pool of carbon on Earth. It is tar sands, which are oil sands. The main component of this oil would be bitumen. Bitumen is the most toxic form of petroleum, which is called tar. This is a form of crude oil. Last year alone, theses tar sands had 12 spills. This pipeline is predicted to go from Canada to Texas. What happens if another spill occurs and it goes into the ocean or another water supply area? Then what happens if we drink this water?”. “We have lost the battle for the last 10 years to for anything about greenhouse gasses. The process of refining this crude oil needs natural gas. In return, refining the tar sands oil apposed to regular conventional oil causes more greenhouse gas emissions. We shouldn’t use the pipeline. There are too many issues that could arise because of it. We have to take global warming seriously.” Finishing and feeling successful I folded my paper up and put it into the inside of my jacket pocket. The crowd cheered and clapped as I walked off the stage. This is the begging to change.

Future Leaders

Here I am, walking to another class full of students in the middle of the first quarter. My old class was a group of unwilling to learn students. They would sit in their chairs like zombies and say nothing. No one raised his or her hand. Instead they sat holding their phone underneath a desk texting someone across the room or writing notes about me and passing it to the person in front of them. My new room, 304, had my name carved into a wooden plate with gold lettering.  After opening the door, I was greeted with blank unwelcoming faces.

 

She grabs her lesson plan out of her purse

 

 “My name is Mrs. Lou. Today we are going to be discussing the Tar Sands pipeline. In Alberta, Canada, there are Tar Sands. These sands produce toxic and thick oil. The United States is trying to refine and clean the oil so that we can use it in things such as cars. To do this, they are sending a pipeline from Canada to Texas. The problem with this idea is that the oil that would go through the pipeline is too thick. Therefore, it would have to be heated up as it was going through. That just makes us more prone for danger such as the oil leaking. Also the oil is too acidic to transport safely in the pipelines. The same kind of oil that was spilled into the Kalamazoo River last year has the same viscosity of the Tar sands oil. The oil sunk to the bottom of the river and is no longer retrievable”.

The kids in front of me are actually starting to pay attention. Instead of slouching in their seats they were sitting up straight. I could also tell that some of them were trying to raise their hand ad voice their opinions like leaders.

“ The pros of the pipeline would be that it could create jobs for Americans, give us more oil, and allow us not to rely on other countries for oil”. I ended. “ I can see that some of you would like to voice your opinions, write your name on the board in one of the categories, for or against”. The kids immediately got up. Most of them were standing in line to write their names on the left side, against. I am glad that they agree with me.

If you don’t, I will

 

My name is Niagara. My children Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Superior are the people I care most about. We have our own type of family flow. We understand each other’s problems. I travel around the continent to visit their houses all the time. We support each other because we are a family. I would never leave them in the dust.

The United States is planning on putting a pipeline from Canada to Texas. It’s supposedly going to carry this toxic and crude oil so that they could refine it. Politicians talk about how we are going to be okay because the pipe is not supposed to leak. Do they not remember what happened to my cousin Kalamazoo? His whole house was covered in oil because of an oil leak that was “not supposed to happen” but did about twelve times. Now, he has oil in his basement that he can’t get out. Do they not remember my cousin Gulf? Last year she has approximately 4.9 million barrels of crude oil spilt into her home. It didn’t just affect her, but it affected the animals that lived with her.

What happens if the oil from these pipes leaks out? This could immediately affect my son Superior and daughter Michigan. It could also affect the people who use this water to drink and put into bottles. Why would they do something like this? President Obama can make the decision to put my family at risk or protect us. Just in case, I have to call my family and tell them to brace themselves for the worst and hope for the best.

This project is about exploring different points of view. This is centered on the XL/ tar sands pipeline. This is a controversial topic. And there are many opinions and many was to see what the right thing is. My goal for this project was to see if I could write as different people and still convey what I was thinking. I was hard to not write description. But it was more about the characters then what they looked like. Please enjoy the flowing monologues and video.

​My Point

 

Walks in. sits down and faces the crowd

 “Hello ladies and gentleman. I am Adam Riss.

 Looks over the crowd with only his eyes, does not move head.

Wow this a lot of people here today. Your eyes look like little lights. Flickering off and on as you blink. There are so many of you. But enough about you; to day I will be taking about the XL pipeline as so know as the Tar sands pipeline. The pipeline will be going from Alberta, Canada down to Texas. It will bring 500,000 barrels of crude oil a day to the U.S. This is a gift from our friends in Canada and we are going to cash in on it. It will open up thousands of jobs for Americans. This is a once and a lifetime opportunity. We have to take this oil.

Clinches first.

 Just think if we could get out from under other countries. We could stop fighting a war for oil. I could bring my brother home after three years.

 Begins to get up the sits back down

Ahem. Sorry for the break in my points. I know for a fact that if we don’t support this some one else will take this oil. We need to stick together and give President Obama the motivation to pass this bill. Yes we can build. I know that there are some points I may have missed. I would hate to take up anymore of your time. So I will take a few questions. Questions? Well, yes the pipeline will be running through the largest source of fresh water in the continent of North American. But I am telling you that there is a very low chance that it will leak or break. So we should not be concerned about that. Well, yes, there was another pipeline that did leak a few times…Twelve times? I can see what you are saying. But this pipe is going to be much stronger. I am sorry but we are out of time. I am Adam Riss and thank you.”

Gets up and wakes away.

 

 

The Talk

 

Chou picks up phone. She is at home when her aunt calls her.

“Hey aunt Sara. What is going on, are you going to come pick me up?

Looks at the phone

Where are you? At the North Run airport. What are you going somewhere? Texas.

Raises voice.

Your going to Texas. Why? Uncle Nick is going to work there. He is going to work in Texas. Why, he had a job here. He is going to work for an oil company. You mean the ones that are working with the Trans Canada people. That is going to destroy that world’s ecosystem even more then it all ready is. Do you know where they’re planning to put the pipe?

Gets up and starts to pace.

It’s going to be over the largest patch freshwater in the continent. Do you know what it means if it leaks? It means that we is have to start paying for water form other places. Water a basic human need. I would take that over oil. Why would you support this? I don’t care if it’s a good job opportunity. Do you care that if he dose this that there will not be a world to have jobs on. I this is not ok at all. What about the people in Canada? The Native Americans that live in Canada. There land will be taken way if you support this. He can find another job.” 

The rug seems to be getting a burn. She is moving so fast that her feet are red.

 “I don’t understand. You don’t understand. For someone how was born and raised in a country that is so developed your thinking really isn’t. Everything that you are saying is point less by.”

 

No Voice

 

A piece of then XL pipelines that is lying on the floor, speaking softly.

I’m there thinking of the words that I just heard. I have been here for so long. Just waiting. Waiting for something, or maybe someone. They where moving us. A lot at first but now we are still. I remember the dark room where we where the first time. I was damp we where moving fast. Then I felt the heat all over me. Then to the rocking car what brought use here. The words keep coming; Tar…Sand…Oil. Why do I keep hearing them together? They sound like gravel in a person’s mouth. As if they where trying to make sense of it. But what do they have to do with each other. Tar is hot it burns. Like that room I was in. Sand is at the beach. Cool and soft. And oil powers cars, and everything else in the U.S. They don’t mix.

Moves to another area of the floor.

There hands wrap around my body, now I know what they’re talking about. As they place me in a line. I’m what is moving the tar, sand and oil. I don’t think that is safe. My thin aluminum frame will break. I here more words coming form the workers. New words that I haven’t hared before. Water…pipeline…over…Why would you put water over me. What if the sand gets into it, or the tar? What would happen to the fish? What would happen to the people? This can’t end well. Another worker. Why are they turning me over? A break…a break where… then don’t use me if there is a break. But they can’t hear me. I can’t talk. Then I am placed back in line. I wish I could save the water, the fish, and the people. But I don’t have a voice.

 

 

This project was about other people’s perspectives’ about the pipeline plan. My goals for this project changed a lot. I had many different ideas. I had thought about making a monologue of a kid that lives near the pipeline. Then I thought about animals, natives, and about a person that want to jail but then the idea of a newscaster came to mind. In the end I did what came to me. In the end my goals where to make the monologue what I think and others think is good.

(Newscaster on camera he’s sitting talking about McKibben on the news.)

McKibben and about 64 other protesters started a two-week sit in at the White House on Saturday to go against the $7 billion, 1,700-mile oil pipeline planned to cross the great plains of the nations.

U.S. Park Police had told the protesters that each one of them would be arrested and quickly released with a fee of $100 for trespassing. After the Police/authorities learn that more than 2,000 people from all of the 50 states plan to join the protest from August 21, 2011 until September 3, 2011 the jailed McKibben and his peers until a court hearing on Monday.

 This are comments by McKibben himself “This was a powerful day,” McKibben said in a written statement. “It’s not the easiest thing on earth for law-abiding folk to come risk arrest. It’s hot out here today, especially when you’re wearing a suit and tie. But it’s nowhere near as hot as it’s going to get if we lose this fight.”

“This pipeline has emerged as the single clear test of the president’s willingness to fight for the environment,” McKibben said in a weekend statement. “We’ve already succeeded in nationalizing this fight in a way no one thought was possible. It’s not just a group of people along the pipeline route who are opposing this project anymore. People from all 50 states will be joining us over the coming two weeks.”

After a Saturday rally at Lafayette Square Park, McKibben and other supporters move to a sit-in on the sidewalk in front of the White House. There where to large banners that read “Climate Change is Not in Our National Interest: Stop the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline” and “We Sit In Against the Keystone XL Pipeline. Obama Will You Stand Up to Big Oil?”

That is all have a good day.

(Camera’s off he gets up and walk to his dressing room.)

Again today’s news was about someone going to jail and about what hey think of this whole pipeline shit. Why won’t they just stop already having this pipeline will make more jobs and of all people I have to do this. Talk all fucking day about people that are against it and for it. I tiered of this topic. “Hey get me a water.”  

What happen to me on that day.

(Siting telling people about her d grandma)

Hello my name is Kini and this stories is about my granmather. Anevay Kuwanyauma is my name and I lived in North Dakota when the pipelines where build. I was just truing eight on the day that the pipelines broke and made us move. I remember the day like it was just yesterday.  It’s more of a nightmare then a memory to me. I was with my friends laughing and singing our favorite song. After sometime we started running. This land that once my ancestor had once run through. It was a very beautiful day that my friend and I wanted to go swimming. We went to the lake that was very near when we got there we saw a dark black hole the water wasn’t there it was swallowed by the tar-sand oil. I ran back to my house told my parents the moment I ended my mom fell to her knees and unknown tear fell from her eyes. Dad’s eye turned blood red with anger. “You see our parents were right the pipes were going to brake.” But what we had not known was that all the pipelines were barking as we were talking. Then the alarm burst though our though and made our body move by it’s self. We grabbed what ever we could and my dad want and got the car. My mom grabbed my hand I dropped my favorite toy I reached for it but my mom pulled harder. Tears fell from my face the cool tear had not stop for two years. I was thinking why did we leave so fast why wouldn’t they let me pick up my toy. Now I know why. My first day back after forty years. It’s still not so safe to be here but I just wanted to see it once more the land that I cannot chare with my kid or my grandkids. So why is all I want to know why would America build a pipeline.

The story from a wolf

I had lived here in this forest for the past ten years. When I was a pup my parents where killed by poachers. I now have my own pack. When I heard that the human wanted to take more of our land, it was created. It makes me very mad if something were to happen in my territory and my pack is hurt I will not fear death. This thing they call a pipeline that they will bring from a far way place with dirty oil. They also say if this pipelines brake that the oil can kill a lot of life, and also kill our food sores. Not only that, the water that we drink will get to a point that will be undrinkable. I really don’t want this. I will attack and kill if anything happens. The human leader is another person that doesn’t care about taking our homes, and killing us off. I will never forgive the humans. My wife is now pregnant and she will soon give berth. I don’t want my pups to come to this world to learn that the humans are killing it. I remember hearing stories from my grandparent that the world was once very different. Humans use to take care of the world but now look. Why can’t the world just go back to those times then maybe my parents would be alive right now?

Intro Paragraph: My goals in writing these monologues. Is to show how many views there are. Whether you are for or against the pipeline. I wanted to show all the different emotions of this situation, sadness, anxiety, rage, regret, confidence and many more. I want to show the government how much they are hurting their citizens.

 

Monologue #1: Are You Serious

Setting: outside of her house, showing the factories. In her hand is  

 

      I’ll tell you how hard it’s been to live here. My community has had illnesses like throat cancer, if they build the pipelines, what’s going to happen? When did they start building factories? They’ve been making different factories across the street from my house ever since I was in kindergarten. This isn’t worth losing more people. I would come home and smell this horrible smell that was deadly. Money is going to be wasted. They need to make wiser choices.  We have all these different factories that’s causing odors. I think about the pipeline situation from time to time and people will have jobs if we have pipelines. But while the pipelines are being made it’s damaging, and causing problems.

      What’s your final answer about this situation, should this happen or not? Do you see this newspaper in my hand? Almost every time I read the news it doesn’t say specifically if Obama is going to let this happen, and once he makes up his mind. Once 6 months pass, with change or no change, then I’ll make up my mind, but for right now I’m not too sure. This situation is bittersweet, it’s going to help people out financially because people will be provided jobs but then again they’re going to be wasting billions of dollars.

  

  

Monologue #2: You're So Greedy : by Morgan Taylor

*The goddess of the earth says this with a lot of passion and a little bit of rage.

I give and give and give! All I get in return is this crappy piece of nothingness. (these 2 sentences are said with a bunch of rage) Yes, I am a goddess but there is only so much that I can do. In the beginning it was ok. People respected my earth because they really acknowledged that it was all they had to survive.(Happiness/calm in these 2) All of a sudden my guests got extremely greedy and started destroying my work. Cutting down my beautiful forests, polluting my oceans, taking more than what is needed and killing my master pieces of animals.(anger and rage) I did a pretty good job making this little sphere of joy, but maybe I didn’t do such a good job of protecting it. That is going to change soon.

Then the government thinks there all tall and mighty and decides to ruin the last of my work with a pipeline that goes from Canada to Texas. In this pipeline there will be nasty black, gooey and just unclean oil. It is all about the money to you people. What are you going to do if you have nothing else left? Oh, that’s right you are going to die. The “Bad Guys” say “It will be good for the economy and we will be able to live better lives.” DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE SAYING! I made this earth to the best of my ability and you the greedy ones are destroying it.

Now you’re scared because I am finally taking a stand and getting angry. All of these natural disasters, all of the people dying are your doing. I am just showing you what you have been doing this entire time. I have tried to be understanding and loving, but there only so much that I can take. I demand respect! My earth needs to be respected!

Not only have you betrayed me by making this decision, you have betrayed all of the earth. For billions of years the Earth that has hosted you on this planet. You do have a chance to make it better. The first step is to not make this pipeline that will destroy what you have left of your world. I now leave it in your hands to make this huge decision. Hope you make the right one.

 

 

Monologue #3: Will This Be The Right Choice?

       

Setting: At school taking a test.

 

     Here I am twirling my lucky pencil in my hand, and holding a test in front of my face not rushing to do my test to be the first person to be finished but I’m…wondering… Re-playing the whole phone call I had with my dad yesterday

He said though I’m an a little young to really rap my head around the situation

He has to decide weather he should deny the permit for the oil Pipelines or not.

Pipelines – Transports goods through a pipe.

He also told me that people would be given jobs, if the pipeline happens.

Will my dad make the right choice?

     I know I’m only ten years old, and have no say in weather we should resume with pipelines or not… But I think that my father should pass it. People will be provided jobs, right? That would be great, because people have been getting laid for the past 3 years.  

     I did some research after talking to my dad…and it said that a pipeline is a network that delivers the nations crude oil such as gasoline, jet fuel and home heating oil, is that good or bad?

Will that be hurting the environment or improving the environment.

 

Will he make the right choice?

 

Monologue #4: by Morgan Taylor

*A man in a jail sell regrets his decision for standing up for what is right. He is anxious and debating weather or not he made the right choice protesting.

         Why did this happen to me? Why did I make such a bad decision. I have 2 kids and a wife at home I need to take care of. Right now they think i am on a business trip in Los Angeles. What is my wife going to say when she find out where I actually am. I am the man of the house I need to bring home the bacon for my family. I want to say I was being selfish but I am really just trying to protect my home. I grew up in South Dakota 2blocks from where they are going to rip up the earth and place that monstrous pipeline. All of my childhood memories will be destroyed. Where will my parents go? They are to old to handle this type of change.

This jail cell is so cold and damp. I am going to ruin my good work clothes. I didn’t know I was going to be arrested. I just wanted to do the right thing and defend our mother earth. Bad decisions, after bad decisions. Money in my family is really tight because of the economy. Now my family has to pay bail for me to get out. I don’t even want to tell them, I am scared that they will not trust me any more. I wasn’t thinking straight, I didn’t think about the consequences of protesting. Will i loose my job? How will this affect my reputation? I really hope that I am setting a good example for my kids. I don’t want them to end up like this. In a 6 by 6, cold, dirty and damp space regretting a decision that was made.

When I think about it i think I am being selfish, but also standing up in what I believe in and protecting my family. When my grand kids are born I want them to have a world to live in that isn’t a piece of crap. My generation and generations before have ruined our future generations home. I feel bad that they have to clean up our mess. Maybe I did do the right thing and my family will understand that I was fighting for them.

 

 

 

Monologue #5: It’s all about the workers and to heck with the Environment, I need a job!

 

 Setting: At the site of one of the pipelines. Getting interviewed

       Honestly I think that they need to pass this, I need a job, this will be providing for hundreds of unemployed people at the moment.  Even If it’s going to be polluting the earth. Right about now we need, no I NEED a job. For the past years thousands of people have been unemployed – I’ve been unemployed. And right here these pipelines are jobs that will be able to give to the thousands of people who are unemployed.  Are you trying say that the only thing that you care about right now is yourself? No, not exactly, I’m just saying that we’ve started with the pipeline and the construction and all of a sudden we had to stop, no money is flowing through! Obama wants a solution for these unemployed citizens and its right in front of our faces! So close that I can - we can all taste it. We will be one step closer to have a better economy, not environmentally. I’m all for the environment, but I’m ready to sacrifice this environment so I can have a job.

 If you already had a job, and was asked about the Pipeline situation, what would you say?

     To be honest I would be on the side to try to save the environment, because

if this happens, its hurting Mother Nature. These Pipelines aren’t healthy for this environment. But I need to provide for family-my children…

With these monologues I wanted to provide different viewpoints on the pipeline.  One of the things that is major about the pipeline are injured workers.  I wrote one as a person who just had an injury and one talking to his kids about the pipe line after his injury.  With the one of the guy talking to his family I wanted to get the view of somebody that is already home and how they would tell about the pipeline.  The last one is a person that is trying to get rid of the protesters.  I was trying to show how a guard would feel about the situation.  They are just doing there jobs but they might have different opinons on it.

Monologues

Merrik Saunders

Good Old Fashion Chaos

Just a week after the surgery Dave is sitting in a wheel chair alone in the hospital.  He is imagining the times before the accident.  He believes he can walk again but soon after falls to the ground.  Tim starts to relive the accident.

Just alone at the hospital I start to imagine the days before I was stuck in a wheel chair.  I begin to lift my self-up, hoping that I could walk again.  The same thing happens every time.  I start to remember the accident.  What people perceive as pain doesn’t even come close to this.  I start to fall.  I hold my self up with the bar in front of me.  The things attached at my hips no longer work.  The shiny white tiles turn into the tan dirt.  I am scared out of my mind realizing what was going to happen.  My hands drenched with sweat slip off the bar and I fall into the ditch below.  I gave the signal to go before I slipped.  My other people couldn’t see me from the massive crane and pipe it was holding.  In ten seconds the metal is on top of me crushing my legs.  Snapping all of the bones.  I let out a scream.  One of those screams that show true pain and suffering.  The rest of my men take what seems like an eternity to get the pipe off of me.  Why the hell was is so damn hard to get a pipe out of a ditch?  The searing pain turns into a numb feeling.  I start to see blackness.  Then just like that I am strapped down to what I think is a table of some sort.  The sharp knives start to tear open my legs exposing the damage that has been done.  Men and woman are rushing around me in blue masks and robes.  I start to convulse in pain.  Two seconds later the darkness is back to drag me down again.  The nurse is running towards me in great haste.  Am I back in the hospital now?  The white tiles are back and my legs are healed but not working.  They wheel me back to my room to lie down.  Damn it happened again. 

Just Doing My Job

Greg is at the White House keeping guard.  He sees the protesters starting to swarm in.  He gets a call to rally up his men and take care of them.

Stupid tree huggers, they are always getting in the way.  No mater what this pipe is going to happen so they should just suck it up.  Do they realize the good that will come from all of this?  It will make it way easier to get oil to the states.  The oil prices will go significantly down.  I thought these people wanted the oil price down.

Get call to get rid of the protesters

  “Yes Sir. I’ll get right on it” I should probably get down there.  My men and I started down the stairs of the Whit House to confront the protesters.  They are instructed to leave the premises but of course they gave us a hard time.  Then there was this one guy who wouldn’t move.  No mater what we said he wasn’t budging.  We start to move towards the one person.  Then out of know were the guy pulls out a knife and starts to run towards me screaming.  “You will pay for killing the earth,” he said.  Then I reach into my suit jacket and pull out my gun.  “Freeze”, I said but he was still running.  I hesitate for a second.  I put the gun up to aim and look down the barrel.  Then just like that I pull the trigger.  Bang!  The bullet hit him and the guy falls to the ground tumbling towards us.  I feel my hand drop to look at the scene.  We start to walk over to him.  I shot the man in the leg.  The man is screaming and holding his leg.  The blood is staining the green grass.  I look at him thinking to my self did it really have to go down like this.  Then they start to take him away.  They really must feel strongly about this pipeline.  He knew the consequences for his action still he did it.  Maybe this pipeline really is bad.  I turn and start to walk away.  It can’t possibly be that bad, or can it? 

Playing With Fire 

After an explosion while working on a pipeline Dan decides to protest against the pipeline and thinks that working on it is a bad decision. 

I get home and I am just amazed at the things that could happen with this pipeline.  ”Hey kids come hear” I said, “Daddy is back.  Were is mommy?”  She is just getting ready for work as usual.  “Hey I have something to tell you all.  Remember daddy’s work, and what happened?  I just got a bunch of information from it.  Things like how the pipeline might pollute the water.  That’s not good for people to drink or for the fishes ether.  They look up at me in astonishment.  A lot the places that the pipe is going through disturbs places that animals and people lived.”  They are just kids but I think that they should at least know about it especially what happened with me.  They ask me why would anyone want to hurt people and plants? I tell them it’s to make a lot of money.  They will do it even if they hurt the word.  Then they ask why would I work to help that?  I say it’s to provide for the house.  With out the job they couldn’t have the things that they like.  I tell them that to not worry, good people are trying to stop it from happening and daddy is looking for a new job.  They go off and play for a bit.  My wife sees that I have told them and happy about it.  About a half a hour the kids come back to me with a drawing.  They say it’s for me.  It’s a picture of me breaking a pipe in half and stopping the construction.  “Daddy likes it a lot,” I said.  I really wish I could do that but for now I will just try to do what I can to stop this pipe from happening.