It is the biggest industrial development project, the biggest capital investment project, and the biggest energy project in the world. It holds (at least) 179 billion barrels of oil, ranking it second only to Saudi Arabia in petroleum resources. Frighteningly, it contains enough carbon that—if extracted and burned as planned—would expend fully half of the planet’s “carbon budget,” or the amount of carbon dioxide we think we can release into the atmosphere and avoid total catastrophe.

In two short weeks I have the privilege of seeing this place with my own two eyes as a participant in the Canadian government’s Energy & Environment Study Tour. I will be joining my University of Washington colleague Todd Wildermuth and others from various US universities and think tanks. The purpose of the trip is to… well I have a hunch but I won’t really find out until I get there. More on that later.

One of my main goals in going is to share my experience with a broader audience. To that end, I will be writing, photographing, tweeting and otherwise documenting my trip in several ways:

• Blog posts: I’ll be posting directly to the Program on the Environment blog, my personal blog, and am also looking for opportunities to cross-post on other blogs. Let me know if you have ideas.
• Twitter: My twitter handle is ademelle and you can follow my journey via the hashtag #UWAlberta.
• Multimedia: I plan to bring a camera and video recorder to capture images of what I see. I’ll use these in blog posts, Instagram (ademelle) and probably a slideshow or Flickr album.
• Post-trip event: Todd and I are brainstorming ideas for an event on campus this fall to spark a conversation about the issues surrounding the Canadian tar sands. Stay tuned!

Until next time,

Anne