Tarring the Oil Sands: The Evolution and Emergence of ENGO Opposition in Alberta’s Oil Sands and Social Movement Theory

• Author / Creator

  Dow, Matthew W.

• ABSTRACT: The Alberta oil sands represent tremendous economic growth and prosperity for Alberta and Canada but their development does not come without cost. Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (ENGOs), specifically the Pembina Institute and Greenpeace, have brought significant attention to the environmental impacts of development. Their history and involvement in the oil sands can be divided into two phases, the first characterized by a collaborative relationship between Pembina Institute and development proponents. The second is characterized by a strategic evolution of the Pembina Institute and the emergence of Greenpeace. Resource Mobilization Theory and Political Opportunity Theory are applied and analyzed to provide an account for the evolution and emergence of ENGOs in Alberta’s oil sands.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Greenpeace
  • Alberta Energy
  • Resource Mobilization
  • Protest
  • ENGOs
  • Tar Sands
  • Political Opportunities
  • Oil Sands
  • The Pembina Institute
  • Environmental Organizations

• Graduation date

  Fall 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Arts

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3598J

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.