Assignment details
Here we start to think about how the development of energy landscapes may result in spatial and social inequalities in experience.
Stable energy production is a viewed as key for economic and social goals. Countries and regions often draw upon natural resource capacity to target sites for energy production or the extraction of resources to support energy production. Sometimes these sites may be based on the extraction, transport and production of non-renewable resources, in other sites it may be through the production of renewable energy sources, such as hydro or wind power. However, while these sites and processes are deemed important for economic purposes, the development of sites of energy production, transport and generation can result in local-scale environmental change, degradation and sometimes the displacement of peoples, culture and habitats. These changes can be observed with both examples of non-renewable and renewable energy production.
In these situations we may see the benefits of the energy production being accrued elsewhere, and while there may be some local benefits through the generation of jobs there may be other the costs being potentially born by the local community. These costs may be linked to poor health outcomes or perhaps impacts on culture and social structure. In some instances, these experiences of degradation can be considered as sacrifice zones.
In this assignment, we explore how the use of resources for energy production can create unequal costs and benefits for different groups in society (human and non-human). This allows us to have better insights into the development of energy production but also the potential negative impact these activities may have at a local scale. These examples also may allow us to draw in the academic literature on social inequalities, environmental justice and sacrifice zones to better understand the implications of energy production initiatives.
We discussed different types of energy landscapes – renewable and non-renewable in lectures in Week Six, in Sue’s lecture (Nature and Place 2) and also had Rosemary Collard’s lecture on Caribou and Sacrifice Zones which prompted us to think about spatial inequalities.
The assignment will allow you to bring together an understanding of how a particular type of energy landscape may be linked to the reinforcement of spatial inequalities in experience and to explore these ideas and the geographic concepts discussed in Nature and Place in connection to a relevant example.
Using specific examples, write a short essay discussing how the production of energy can create spatially uneven outcomes in environmental and social experience for some regions. To support your discussion, you will use an example of a specific energy landscape or a specific case study to explore how the extraction, transport or production of energy can result in uneven costs and benefits for different populations.
In your essay you will need to:
Introduce your energy case study and outline the scale you are going to discuss. For example, are you focusing on a particular case study or are you looking at a number of local case studies related to a particular energy type to support your essay.
Discuss the social and environmental benefits and costs of this energy landscape at the local and regional scale.
Use the example(s) to discuss how this energy landscape can create spatially uneven outcomes in environmental and social experience for some regions.
You may choose to focus on a particular energy example (such as oil or hydro power) and discuss the inequalities using a number of site specific examples or you may wish to focus on the energy experience in a region or a particular case study. When you think about an energy landscape you may be interested in the sites of extraction of resources or the sites of production (e.g. the waste associated with energy production), or perhaps the transport of a resource used as a part of the energy cycle (e.g. pipelines).
When selecting your case study take care that you have sufficient resources to be able to write your discussion in a critical and academically robust manner. If you make your example too specific you may find limited material to support your discussion.
In this assignment we will take a wide view of energy landscapes to include a range of fossil fuel extraction processes or the extraction of components related to lithium batteries to power e-mobility. Some examples you may wish to think about include: mining of tar sands, fracking, petrochemical production, green economy developments (e.g. hydro developments).
In your discussion you should be considering some of the following concepts discussed in Knox et al. (2019) and in lectures:
Economic development and environmental protection
Human impact on the environment
Sacrifice zones
Uneven spatial social and economic outcomes
Environmental and social justice
Resources
To start your organization of ideas you will have read the relevant sections of Chapter 4: People and Nature in Knox et al. (2019). This text should not be your main reference in the essay but will help you think about the core concepts that you need to discuss.
To support your discussion use material from at least three peer-reviewed academic journal articles, alongside incorporating other appropriate material. Knox et al. (2019) does not count as one of these articles.
One point to note is that when you are searching for material to support your discussion you may need to search beyond the key words ‘energy landscapes’ or ‘sacrifice zones’. There are many examples of articles that discuss local concerns related to energy development that do not specifically use these terms. If you are unsure about your example please contact our tutors through the tutor discussion board, or contact Sue. I have suggested some starter references below that may be of interest in thinking about this topic.
Please note, I have used a range of referencing formats below so you do need to make sure your referencing follows the required APA style (see details under the Format section).
Journal article you may find useful:
Holifield, R. and Day, M. 2017 A framework for a critical physical geography of ‘sacrifice zones’: Physical landscapes and discursive spaces of frac sand mining in western Wisconsin, Geoforum (Links to an external site.), 85 (Links to an external site.), Pages 269-279
Sources that may be a useful starter reading:
An article by D Kingsbury in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs on green extractivism: https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2021/07/20/green-extractivism-and-the-limits-of-energy-transitions-lithium-sacrifice-and-maldevelopment-in-the-americas/ (Links to an external site.)
An article in The Conversation by Lloréns (2016) about coal ash in Puerto Rico: https://theconversation.com/in-puerto-rico-environmental-injustice-and-racism-inflame-protests-over-coal-ash-69763 (Links to an external site.)
Other journal articles that may be of interest. These journal articles are accessible through the SFU library databases.
Castán Broto, V. and Sanzana Calvet, M. (2020) Sacrifice zones and the construction of urban energy landscapes in Concepción, Chile. Journal of Political Ecology, 27 (1). pp. 279-299. ISSN 1073-0451
Thom Davies (2018) Toxic Space and Time: Slow Violence, Necropolitics, and Petrochemical Pollution, Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 108:6, 1537-1553, DOI: 10.1080/24694452.2018.1470924
Jennifer Huseman & Damien Short (2012) ‘A slow industrial genocide’: tar sands and the indigenous peoples of northern Alberta, The International Journal of Human Rights, 16:1, 216-237, DOI: 10.1080/13642987.2011.649593 (Links to an external site.)
Jill E. Johnston, Temuulen Enebish, Sandrah P. Eckel, Sandy Navarro, Bhavna Shamasunder, 2021 Respiratory health, pulmonary function and local engagement in urban communities near oil development, Environmental Research, Volume 197, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2021.111088 (Links to an external site.).
Kaur, R. 2021 Nuclear necropower: The engineering of death conditions around a nuclear power plant in south India, Political Geography, 85, 102315.
Marcelo Lopes de Souza, ‘Sacrifice zone’: The environment–territory–place of disposable lives, Community Development Journal, Volume 56, Issue 2, April 2021, Pages 220–243, https://doi.org/10.1093/cdj/bsaa042 (Links to an external site.)
Randolph, N. 2021 Pipeline Logic and Culpability: Establishing a Continuum of Harm for Sacrifice Zones, Front. Environ. Sci., 07 July 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2021.652691 (Links to an external site.)
Scott, D. N. & Smith, A. A. (2017). “Sacrifice Zones” in the Green Energy Economy: Toward an Environmental Justice Framework. McGill Law Journal /Revue de droit de McGill, 62(3), 861–898. https://doi.org/10.7202/1042776ar
Benjamin K. Sovacool, Andrew Hook, Mari Martiskainen, Andrea Brock, Bruno Turnheim, The decarbonisation divide: Contextualizing landscapes of low-carbon exploitation and toxicity in Africa, Global Environmental Change, Volume 60, 2020, 102028, ISSN 0959-3780, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.102028.
Format
You will need to write your response as a short essay.
You should not use headings in the body of the essay.
You will need an introduction and conclusion paragraph and the body of your essay should be written in paragraph form using full sentences.
Length: Your assignment is to be no more than 850 words, not including references. You must reference your essay to provide support for your ideas.
Remember
Use standard margins (1 inch, 2.54 cm) and a standard 12-font (e.g. Arial, Times New Roman). Reports should be 1.5 spaced or double spaced.
Include references for all your sources, including the textbook and any web resources.
Include your name and student ID number at the top of your essay.
Include the word count at the end of the report.
Include page numbers on all pages (top or bottom of page).
References and citations are to be in APA format
You do not need to include and abstract or a title/ cover page.
This is to be written in essay form so you do need to include a short introduction and a short conclusion.
Do not plagiarize! Plagiarism includes copying word for word from someone else, or writing about someone’s idea without giving them credit. Plagiarism may result in a zero grade.
References
Your references should be cited using the APA citation format and should be arranged in alphabetical order. It is expected that you use at least three peer-reviewed academic journal references to support your answers. You may also refer to information from the text book and reliable websites for additional information. However, note that the Knox et al., (2019) textbook will not be counted as one of your three peer-reviewed academic references. Any information from websites must also be appropriately referenced.
See the link here to the SFU library site for information about how to cite using APA referencing style. https://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/cite-write/citation-style-guides/apa Links to an external site.Links to an external site.
Grading
You will be graded on accuracy and clarity of your discussion, the ability to engage critically with academic concepts and the quality and thoroughness in responding to the task. Formatting and grammar will also be taken into account—this includes referencing, so be sure follow instructions about references and complete your citations and reference list correctly.
