Monday, November 23, 2009

Heavy oil project

My latest venture was to dive into another environmental story.

I heard a few clips on CTV Regina news about new heavy oil project that was starting up in Saskatchewan. The coverage was brief and most people seemed happy about it.

After living in Alberta for eight months, I wasn't convinced that all Saskatchewan residents welcomed the new project. Albertans are extremely skeptical and critical of oil projects, so I set out to see if that tone existed in Saskatchewan.

I spoke with Chris Bloomer who is with Petrobank. They are the oil company heading up the whole project. It's a new technology that basically extracts the oil that is left behind by other conventional methods. It's touted as being more efficient and environmentally friendly.

The project is near Kerrobert, which is 180km west of Saskatoon. I spoke to someone from the town who said the businesses appreciate the added traffic of people that come with the oil projects.

The leader of the Green Party, Laura Shasko, was less than accepting of the project. She said we need to face our addiction to consuming fuel, instead of using more "environmentally friendly" techniques to extract it.

Check out the full coverage in my article:

http://www.jschool.ca//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=205&Itemid=1

Election Coverage

I did not spend my election night at city hall. I didn't even have to chase a story. I was on the editorial team the week of the civic elections, therefore I was able to comfortably sit on my couch and post the results by 10 p.m.

I would not have had this luxury if it hadn't been for the internet results. They were uploaded minute by minute. At times, I knew more than the election commentators did. It was no great feat to gather the results from Moose Jaw or Saskatoon in a jiffy.

I can't say I got the full election experience. I know my other classmates had to chase down much more than I did.

Check out our election coverage. It was the best in the city!

http://www.jschool.ca//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=196&Itemid=1