Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, said that if the oil price were to stay at $80 a barrel for a long period, then the global market would collapse. This implies that the oil price has a huge impact on the world market. However, the oil price keeps decreasing. This is good news for China. First, China is one of the largest oil-consuming countries in the world, so it is beneficial for Chinese importers. Second, the cost of energy will decrease, increasing consumers’ buying power.

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There are many reasons behind recent declines in the oil price. First, the rate of economic growth is declining, and therefore oil demand and prices have been decreasing. Second, the decrease in the oil price has increased the supply of oil from both OPEC and non-OPEC countries. The supply of OPEC increased from 30.66 million barrels per day to about 31 million. Finally, many Western countries, particularly the U.S., want to damage the Russian economy and encourage the recovery of the European economy.

It is indeed good news that oil prices are declining, even for only a short period.

Wendy Lin

There is a theory about the “invisible hand” in the market economy. The theory, introduced by Adam Smith, posits that deals between families and firms are guided by some invisible hand, producing good market results. The price is the tool of the “invisible hand,” leading economic activity. When buyers or sellers decide on the level of demand or supply, both look at prices because they reflect the social value of goods and the social cost of producing those goods. The failure of the Soviet Union demonstrates the benefit of this “invisible hand.”

The Soviet Union was a command economy planned by the government to control the market. After years of the command economy, some limitations became apparent. First, the government uniformly controlled different sectors such as different departments, industries, and local communities. Therefore, production was owned by the country, not the so-called “community,” and the national economy became an economy with no owner. Second, the scarcity of products made the market fail. Finally, the Soviet Union’s regulation could not sustain long-term development.

The causes of these problems can be summarized as follows: First, a planned economy could not follow rapid advances in technologies. Second, mistakes made in decisions in the command economy caused a plunge and huge losses. Finally, bureaucratization emerged, and the integrity of the Soviet Union was broken.

No country has successfully managed a command economy. In fact, a command economy has been an important cause of failure for countries. In particular, the basic problem derives from the economy, not policies.

Wendy Lin

Toby Kim

            It is an undeniable fact that one of the most essential energy sources to earth was the sunlight. It enabled various things on earth. Sunlight helped plants grow and cold-blooded animals control their body temperature. Sunlight also supplied essential vitamins and nutrients to people and kept them healthy. These days, people are even using sunlight to generate electricity using solar panels to collect sunlight. It is amazing that the sun has been producing this important sunlight for over 4 billion years. The sunlight is the result of the nuclear fusion of the atoms of the sun.

            The center of the sun, which is also called as the core, has pressures and temperatures that are extremely high that they can force nuclei of the atoms to do fusion. When this kind of nuclear fusion reaction occurs, energy is produced. The mankind utilized this type of reaction in order to create hydrogen bomb, which emits massive amounts of light and energy and is capable of destroying thousands of buildings and killing millions of people. In the sun, the “proton-proton cycle” occurs in order to produce energy. In the proton-proton cycle reaction, hydrogen nuclei change into helium nuclei, which produce gamma rays that are hot and contain a lot of energy. After the energy is produced from the core, it takes about million years for the energy to go through the layer of the sun. While passing through the layer, photons in the ray are continuously changed and converted. The energy produced is then emitted as energy particles, which are sunlight.

            The sun is largely divided into 2 parts. They are the core and the layer. The core is where hydrogen nuclei are initially converted to Helium atoms. The core takes up about 40% of the radius of the sun. The rest of the 60% is the radioactive layer of the sun. This is where the energy produced by the reaction in the core is transported to the surface of the sun. The core is made up of 62% helium nuclei and the layer is made up of 72% hydrogen.

            The energy on the surface of the sun is enormous. The energy emitted from the surface reaches about 230 million watts per square meter. When the sunlight energy reaches the earth though, it is reduced to about millionth of its original, which warms the earth and sustains various lives on the earth. Therefore, we can see that by nuclear fusion, sun has generated sunlight energy and supported the environment of the earth.

The Trans Mountain Pipeline

The Trans Mountain Pipeline is the primary transportation system for moving oil exports through the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. It has been in operation since 1953, and serves as the only pipeline of oil exports through the two provinces (Laanela 4). The 1150 kilometer pipeline, operated by Kinder Morgan Canada Inc, is considered essential for the economy and employment opportunities by both the provincial government and the federal government. The owner of the Trans Mountain Pipeline, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP, announced in 2013 its proposal to expand the pipeline by twinning the existing infrastructure which will allow for the oil exports to triple in capacity (Trans Mountain UPDATES Customer Commitments for Proposed Expansion Project). The National Energy Board of Canada approved the twinning of the pipeline which led to large opposition from environmental groups and several First Nations who had concerns regarding potential environmental impacts caused by increased tanker traffic and the increased risk of oil spills. In addition, many First Nations groups felt that they were inadequately consulted regarding the pipeline approval process and the implications that would have on their lands. This led the many groups opposed to the project to file an appeal with the federal court of appeal. The federal court of appeal reached a verdict in August of 2018 regarding the National Energy Board’s approval of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project.

The verdict reached by the court revealed the success of appeal.  According to the document, the “court decision, which effectively halts all construction until a new federal permit meeting the court’s conditions can be approved, quashed Ottawa’s approval of the project on two grounds: [One being] The National Energy Board’s failure to consider the project’s impact on the marine environment, including the impact of increased tanker traffic on the endangered population of southern resident killer whales. [And two being] a failure in the last stage of the consultation process with First Nations — referred to as Phase III — to engage in a considered, meaningful two-way dialogue”(Laanela 3).  As a result of this decision, the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project will have to halt until the NEB and the system “The court ruling requires the energy board to conduct a new review—which the court suggests could be kept short—and means the government will have to redo part of its consultations with Indigenous groups” (Bryden 2). Well most First Nations people saw this as a victory, there were others who were in favor of the expansion project.

The court decision was received with elation by both indigenious groups and environmental activists who were genuinely surprised by the outcome. When asked for his reaction to the court ruling, Grand Chief Stewart Philip of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) said that “I’m absolutely elated. I’m ecstatic. We denounced the so-called consultation process from the beginning as fundamentally flawed.. and the courts upheld that” (Laanela 1). The decision was seen by many First Nations groups as a victory and an important step towards reconciliation. In a statement to the press,”Tsleil -Waututh Chief Maureen Thomas and UBCIC vice-president Bob Chamberlin explained that “This is what reconciliation can be in Canada” (Laanela 2). Although First Nations leaders saw this as a victory, there were some leaders who were still in favor of the expansion project proceeding.

While supporting the ruling of the Court, a few leaders, such as Chief Mike LeBourdais of the Whispering Pines First Nation, believe that they should have the rights to own or control parts of the new expansion program. Chief Mike LeBourdais stated that “We are tired of watching corporations from Texas making money off our resources as they flow by….. we want to protect the environment and we want to do it on our terms” (Laanela 3). Chief LeBourdais, along with a few other indigenious leaders, believe that the environmental issue will be solved with more involvement from First Nation groups as well as increased consultation regarding the issue.

The decision rendered by the Federal Court of Appeal is a victory for environmental groups as well as indigenious groups. However, the battle to convince the government to abandon the project continues as the decision will only delay the project until proper consultation has been achieved. More action may be necessary for those groups that wish to see the project scraped permanently.

Chenhe Ma

Works Cited

Laanela, Mike. “‘We are winning’: Several B.C. First Nations celebrate Trans Mountain victory.” CBC.ca , CBC News, 30 August 2018, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/trans-mountain-first-nations-federal-court-1.4804734., Accessed 04 August 2021.

“Trans Mountain UPDATES Customer Commitments for Proposed Expansion

Project.” Kinder Morgan – Trans Mountain Updates Customer Commitments for 

Proposed Expansion Project, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P., 10 January 2013,

https://ir.kindermorgan.com/news/news-details/2013/Trans-Mountain-Updates-Custo

mer-Commitments-for-Proposed-Expansion-Project/default.aspx.,

Accessed 04 August 2021.

Bryden, Joan. “Trans Mountain Expansion Halted by Federal Court of Appeal.”

Macleans.ca, The Canadian Press, 30 August 2018,

https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/trans-mountain-expansion-halted-by-federal-c

ourt-of-appeal/., Accessed 04 August 2021.