Tar Sands Energy Event Explores Frontline Environmental Issues
Presented by UIC’s Institute for the Humanities and the Freshwater Lab
The Institute for the Humanities and the Freshwater Lab hosted a critical event titled The Refined State: Tar Sands, Pet Coke, and the Front Lines of Great Lakes Oil Cities for Energy. The program explored the far-reaching impacts of tar sands production, petroleum coke (petcoke) storage, and oil refining across Great Lakes urban centers.
Held on April 19, 2016, at 3 PM, the event took place at the UIC Institute for the Humanities, located at 701 South Morgan, lower level of Stevenson Hall, University of Illinois at Chicago.
Connecting Environmental Injustice to Public Awareness
Although fossil fuel infrastructure often hides in plain sight, its impacts are deeply felt by nearby communities. The event aimed to expose how tar sands refining and petcoke storage disproportionately affect working-class neighborhoods and communities of color. In doing so, speakers highlighted the urgent need for transparency, regulation, and public engagement.
At the same time, The Refined State encouraged attendees to think critically about their own role in energy systems. While policymakers debate global climate goals, residents in cities like Chicago face real-time health risks. Therefore, this event bridged academic research with grassroots activism, creating space for powerful dialogue.
Through firsthand stories, data, and community organizing models, participants left not just informed—but motivated. Most importantly, they gained tools to advocate for cleaner, more just energy solutions across the Great Lakes region and beyond.
An important event on Tar Sands
This important discussion brought together scholars, activists, and local leaders. Together, they examined the social, environmental, and political effects of dirty energy systems on communities living near refineries and waterways. Furthermore, the event connected regional struggles to broader national and global debates on energy justice.
Supported by the UIC Institute for the Humanities and the Humanities Without Walls consortium, this program demonstrated the power of collaborative inquiry. The Humanities Without Walls consortium—based at the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign—also receives generous funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Because of this support, the event was entirely free and open to the public. In fact, students, educators, and community members were encouraged to attend. Please contact us in advance if you plan to bring a class, so we can ensure proper seating arrangements.
Altogether, The Refined State offered a vital space for reflection, education, and action on one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time.
Before tar sands reach consumers as usable energy, they undergo extensive refining. Refineries like the BP Whiting Indiana plant or the Marathon Detroit plant are long-standing institutions. Those that have recently been retrofitted to accommodate the shift of energy source. They sit directly on Great Lakes waterfronts. Despite a well-publicized lawsuit and a refinery strike. All so a few residents or consumers of Tar Sands energy know how refineries operate. I mean or relate to their host communities.
How do refineries impact the economic and political status of their neighbors? How can the neighbors’ concerns be heard by energy executives or, for that matter, by the consumers of oil?
Noah Hall
Wayne State University Law School
Thomas Frank
Southeast Environmental Task Force
Dr. Cecilia Martinez
Director of Research Programs
Center for Earth Energy & Democracy
This presentation was part of the series: “The Oil-Water Mix in the Great Lakes: Social Contexts & Thirst for Justice”
A lecture series organized by The Freshwater Lab and Professor Prof. Rachel Havrelock, UIC English Department
Supported by the UIC Institute for the Humanities, this program brought people together. It also partnered with the Humanities Without Walls consortium, which is based at the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Moreover, the Humanities Without Walls consortium receives funding through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Because of this support, the program remained free and open to the public. As a result, more people gained access to vital conversations in the humanities.
