On November 28th, another round of climate negotiations started and so far, the prospects are bleak. Canada, has received international attention for rejecting Kyoto and refusing to sign onto another commitment period. On the first day of the negotiations, Canada earned the First Place Fossil of the Day for failing to support a Second Commitment Period for the Kyoto Protocol, and abandoning its current participation in Kyoto. It also took Second Place Fossil due to Environment Minister Peter Kent's open refusal to make a 'guilt payment' to poorer countries, despite the role of Canadian tar sands oil in rising greenhouse gas pollution. The United Kingdom received Third Place for helping to move tar sands oil into Europe.
Tar Sands
A Call for Civil Disobedience for the Climate Justice Movement
This week, a number of prominent writers in the climate justice movement including James Hansen, Naomi Klein, Maude Barlow, David Suzuki, and Bill McKibben, wrote an open letter calling for civil action against the Keystone XL Pipeline. This summer, the State Department and the White House will decide whether or not to grant a certificate of 'national interest' to key fossil fuel producers thereby allowing the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. The Keystone XL Pipeline will move oil from Canada's tar sands to Texas refineries. This move would enable faster transport and increased volume of tar sand oil production. However the burning of these reserves would add approximate 200 ppm of CO2 into the atmosphere. Considering that as of October 2010, emissions were at 389 ppm, and that 350 ppm has been advocated as the safe upper limit for CO2, this improved production capacity could lead to 'run away' climate change. As James Hansen has stated, "if the tar sands are thrown into the mix it is essentially game over.” In addition, the pipeline would cross through First Nations communities and over the Ogallala Aquifer, where a spill would devastate water supplies. In response, environmental activists will stage a protest beginning in mid-August. Each day through Labor Day, they intend to march on the White House. The action will continue for several weeks, until the administration can either grant or deny the permit for the pipeline. Canadians are encouraged to join the protest by staging demonstrations in front of U.S. consulates. To become part of this action you can sign up here.
To read the open letter please visit Yes Magazine.
Alberta Tar Sands documentary airs on CBC tonight
A new documentary "Tar Sands, The Selling of Alberta" commissioned by the CBC, will be on channel 5 Toronto, tonight at 9 pm. In an interview on The Hour last night, the filmaker, Peter Raymont, pointed out that Fort McMurray, in Alberta, is the third largest Newfoundland city in Canada (that's an indication of the extent of within-Canada migration!).
For those of you who haven't paid much attention to exactly what the fuss about the Tar Sands is, imagine that you take a can of motor oil, walk over to your child's sand box (or the local park's kiddie sand box!), pour the oil into the sand, and mix it around. Then, someone tells you that you need to get that oil off of that sand and back into the can! That is the challenge with the Tar Sands - it's a huge fossil fuel reserve, but the oil is very difficult and energetically expensive to extract. When it comes to carbon emissions, the cost of extracting the oil is huge. The documentary explores the social impacts and geopolitics of this issue, moreso than the environmental aspects. But, all of these aspects are directly linked when it comes to sustainability. Highly recommended viewing.
Dawn Bazely
