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Star Power Shines Bright Against Risky Pipelines’ Dark Plans
By DirtyOilSands.org
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Some of North America’s most familiar stars are shining their light on the “folly” of proposals to build tarsands pipelines from northern Alberta to Kitimat, B.C.
“As a Canadian, as someone who feels a moral responsibility as a Canadian, whose government is participating so intensively in such an intensive set of projects in the tarsands, as a global citizen as well, I felt it was an obligation if I had the opportunity ... to see first-hand what is at the heart of our largest emitter of global greenhouse gases in this country,” Canadian musician Sarah Harmer told Vancouver’s The Province , after touring the tarsands and proposed Northern Gateway pipeline route. “Clearly for me, it’s a path that I believe we should be taking the opposite path, which is transitioning to renewables. Keeping the resources.”
Harmer is just one of an impressive list of tarsands opponents that just keeps on growing:
- Ladysmith, B.C.’s own Pamela Anderson, former star of Baywatch.
- Tantoo Cardinal, a Canadian actress and member of the Order of Canada, who was born in the heart of what has become known as Tarsands Country.
- Daryl Hannah, a Hollywood star who appeared in Splash, Kill Bill, and the cult classic, Blade Runner.
- Sarah Harmer, a Canadian musician who has been nominated for six – count ‘em, six! – Juno Awards.
- Peter Keleghan, a Canadian actor who played Ranger Gord in the Canadian classic, The Red Green Show.
- Michael Moore, an Academy Award-winning director whose various films have taken on corporations on other issues.
- Ellen Page, a Canadian actress from Halifax who recently received both Golden Globe and Academy Award “Best Actress” nominations for her role in Juno.
- Mark Ruffalo, most notable for his portrayal of The Incredible Hulk in The Avengers.
- Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams, who won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for her work to ban landmines.
In various media stories across the country, all these stars have voiced opposition to tarsands development and and/or the Northern Gateway and Kinder-Morgan pipelines proposals, and pledged their support for the Defend Our Coast protest that will see more than 3500 people attend a sit-in on October 22 in Victoria, what organizers hope will be “the largest act of peaceful civil disobedience on the climate issue that Canada has ever seen.” The Victoria protest will be followed by local protests at MLA offices in communities across B.C. to show B.C. politicians there is “an unprecedented wall of opposition to tar sands, pipelines and tankers.”
“We stand in solidarity with our northern neighbours,” Daryl Hannah told The Globe and Mail after she was arrested in East Texas for participating in a protest to stop the construction of TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline route. Mark Ruffalo called tarsands pipelines an exercise in folly. "Real energy independence would be moving ourselves to wind, water and sun and get rid of the toxic, outdated and antiquated fossil fuel paradigm that continues to trample First Nation and land owner rights and destroy fresh water, fresh air and farm land.”
Michael Moore was rather more outspoken: “There’s a reason Americans call Stephen Harper ‘Bush of the North’ – he’s a totally owned subsidiary of big oil, and is trying to import all of the worst things about the U.S. and get rid of all the best things about Canada.”
After touring the proposed route of the Northern Gateway pipeline, Jody Williams said she was convinced that local communities will halt the proposed Enbridge project, noting that women in community after community, women told her that they would lie down in front of the bulldozers to prevent the pipeline from being built.
Visit defendourcoast.ca today to join Harmer, Hannah and a host of Canadian and American entertainers who oppose the tar sands and the pipelines that would carry its dark cargo all over the world.
Tagged with: keystone xl, transcanada, enbridge, tar sands, stephen harper, protest, oilsands
