Vancouver
Protest Enbridge at the Oil and Gas Export Summit
12:00pm
- 1:00pm
Wednesday May 30 2012
Protest against Enbridge and the Canada Oil and Gas Export Summit in Vancouver on May 30th at the Four Seasons Hotel.
Speakers: tba
Don't forget your red squares. Let's bring the Maple Spring to BC and join Quebec students in opposing the 1% agenda of austerity and environmental destruction.
On May 30th/31st the 1% are meeting at the Four Seasons hotel for a two day conference to plot their strategy for Exporting raw tar sands bitumen across BC and overseas to China via pipelines and super tankers.
http://www.insightinfo.com/oilgasexport
Among the speakers at this conference will be Paul Fisher,
Vice-President of Commercial and Western Access for Enbridge Pipelines which is proposing the Northern Gateway Pipeline.
Export of raw unrefined bitumen to China is the solution offered by Canada's 1% to the global economic crisis. Stephen Harper's conservative government in lock-step with the oil and gas industry claim that this is the only way to create jobs and build a sustainable future. However, two recent reports have shown these claims to be false.
"Enbridge Pipe Dreams and Nightmares" by Marc Lee of the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives shows that promises of job creation have been greatly exaggerated. Investments in alternative energy development would produce far more jobs for the same level of investment and allow Canada to honor it's international obligations to reduce CO2 emissions.
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/pipedreams
"Proposed Pipelines and Tanker Spill Risk for BC" by independent economist, Robyn Allan, shows that the risk for oil spills is much greater than either the government or the pipeline companies have been willing to admit. It has already been shown that the cost of even one spill on land or sea would be enormous.
Less than two years ago Enbridge was responsible for the largest inland crude oil pipeline spill in North American history.
"On July 26, 2010, Line 6B erupted spilling almost 25,000 barrels of bitumen into the Kalamazoo River in Marshall, Michigan. Almost two years later clean-up continues and costs have reached a reported $765 million."
Taken together these studies show that the risks to jobs and the environment outweigh any possible economic benefits.
But the Harper government is determined to promote pipelines at all costs and are ramming through a blueprint for fast-tracking pipelines buried in the omnibus budget Bill C-38.
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/elizabeth-may/2012/05/clarifiying-deliberately-confusing-bill-c-38
There'll be a banner making session for this event on Tuesday evening from 7 to 9pm organized by ForestEthics at their office.
The site for the Vancouver local of The Media Co-op has been archived and will no longer be updated. Please visit the main Media Co-op website to learn more about the organization.