On October 14th the International LNG in BC Conference is going to be held here in Vancouver. We'd like to give them the welcome we think they deserve.
WHAT: Make Some Fracking Noise - A Community Noise Demo
WHEN: Wednesday October 14th @ 6:00 p.m.
WHERE: Meet at the Olympic Cauldron (1055 Canada Place – near Waterfront SkyTrain Station). We will go on a short march to visit some fracking corporations and end up at Canada Place (999 Canada Pl.) where the conference is being held.
WHY: Because alternatives that are better for the people, better for the land, and better for the future make sense and "drill baby drill," no matter what the cost, doesn't!
HOW: Bring your artful signs, banners and other messages and BRING YOUR NOISE MAKERS!
Invite you friends (and see latest updates on speakers etc) on the Facebook event page www.facebook.com/events/534927583323496/
Download & print some posters! http://risingtide604.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/FrackingNoise-Poster-...
This action is part of the #FloodTheSystem grassroots mobilization. Find out more at www.floodthesystem.net
Need signs and banners for the noise demo? Come to our art build on Sat. Oct 10!
https://www.facebook.com/events/762338680561760/
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This event will be held on the traditional and unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.
This event is held in solidarity with frontline communities, including The Unist'ot'en Camp and Madii Lii Camp.
This event will be conducted primarily in English.
This event will be held outside on city streets, sidewalks and spaces. Wheelchair accessible washrooms will be most readily available in local businesses and restaurants. ASL interpretation provided by Douglas College Sign Language Interpretation students (Thank you!).
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Some context:
There's nothing "natural" about natural gas. At present, about half of the gas extracted in BC is fracked gas. Almost all new extraction for LNG exports is planned to be from fracking, so LNG is better called "Liquefied Fracked Gas" or "LFG".
Indigenous communities in the North and across Turtle Island are being heavily impacted by the gas industry. There are communities that can't even shower in their water let alone drink it or cook with it. Yet, pipelines that destroy water sources and land continue to be proposed, fracking and gas extraction continues. Demands to stop these projects are being consistently ignored to make way for corporate profit.
Hardly a transition fuel, LFG produces about the same greenhouse gas pollution as coal. Fracked gas is in direct competition with energy conservation, wind, solar and other low-carbon energy sources. We need effective community based responses to the climate crisis, not more polluting fossil fuels.
Economically speaking, the numbers just don't add up. It costs more to liquefy and transport this dirty fuel than it can be sold for.
We are all downstream from these projects! Provincial and federal funds subsidizing and supporting the fossil fuel industries are not being put into other social services that our communities actually need. Education, socially subsidized housing, child care, women's centres, centres offering supports with people struggling with mental health issues, services for refugees and migrants and health care are services that indigenous, poor and racialised communities are constantly fighting for and their voices are consistently being ignored. Governments implement austerity measures saying there's no money for the services that will support people’s lives, but there are endless amounts of energy and money to lobby for the industries that further marginalize communities.
Indigenous sovereignty is being ignored and undermined. The poor are being displaced from their homes and communities. The labour market is forcing people into precarious work in a fossil fuel industry that rips workers away from their communities and families. This is not the embodiment of a just and respectful community that we want!
So what exactly are the federal and provincial governments doing??
We're not sure, but what we DO know is that on Wednesday October 14th we're going to make a lot of NOISE and make sure that the people running and attending this convention know that their fracking industry is NOT WELCOME.
Help us build a true climate justice movement, and create the just and respectful community we want and need!
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More info:
The Unist’ot’en Camp has a checkpoint set up at the entrance to their territory, to protect sovereign Wet’suwet’en territory from several proposed pipelines from the Tar Sands Gigaproject and shale gas from Hydraulic Fracturing Projects in the Peace River Region. Find out more at http://unistotencamp.wordpress.com/ or email: unistotencamp@riseup.net.
The Madii Lii Camp is located at the entrance to Madii Lii territory within the Gitxsan Nation, in Northwest BC. On Aug. 26, 2014, the hereditary chiefs of the territory declared access to the territory closed to all fracked gas (LFG/LNG) pipeline development and other unauthorized industrial activity, and enacted the Luutkudziiwus Territorial Management Plan. Find out more at http://www.madiilii.com/ or email: richardwright_8@hotmail.com.
Council of Canadians Fact Sheets:
Fracking and Climate Change http://canadians.org/publications/factsheet-fracking-and-climate-change
LNG in BC: Fracking our future http://canadians.org/publications/lng-bc-fracking-our-future
Fracking Myths and Realities by Andrew Nikiforuk http://thetyee.ca/Series/2013/01/08/Fracking-Myths-And-Realities/
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.