The first week of negotiations in Copenhagen ended with a second tar sands focussed action. Indigenous and non-indigenous people from Canada and the US come together to remind everyone that the tar sands is not just a Canadian issue—it affects everyone and there is no room for the tar sands in a just climate deal.
Photo Credit: Ben Powless
The group proceeded peacefully through the COP15 conference centre holding up placards that said “We don’t want your dirty oil” and “But we are blocking progress just for you.” The placards set up a dialogue between the Canadian and US government leaders, showing that both governments are blocking progress together. This procession was an unprecedented action of solidarity between Indigenous peoples, Canadian youth, and US youth condemning the tar sands together.
Three women led the procession through the conference centre: Eriel Deranger, a Dene woman from Fort Chipewyan; Kandi Mossett, a Mandas, Kidatsa and Arikara woman from a community in North Dakota where they are constructing a tar sands oil refinery; and Kimia Ghomeshi, a climate justice organizer in Canada. All three delivered powerful speeches before they proceeded through the halls silently.
The solidarity action happened soon after several MPs from the EU wrote a letter to major European oil companies denouncing their involvement in the tar sands. The letter declared the tar sands “outrageous” and “irresponsible.” While these countries were not saying ‘no’ to oil, they were definitely saying ‘no’ tar sands oil. Global political leaders feel comfortable speaking out against these destructive projects because the tar sands speak for themselves when it comes to how morally and ethically wrong they are. They are a violation of human rights and the dirtiest form of oil. They are unnecessary in our world and they just cannot exist if we are to achieve climate justice.
Eriel Deranger is the Tar Sands Campaigner for the Rainforest Action Network.
Kandi Mossett is the Tribal Campus Climate Challenge Organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network.
Kimia Ghomeshi is the Campaigns Coordinator for the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition.
Tar sands are the most inefficient way of extracting energy from natural resources. Pursuing this industry at a time when so many fuel alternatives exists is short sighted at best.
A similar demonstration was held in London outside Canada House on Monday. Members of the public, activists and Climate Campers joined together to protest at Canada’s violation of First Nation land rights and abandonment of common sense. In a world with an abundance of oil and alternatives, tar sands should be the very last resort.