“Exploitation of tar sands would make it implausible to stabilize climate and avoid disastrous global climate impacts” … “Phase out of emissions from coal is itself an enormous challenge. However, if the tar sands are thrown into the mix, it is essentially game over.”
~ Dr. James Hansen (Big deal climate guy)
Massive White House sit-in pressures President Obama on key environmental decision; Two week-long protest, Saturday, Aug. 20 – Saturday, Sept. 3
As early as September, U.S. President Barack Obama will decide whether to light a fuse to the largest carbon bomb in North America — a way to make it easier and faster to trigger the final, lethal overheating of our planet.
The bomb is the massive Athabasca oil/tar sands field in Alberta, Canada. The fuse is the 1,700-mile long Keystone XL Pipeline that would transport this dirtiest of petroleum fuels to Texas refineries.
Bill McKibben, Naomi Klein, Dr. James Hansen and over 2,000 people from all 50 states are expected to take part in a peaceful, two week sit-in at the White House from Aug. 20th to Sept. 3rd to pressure President Obama to deny the permit for the construction of this pipeline.
More about Canada’s Tar Sands
ecoSanity Compilation: Tar Sands KILL — Essential Facts & Resources
Below is a collection of what happened at the sit-ins, followed by more videos and resources:
Week 2
Day 15, 09/03/2011: 243 arrests, 1252 total, 617,460 petition. Phase 2 next!
Day 14, 09/02/2011: 166 arrests, 1009 total, Indigenous leaders, Naomi Klein
Day 13, 09/01/2011: 137 arrests, (R)Nebraska Gov opposes, Gore endorses
Day 12, 08/31/2011: 111 arrests, 706 total, largest in a generation
Day 11, 08/30/2011: White House, Obama ignore protest, arrests
Day 10, 08/29/2011: 140+ arrests at White House pipeline protest
Week 1
Day 8, 08/27/2011: Hurricane Irene: Global warming’s heavy cost, Bill McKibben
Day 7, 08/26/2011: 54 more arrested, State Dept. report exoriated
Day 6, 08/25/2011: Ottawa Tar Sands Action announced
Day 5, 08/24/2011: Jailhouse Rock: Great post by Mike Tidwell, Climate Progress
Day 4, 08/23/2011: Actors Margot Kidder/Tantoo Cardinal among 60 arrested
Day 3, 08/22/2011: Another 52 arrested to ask Pres Obama to stand up to big oil
Day 2, 08/21/2011: 50 more arrests, protesters undeterred
Day 1, 08/20/2011: Statement on first day’s police 50+ arrests
U.S., Washington D.C., Aug. 20 – Sept. 3, 2011
- Website – TarSandsAction.org
- Press/pics/vids – TarSandsAction.org/press
- Coverage – TarSandsAction.org/press/coverage
- Invitation – TarSandsAction.org/invitation
- Petition – TarSandsAction.org/petition
- Sign up – TarSandsAction.org/signup
- Schedule – TarSandsAction.org/schedule
- Website/Petition – act.350.org/sign/tar-sands
- Facebook – Tar Sands Action
- Facebook – Tar Sands & Solidarity Actions
- Twitter – @TarSandsAction
- Petition – Stop Canada’s Deadly Oil, Avaaz.org
Canada, Ottawa, Sept. 26, 2011
- Website – OttawaAction.ca
- Facebook – Ottawa Tar Sands Action / Action Halte aux sables bitunimeux à Ottawa
- Twitter – @OttawaAction
MORE
Articles/Blogs: Canada’s Oil/Tar Sands in Alberta
- Article – Stand together against the tar sands scourge, Redford, Globe & Mail
- Article/graphic – Tar sands CEO convicted of ecocide in prestigious UK test trial. Is Stephen Harper next? Barry Saxifradge, Vancouver Observer
- Article – Part 1 – Oil sands: Canada’s 10 (1-6) ethical challenges, Nikiforuk, Tyee
- Article – Part 2 – 2 more ethical challenges to Canada’s oil sands, Tyee
- Article – Part 3 – China and 2 more ethical challenges to oil sands, Tyee
- Post – Open letter to Oprah Winfrey on ‘Ethical Oil’ ads, E. Pullman, DeSmog
- Article – Harper sleepwalking toward 2020 climate targets, Toronto Star
- Post – To hit climate target, Canada would have to work 10 x harder, Pembina
- Post – A challenge to Peter Kent from the Tar Sands, Greenpeace Canada
- Article – Cdn gov’t accused of ‘unprecedented’ tar sands lobbying, Guardian
- Article – Keep Alberta’s oil in the ground, Bill McKibben, Globe and Mail
- Article – If Brazil has to guard its rainforest, why does Canada/U.S. get to burn its tar sands? Bill McKibben, Huffpost
- Article – Canada hiding its carbon emissions growth amidst rapid tar sands boom, T. J. Scolnick, DeSmog Blog
- Article – Canada spurns Kyoto in favour of tar sands, Stephen Leahy, IPS
- Keep Europe out of the tar sands, IEN
- Canada hides 20% annual tar sands pollution increase from UN, DeSmog
- Canada’s crude politics on oil sands, Martin Lukacs, The Guardian
- Letters – Collected letters from Cdn citizens to help new envir(oil)ment criminal, Peter Kent, understand ethics and tar sands, Environmental Defence
- Article – What those who killed the tar sands pollution report don’t want you to know, Andrew Nikiforuk, The Tyee
- Article – The fallacy of “ethical oil”, Andrew Nikiforuk, The Tyee
- Suzuki – Will take more than rebranding to make tar sands oil “ethical”, DSF
- Article – Does Peter Kent even care about emissions? Globe and Mail
Articles: Alberta to Texas Keystone XL pipeline, Climate & Environmental Crimeline
- Post – Puncturing the pipeline, Bill McKibben, TomDispatch
- Statement – Big news: We won. You won. Bill McKibben, for TarSandsAction
- Article – Stop the tar sands destruction – outlaw this ecocide, The Guardian
- Article/Pics – 12,000 tar sands protesters surround White House, Treehugger
- Article – Groups sue to block Keystone XL pipeline construction, L. Graves, HP
- Graphic – Keystone XL Pipeline corruption investigation, Friends of the Earth
- Article – Keystone Pipeline revolt: Mass arrests just the beginning, McKibben, RS
- ecoSanity – Compilation: Ottawa Sit-in to STOP Tar Sands Devastation, Sept. 26, 2011
- Post – “Constant and disastrously” leaking U.S. pipelines are the mess in the middle of the Keystone XL debate, Joe Romm re: Bill McKibben, Climate Progress
- U.S. awash in oil and lies, report charges, Stephen Leahy, IPS via Truthout
- Overview & Report – Exporting energy security: Keystone XL Pipeline exposed! Steve Kretzmann, PriceofOil.com
- Post – Pipelines 101, Ben Jervey, DeSmog Blog
- Post – As America’s ‘last best river’ suffers through Exxon spill, Experts warn of risks from Kyestone XL pipeline, Climate Progress
- Article – Path appears clear for oil pipeline from Canada, Neela Banerjee, LA Times
- Article – Rupture in planned U.S. pipeline (Keystone XL) could release 7 million gallons of oil, chances of spills significantly underestimated, S. Goldenberg, The Guardian
- Hansen slams Keystone XL Canada-U.S. pipeline: “Exploitation of tar sands would make it implausible to stabilize climate and avoid disastrous climate impacts”, CP
- Fact sheet – Keystone XL Pipeline, NRDC
- Collected – Keystone XL Pipeline, NWF
- Collected – Keystone XL Pipeline posts, DeSmog Blog
- Website – TarSandsAction.org
General
- Website – TarSandsAction.org
- Website – DirtyOilSands.org
- Website – Pembina Institute, OilSandsWatch.org
- Website – Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) – Tar Sands
- Website – Greenpeace – Stop The Tar Sands
- Website – RAN.org – Tar Sands
- Website – 350.org – Tar Sands
- Campaign – Climate Action Network Canada – End fossil fuel tax breaks
- Website – Polaris Institute – TarSandsWatch.org
- Website – Friends of the Earth – Tar Sands
- Website – NRDC – Tar sands
- Website – Council of Canadians, Tar Sands
- Special Issue – Tar Sands, The Dominion
- Website – Treehugger, Facts About the Canadian Tar Sands
- Collected – Tar sands posts, The War Over Tar Sands, TheTyee.ca
- Collected – Tar sands posts, DeSmog Blog
- Special Series – Shifting Sands, Globe and Mail
- Wikipedia – Athabasca tar sands
- Wikipedia – Shale oil
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