Coastal First Nations Remembers Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in Ad Campaign

Have you heard the radio call from the Exxon Valdez?  The audio of the tanker captain’s call for help over the radio is the opening soundtrack for a 2 minute awareness ad for the campaign against the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline, and the expansion of tanker traffic on the coast of BC.  The ad gives us statistics on the potential impact of a spill like the Exxon Valdez in Canada, for example, costing 4,379 jobs, and $21.4 Billion dollars to clean up (biologists monitoring the ecosystems in Alaska point out that the Valdez spill was never fully cleaned up and that oil can still be found by digging a few feet into the sand of some beaches.  See Lingering Oil).  Set to the Sounds of Silence by Paul Simon, the video is a reminder to us of what is at stake in pursuing a resource-based industry in Canada.

Haida Nation Grills Enbridge at the NEB Hearings in Edmonton

An excerpt from the Haida Gwaii Observer:

“The Haida Nation grilled Enbridge executives and pipeline experts with questions about the price of oil, how much money the federal government stands to make and which First Nations are in favour of the pipeline during final hearings for the Northern Gateway project last week in Edmonton. Council of the Haida Nation president Guujaaw and lawyer Terri Lynn Williams Davidson spoke on behalf of the Haida Nation at the Sept. 20 session.

Guujaaw began his questions by asking about prices for crude oil, and how they would be affected by the proposed pipeline, which would carry tar sands oil to Kitimat for transport to markets in the Far East. Continue reading

Think Tankers: Riki Ott Speaks About the Exxon Valdez Spill in Haida Gwaii

Want to know more about what happened in Alaska when the Exxon Valdez Spilled a supertanker of oil?  How about what’s going on now?  Come and see Riki Ott speak in Masset and Charlotte about her own experiences with clean-up and as an “incidental activist.”  This event is supported by CoASt and the TBuck Suzuki Foundation.

 

Queen Charlotte

Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012 7:00 pm
Queen B’s Cafe, 3208 Wharf Street

Masset

Thursday, August 16, 2012 7:00 pm
The Haven, Harrison Ave (above Green Gaia)

Download the poster HG Think Tankers.

Van Observer Writers Publishing eBook on Coastal Pipeline Proposals

Need some straight facts to back up your opposition to Enbridge and Kinder Morgan’s pipeline proposals?  Vancouver Observer journalist Carrie Saxifrage will be editing an eBook that will offer just that.  Providing an alternative to Enbridge and KMP’s highly funded PR campaigns, the eBook will explore the long-term effects of oil spills like the Exxon Valdez and their possible impacts up and down the coast as well as revealing the many half-truths and snow jobs the two companies are selling to the public.

The new eBook, featuring a foreword by former Greenpeace International campaign director Tzeporah Berman, will be put together through an online campaign you can donate to at indigogo.com.  To learn about the project, get involved, or donate, go to:

http://igg.me/p/127271

Haisla File Important Legal Document with JRP Outlining Nation’s Opposition

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

As reported on Northwest Coast Energy News, the Haisla Nation has filed a legal document outlining their opposition to Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline.  The central issue for the Haisla Nation is their sovereignty over their territory and their right to be properly consulted.  It is a key question that both the Harper government and Enbridge have preferred to ignore in the hopes that constitutional issues will not beleaguer the pipeline’s progress.  In addition, Enbridge’s original filing of questions to the Haisla and other nations reveal their attempt to discredit opponents of the pipeline.

With the completion of the Joint Review Panel process, now estimated for December 2013, these important questions of territorial rights and sovereignty will come into greater focus as the campaign to stop the pipeline enters the courts.

For Northwest Coast Energy News’ coverage of the Haisla announcement in three related articles, please see:

Haisla Nation confirms it opposes Northern Gateway, demands Ottawa veto Enbridge pipeline; First Nation also outlines “minimum conditions” if Ottawa approves the project

The Empire Strikes Back I: Enbridge takes on First Nations, small intervenors

The Enbridge Empire Strikes Back II: The Haisla “fishing expedition”

Haisla outline where they believe Enbridge Gateway plans are inadequate

Haisla outline conditions, concerns for Northern Gateway project