2010 03 09


fullpage ad in Variety march 4 2010 at Sierra Club Canada

                Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers: Canadian Oil is Responsible Energy
                “We invite these activists back to planet Earth to discuss the appropriate balance between environmental protection, economic growth and a safe and reliable supply of energy.”
                [if this was an association of human organ harvesters, it would no doubt argue the need for balance between torture of people, making money and a reliable medical supply]

                said John Bennett, executive director of Sierra Club Canada, one of the groups that backed the ad:"Avatar is about industrialists wanting to take every last resource and use it without regard for the future, or for those who live nearby. That's very synonymous with what's happening with the tar sands."

spread of the oilsands from Dirty Oil Sands

from Sierra Club
First Nations respond to CAPP:

                "We used to be able to drink water directly from Beaver Lake and it didn't hurt us. We can no longer do that, and we can no longer make a traditional way of life in our home territory because of the tar sands developments. The oil companies can phrase it any way they like but no one has ever not dug for oil because of us and we don't find the consultation process meaningful."
Ron Lameman, Beaver Lake Cree Nation

                "While First Nations have been in the region for more than 10,000 years, major tarsands companies like Syncrude and Suncor have been leasees in our traditional homelands for only a fraction of that time, 40 years to be exact, I would question CAPP's take on characterizing us as "their" neighbours. I am a member and former Chief of the Mikisew Cree First Nation, the largest First Nation in the Athabasca tarsands and today our First Nation has no "formal" relationship with Syncrude or Suncor, that after 40 years is not something I would characterize as good corporateresponsibility. They actually have both recently been applying pressure to the First Nations in our community of Fort Chipewyan for speaking out publicly about environmental, health and other issues that we have observed with the unrelenting pace of tarsands development in the past few years.
                While we do have First Nations members employed in the industry and First Nation owned companies as contractors to tarsands companies, there is a growing concerns by First Nations in the region who question our involvement in the industry.
                First Nations especially the Mikisew Cree have recently intervened in several hearings for the multibillion dollar project applications and have recommended a moratorium on many of these applications until many of our issues were mitigated or science has caught up to the multitude of questions. So I would question CAPP and other oil companies suggesting that we are their "full partners and stakeholders" endorsing their actions.
                Having productive relationships with the oil and gas sector and endorsing their licences to operate is far from the truth from a First Nation perspective."
George Poitras, Mikisiew Cree

                "CAPP does not speak for aboriginal people; we will speak for ourselves. More and more of us are saying we don't want your tar sands, we don't want your pipelines, and we don't want your oil tankers.
                We aren't interested in being partners with an industry association that has shown such blatant disregard for our basic human rights. CAPP claims to address our "economic, social and cultural needs," but when our need is for them to stay out of our territories, it's only their own economic needs that get addressed."
David Luggi, Chief of the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council

Robert Engler The Politics of Oil: a study of private power and democratic directions (Chicago University Press 1961 out of print but still available on the net):
                “The petroleum industry has harnessed public law, governmental machinery, and opinion to ends that directly challenge public rule. In the name of prosperity and technology, the industry has been able to destroy competition and limit abundance. In the name of national interest it has received privileges beyond those accorded to other industries. In the name of national security, oil has influenced and profited from a foreign policy that has supported the chauvinism of a few rather than generosity to the aspirations of the many in underdeveloped areas. In the name of private enterprise, it has contributed to the attenuation of vital portions of democratic life, from education to civic morality. In the name of the right of representation, it has so entrenched itself within the political processes that it becomes impossible to distinguish public from private actions. In the name of freedom, the oil industry has received substantial immunity from public accountability.”
Chapter 4, "Toward World Government" at Mount Holyoke College Massachusetts
All this before climate change or wars for oil were concerns. Dr Engler passed away in 2007, at the age of 84.

see also [poisoned for profit]



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