[English Below]

Partout autour du monde, des communautés sont menacées par des industries d’extraction qui empoisonnent nos familles, tuent nos proches au travail, et détruisent les écosystèmes que nous chérissons. Le déversement de pétrole de BP n’est malheureusement qu’un chaînon d’une chaîne de catastrophes sans fin, nées d’un système économique qui se maintien en consommant sans cesse les ressources de la Terre.

Au Canada, les… sables bitumineux sont en croissance exponentielle. Dans le nord de l’Alberta, cette énorme marée noire continue de s’étendre lentement, avec ses bassins de décantation toxiques qui laissent chaque jour s’échapper des millions de litres d’eau contaminée dans la rivière Athabasca, empoisonnant les communautés en aval. Ceci vient de pair avec un système distribution : des oléoducs qui traversent le continent, y compris ici même à Montréal. La réalité, c’est que les oléoducs coulent et les sables bitumineux tuent.

Pour un climat stable, de l’air et de l’eau propre, il faut arrêter l’extraction des combustibles fossiles et des autres «ressources». De l’exploitation des sables bitumineux de l’Alberta, au gaz de schistes du Québec, jusqu’à la Côte du Golfe, les gens se battent contre les industries extractives qui ont déclaré la guerre à notre planète. À l’occasion du 1er anniversaire de la marée noire de BP, Justice Climatique Montréal se joindra à d’autres à travers le monde pour une journée d’action directe contre l’extraction.

L’extraction est l’action de prendre sans rien redonner.

Donc, le jour du 1er anniversaire du déversement de pétrole dans le Golfe, nous descendrons dans la rue, (littéralement) s’étaler dans Montréal pour réaffirmer notre vie sur cette terre et en solidarité avec toutes les personnes dont la vie est mise en péril par les industries d’extraction.

Venez nous rejoindre à midi, au coin des rues McGill College et Sherbrooke, pour vous joindre à la mêlée, tandis que le centre-ville de Montréal verra prendre vie le premier déversement de pétrole humain qui exposera la réalité que les foreurs de schiste, les colporteurs pétroliers et les marketeurs miniers créent autour du globe à chaque jour! Amenez un-e ami-e et un flare pour le spectaculaire!

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Communities around the world are under attack from extractive industries that poison our families, kill our loved ones on the job, and destroy the ecosystems we cherish. The BP oil spill was unfortunately just one of an endless string of disasters born of an economic system that must endlessly consume the Earth’s resources.

In Canada, as the tar sands are growing at an exponential rate. In a corner of Northern Alberta, the largest oil spill in slow motion continues to grow as toxic tailings ponds leaking millions of liters of contaminated water into the Athabasca River each and every day, poisoning downstream communities. This is coupled with a pipeline delivery system that will span the continent, including here in Montreal. The reality is that pipelines spill and the tar sands kill.

For a stable climate, clean air and water, we must stop the extraction of fossil fuels and other “resources.” From the tar sands of Alberta, to the Shale Gas plays of Quebec, all the way to the Gulf Coast, people are fighting back against the extractive industries that have declared war on our planet. Climate Justice Montreal will join others across the world for a day of direct action against extraction on the 1 year anniversary of the BP oil spill.

Extraction is the act of taking without giving anything back.

So, on the 1 year anniversary of the Gulf Spill we are going to take it to the streets, (literally) spilling through Montreal to reaffirm our life on this earth and stand in solidarity with all of those in danger of destruction under the extraction industry.

Join us at noon at McGill College and Sherbrooke to join the fray, as Montreal’s first human powered oil spill transforms downtown into the reality that the shale shillers, petroleum peddlers and mining marketeers are creating around the globe! Bring a friend and a flair for the dramatic. We’ll supply the pipelines and giant puppets, all we need is your people power.

Climate Justice is proud to announce the launch of our newest publication Burning Water. The booklet introduces the issues around shale gas extraction in Quebec, and what we can do about it!

Nous avons fier d’annoncer le lancement de notre nouvelle publication Quand L’eau Flambe. La brochure présente les questions autour de l’extraction de gaz de schistes au Québec, et ce que nous pouvons faire à ce sujet!

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At 11:00 a.m. this morning organizers with Climate Justice Ottawa dropped a banner in the rotunda of the Canadian Parliament reading “If They Won’t Take Action on Climate Justice, We Will!”.  The youth also began a sit-in “Peoples Assembly” calling for Canadian politicans to begin open and sincere consultations with communities across the country. They delivered 5 demands to parliament

1. Lead, follow, or get out of the way
At the upcoming UN Climate Summit in Cancun, Canada should be the first nation from the global north to adopt the emissions reductions and temperature rise limitation targets of 300ppm and 1 degree celsius, presented by the largest gathering in history of directly impacted communities at the April 2010 World People’s Summit on Climate Change and Mother Earth in Cochabamba, Bolivia.  The first step to achieving this and repaying our climate debt is accepting the Cochabamba Declaration text presented at the UN Summit.

2. Shut Down the Tar Sands
Tar sands developments are on course to destroy a section of the boreal forest the size of England, and are Canada’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. The direct pollution from tar sands developments is poisoning the Athabasca River watershed and surrounding lands, and is a health catastrophe for impacted communities who are experiencing high rates of cancer and a loss of traditional food sources.  Therefore, we call for an immediate moratorium on present and future tar sands expansion projects, a phase out of existing projects, and to hold corporations responsible for environmental destruction while facilitating a just transition for workers out of destructive industries.

3. No more Tax Breaks or Subsidies for Oil Companies
Oil companies received more than $2.8 billion dollars in government tax breaks and subsidies in 2008. These subsidies lower the cost of oil and promote the use of dirty fossil fuels when we should be transitioning to clean forms of energy.  Therefore, we call for an immediate end to government financing of environmentally and socially destructive industries.

4. Invest in Community Solutions
Community-based renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and hydro need to be developed in a way that does not damage natural ecosystems, meaning energy production must be controlled by communities and not corporations. Current subsidies and systems of agriculture decrease healthy food choices, contribute to  ecological destruction, and hurt small scale farmers, while a shift towards community-controlled diversified agriculture leads to healthier people and ecosystems.  There are more efficient ways of transporting people and products than building mass highways;  Canada needs to invest in solutions that re-imagine how we move around within and between cities through the localization of production, bicycle infrastructure, and accessible public transit. Ultimately, federal

5. Reject False Solutions
Canada currently relies heavily on technofixes, such as promoting biofuel projects where the amazon rainforest is slashed and burned to grow corn to put in our cars and investing over $3 billion in expensive and unproven carbon capture and storage technology.  Furthermore, solutions such as carbon trading and offsets turn our atmosphere into a commodity to be bought and sold, allowing corporate lobbying to export responsibility for reductions to elsewhere and perpetuating inequality. Instead of wasting billions on band-aid solutions that ignore the root of the problem, Canada needs to take action at changing unequal and unsustainable systems of production, consumption, and distribution….

Montreal – This morning organizers with Climate Justice Montreal set up a hydraulic fracturing, gas shale extraction site outside of the Queen Elizabeth hotel, site of the Quebec Association of Oil and Gas Producers annual conference.

“L’extraction du gaz naturel à partir des gisements de schiste c’est vraiment le fond du baril en tant qu’énergie sale”, a déclaré Catherine Thibault, une organisatrice avec Justice Climatique Montréal. “Nous voyons bien ce que donne  l’exploitation du gaz de schiste au travers des États-Unis et du Canada : de l’eau empoisonnée, de l’air toxique et terres détruites, qui laisse tout et tout le monde malade, nous devons les arrêter avant que ça arrive au Québec. “

Les organisateurs, habillés en travailleurs de la construction ont installé une fausse plate-forme d’extraction de gaz et y ont accroché une banière proférant: “Les Gaz de Schiste Sacrifient L’air, L’eau et la Vie sur Terre”, tandis que d’autres, maquillés et en robes d’hopital, représentaient les membres des communautés qui seraient directement touchées par extraction – malades et des mourants.

“Extracting natural gas from shale deposits is bottom of the barrel dirty energy,” said Catherine Thibault, an organizer with Climate Justice Montreal.” We have seen what shale gas has done across the United States and Canada; poisoned water, toxic air, and destroyed lands that leaves everyone and everything sick, we need to stop this before it comes to Quebec.”
Organizers dressed as construction workers built a mock gas extraction rig and hung a banner that read “Les Gaz de Schiste Sacrifient L’air, L’eau et la Vie sur Terre” (Shale Gas Extraction Sacrifices Air, Water and Land) while others represented the communities that would be directly impacted by extraction – sick and dying.

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These ten Indigenous struggles, which could easily be twenty or thirty others, are challenging the status quo of fossil-fuel addiction and resource pillage in this country. Standing up to governments and corporations, struggling for their mountains, waters and climate, Indigenous communities deserve the support of everyone who cares about the health of our planet. As these communities battle to regain control over their lands, they struggle for us all.

Lubicon Lake (Alberta): The First Nation in northern Alberta has seen their traditional lands overrun by massive oil and gas exploitation which has destroyed their traditional lands and way of life. To protect their fragile boreal forest homeland from even greater depredation, the Lubicon have fought back to defend their land and lives by patiently building a global network of organizations and individuals to support their legal battles, boycotts, lobbying, negotiations with the Canadian government and – when all else failed – blockades. Despite 20 years of condemnation by United Nations human rights bodies, the right of the Lubicon people to maintain their culture and rebuild their society is still not respected by the federal and provincial governments and industry. They have been subject to economic sabotage and draconian internal interference. And even more destructive forms of development – including oil sands extraction – are planned for the future. www.lubicon.org/

Grassy Narrows (Ontario): Mercury contamination of their river system in the 1960s by a paper mill upstream devastated their economy, plunging the community into extreme poverty from which it has never fully recovered. After  decades of petitions, letter writing, speaking tours, environmental assessment requests, and protests failed to halt the destructive clearcut logging of their traditional territory, grassroots women and youth put their bodies on the line and blocked logging trucks passing by their community. The blockades are  the longest running in Canadian history, now in their 8th year. 3 major logging corporations have bowed to pressure and committed not to log against the wishes of the community, and logging has been suspended on Grassy Narrows territory as of July 2008. But under pressure from corporate lumber giant Weyerhaeuser, the province appears ready once again to give the green-light to logging in the fall of 2010.  The community is determined to prevent this. www.freegrassy.org

Pimicikamak (Manitoba):  Five hundred kilometres north of Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Pimicikimak Cree have been struggling against the consequences of hydro-electric damming on their lands. The dams have turned pristine rivers into power corridors, ancient lakes into holding tanks and a sacred homeland into an industrial complex. Manitoba Hydro company promised clean and green development when they and two levels of government signed a 1970s agreements with Manitoba indigenous communities. Pimicikamak is now fighting to force Manitoba Hydro to live up to its treaty commitments and to restore their lands and waters. The community is teaching us that hydro development, far from being a panacea for climate change,  harms lands and Indigenous peoples, and also destroys the boreal forest, the world’s largest terrestrial carbon reservoir, causing the release of global-warming methane gas. www.pimicikamak.com/

Wet’suwet’en (British Columbia): Located near the town of Smithers in central interior British Columbia the Wet’suwet’en First Nation is currently engaged in a struggle to stop several oil and gas pipeline from being built across their traditional territory. Grassroots community organizers have taken a stance against not only the pipelines, but the entire tar sands giga-project, working in solidarity with other frontline communities and solidarity activists against “refineries, terminals, tanker traffic, and the systemic scope that is Carbon Marketing, Offsetting, and REDDS.” http://on.fb.me/bekx2K

Gwich’in (Northwest Territories): The Gwich’in, whose traditional territory overlaps with the Peel Watershed Region – a 68,000 square kilometer stretch of land near the Northeastern edge of the Yukon – are fighting mining corporations and the provincial government for total protection of their traditional territories. Mining companies currently hold over 8,400 mining permits in the watershed, five tributaries that make up North America’s largest network of mountain rivers. The Peel Watershed Planning Commission has called for 80 per cent protection that maintains grandfathered leases, but local communities are working for the full protection of their lands. http://www.thebigwild.org/act/peel

Baker Lake (Nunavut): Baker Lake, a mostly Inuit community in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut, has a long history of struggles against uranium mining and exploration.  In the late 1970s,  legal action was taken against the Canadian Government and a variety of uranium exploration companies.  In the late 1980s and early 1990s, they successfully fought against a proposal to mine uranium from the Kiggavik ore body, located on the post-calving grounds of caribou herds.  But the Aveva mining company still wants this ore, and ignoring community concerns about impacts on caribou, health and nuclear weapons development, have launched an aggressive public relations campaign. Feeling their views are not represented by the Inuit Organizations, Inuit from Baker Lake and elsewhere in Nunavut have formed Nunavummiut Makitagunarningit (Nunavummiut can rise up).

Barriere Lake (Quebec): The Algonquins of Barriere Lake continue to hunt, fish, trap, and harvest on more than 15,000 square kilometers of territory north of Ottawa in north-western Quebec, which they have sought to protect from clear-cut logging through a landmark conservation agreement. The 1991 Trilateral agreement undermines the Canadian government’s Comprehensive Claims policy, which forces First Nations to extinguish their unceded title to the land in exchange for paltry sums of lands and money. For this reason, the federal and provincial governments and multinational industry have conspired to avoid implementing the agreement, instead criminalizing the community and attempting to abolish their traditional governance system. The community attributes the strength of their Algonquin language, their culture, and their protection of the land to the endurance of this own governance system, the Mitchikanibikok Anishinabe Onakinakewin. www.barrierelakesolidarity.org

Innu (Quebec/Labrador): The Innu have for years been struggling against the exploitation of minerals, hydro-power, animals, and timber on their lands, and military low-level flying exercises and bomb testing. Today, some Innu communities are facing proposed plans to build the Lower Churchill Hydro Project, which would mean the construction of two hydroelectric dams on their territory, causing vast environmental devastation. The project is slated to flood 12% of the Lower Churchill Valley,  increase mercury levels in the water, and destroy some of the most diverse wildlife habitat in Labrador – home to black bear and caribou, among other animals. Since the traditional Innu way of life is based on  hunting and fishing, this project, if not stopped, will also affect the ability of the Innu to live their lives freely and choose their own ways of living.  http://www.indigenoussolidaritymontreal.net/struggles/fep

Tsilhqot’in (British Columbia): The Tsilhqot’in people have a long history of fierce resistance and independence. In 2007, they set an important precedent in the British Columbia court by proving their aboriginal title and rights to 2,000 square kilometres of their lands, potential supplanting provincial jurisdiction over land-use planning, but the federal and provincial have ensnared them in legal appeals. Today, they are confronting a proposal for an enormous open-pit gold-copper mine on their land. The mine would turn a lake that is sacred to the Tsilhqot’in and that holds 90,000 unique rainbow trout into a tailings dump, replacing it with an artificial lake. Some community members have pledged their life to stop it. http://teztanbiny.ca/

Bear River (Nova Scotia): The First Nation has their own vision for a food and livelihood fishery, based on a long historical relationship to the natural world that is premised on respect and self-sufficiency to avoid hunger and sickness for all people.  This relationship is known in the Mi’kmaq language as “Netukulimk”.   But the commodification and privatization of the commercial fishery sector continues unabated, leaving no room for community sustainable practice and knowledge. It has become clear to Bear River that these fishing agreements serve only to integrate First Nations into a commodification process, watering down their treaty rights. Bear River has chosen not to sign any fishing agreements with the federal government, continuing instead to pursue its vision of a small scale food and livelihood fishery by aligning themselves with other local non-Indigenous fishermen who have also been impacted by privatization and commodification, and by continuing to learn and practice “netukulimk”. http://www.defendersoftheland.org/bear_river

Defenders of the Land (National): This network of First Nations in land struggle working with urbanized Indigenous people and non-Native supporters in defense of Indigenous lands and rights was founded at a historic meeting in Winnipeg from November 12-14, 2008. Defenders is the only organization of its kind in the territory known as Canada – Indigenous-led, free of government or corporate funding, and dedicated to building a fundamental movement for Indigenous self-determination and rights. They have called for a second annual Indigenous Sovereignty Week, a series of educational events and action that took place last year in two dozen cities, towns and communities, between November 21-27, 2010. www.defendersoftheland.org

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Dimanche. 12 septembre. 2010

Le Camp Climatique prend la ville!

Location: Top Secret

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Pour te rendre au Camp…

EN VÉLO

Rencontre de la masse critique @ 11 :30 a.m.

Carré Dominion

(Coin Peel et René Lévesque)

EN MÉTRO

Rendez-vous à la station de métro Sherbrooke à 11:30 a.m.

Cherche du vert…

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=151795671513758

Fraîchement débarqués du camp climatique extraordinaire de cet été, nous mettons le cap sur la métropole pour une journée! Nous allons nous installer dans le coeur de Montréal afin de se réunir pour une journée d’ateliers, de discussions, de partage de connaissance, et pour affronter les vraies causes des changements climatiques.

Pourquoi est-ce que le Camp Climatique s’en vient en ville?

En septembre, le Congrès Mondial de l’Énergie aura lieu à Montréal. C’est une conférence de cinq jours, où des représentants des industries les plus polluantes et irresponsables vont se rencontrer les uns les autres avec des lobbyistes et représentants gouvernementaux, pour déterminer comment carburer NOTRE futur.

Derrière portes closes, des détenteurs d’intérêts partants des sables bitumineux jusqu’aux champs pétrolifères de l’Arabie Saoudite, des centrales nucléaires aux gaz de schiste et en passant par toutes les institutions financières et détenteurs de pouvoir gouvernementaux, seront assis ensemble pour maintenir la progression du statu quo. Il s’agit d’un rassemblement de « l ’énergie » des mêmes forces politiques et financières, qui alimentent le chaos climatique et nous poussent vers des points de basculement catastrophique environnementaux, qui perpétuent guerres, pauvreté et inégalités sociales dans le processus.

Alors, qu’es-ce qu’on fait? On se rassemble pour  devenir le changement qu’il faut voir dans le monde.

En bref, nous sommes là pour reprendre le pouvoir. Viens faire un tour!

Organize par Climate Justice Montreal: www.climateactionmontreal.wordpress.com

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Sunday. September 12. 2010
Climate Camp Takes the City!

Location: Top Secret

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COMING TO CAMP:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=151795671513758
Fresh off this summer’s amazing Climate Camp, we’re headed back to the big city for a day! We will set up in the heart of Montreal to come together for a day of workshops, skill-shares, discussions and to challenge the root causes of climate change.

Why is Climate Camp coming to the big city?

This September, the World Energy Congress is setting up shop in Montreal, a five day conference where representatives of the worlds largest, dirtiest extractive industries meet with lobbyists, government officials and each other to determine how to power OUR future.

Behind closed doors interests from the tar sands to the oil fields of Saudi Arabia, from nuclear power plants to shale gas and all the financial and government power brokers in between, are sitting down together to keep business as usual moving. This is a coming together of the energy, political and financial forces that are fueling climate chaos, pushing us towards catastrophic tipping points, and perpetuating wars, poverty and social inequality in the process.

So what are we doing about it? Coming together and becoming the change we need to see in the world.

In short, we are here to Reclaim Power. Join in.

Organized by Climate Justice Montreal: www.climateactionmontreal.wordpress.com

Le Camp d’Action Climatique approche à grand pas et on est tous excités à l’idée de descendre à Dunham pour le montage.

Le site web à été updaté avec les outils de programmation, de covoiturage et une liste grandissante d’ateliers, de présentations, de projections et d’autres évènements super qui auront lieux au campement! Jettez un oeil là-dessus!

On rapelles que le Camp d’Action Climatique aura lieu du 7 au 23 août.Vous pouvez passer nous voir à nimporte quel moment, que ce soit pour quelques jours ou une après-midi. Les installations seront en place pour vous acceuillir, de la bouffe gratuite sera préparée, des ateliers seront présentés et un mouvement de masse sera continuellement en construction! Les jours de convergence (18-22 août) auront une programmation débordante (voir le site pour un  aperçu), alors venez voir ça et joignez-vous à nous !

À ce moment-ci on à aussi besoin de gens qui puissent faire de la traduction simultanée, de gens intéressés à faire du gardiennage d’enfant et de musiciens pour animer les soirée! Si vous connaissez des gens qui sont intéressé à partager leur talent musical, mettez les en contact avec nous à travers climateactionmtl@gmail.com.

SVP Prennez un moment pour joindre le groupe de facebook inviter vos amis et poster le Camp d’Action Climatique sur votre mur afin de passer le mot!
Merci!!

L’Équipe d’organisation du Camp d’Action Climatique

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Climate Camp is fast approaching and we are all excited to get down to Dunham and get set up. The website has been updated with programming and ride-share tools and a constantly growing list of workshops, trainings, film screenings and other awesome events that are going down at the camp, check it out at www.uncampement.net!

In case you didn’t know yet, the camp runs from August 7-23, but that doesn’t mean you need to come for the whole thing, if you can make it for a few days, or just an afternoon please come down! The camp infrastructure will be in place for that entire time, churning out free food, hosting workshops and building a mass movement. The convergence days (August 18-22) will be near overflowing with programming (some of which you can already check out online), so come down and check it out!

Right now we are also in need of simultaneous translators, people interested in volunteering for childcare, and musicians to make the evening events and parties amazing. If you know anyone who may want to share their musical talents, get them in touch with us at climateactionmtl@gmail.com.

Please take a second to join up and invite your friends on facebook and post the Climate Camp event to your wall in order to keep spreading the word.

reposted from the Canadian Press

Pipeline to Sarnia spills oil into river

MARSHALL TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Crews were working Tuesday to contain and clean up more than three million litres of oil that poured into a creek and flowed into the Kalamazoo River in southern Michigan, coating birds and fish.

Authorities in Battle Creek and Emmett Township were warning residents about the strong odour from the oil, which leaked Monday from a 30-inch (76-centimetre) pipeline that carries about 8 million gallons (30 million litres) of oil per day from Griffith, Ind., to Sarnia, Ont.

Calgary-based Enbridge Inc.’s affiliate Enbridge Energy Partners LP of Houston estimated more than 800,000 gallons (about 3 million litres)of oil spilled into Talmadge Creek before the company could stop the flow. Enbridge crews and contractors deployed oil skimmers and absorbent booms to minimize its environmental impact.

“This is our top priority,” said Enbridge spokeswoman Gina Jordan. “We’re committed to containing the oil that has been spilled as quickly as possible.”

Enbridge and the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Management says the pipeline pumps were shut down as soon as the leak was discovered.

The foul-smelling spill has killed fish and endangered other wildlife.

As of Tuesday afternoon, oil was reported in about 16 miles (26 kilometre) of the Kalamazoo River downstream of the spill, Mary Dettloff, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

U.S. Representative Mark Schauer (D-Mich.), said he discussed the spill Tuesday with President Barack Obama at the White House. He called the spill a “public health crisis,” and said he plans to hold hearings to examine the response.

“The company was originally slow to respond and it is now clear that this is an emergency,” Schauer told reporters on a conference call.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Enbridge said it had about 150 employees and contractors working on the spill. Local, state and federal agencies also were involved.

The cause of the spill was under investigation. The oil spilled into the creek, which flows northwest into the river. The site is in Calhoun County’s Marshall Township, about 60 miles (96 kilometres) southeast of Grand Rapids.

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), said in a statement that his office has been in close contact with federal agencies to ensure that cleanup crews have the needed resources to complete the job as quickly as possible.

“For now, the focus is on limiting the damage and cleaning up the oil, Levin said. “It is also vitally important that the company responsible for the spill bear the costs of cleanup and that it compensate anyone who has suffered damages related to the spill.”

Emmett Township officials warned the public to stay away from the river until cleanup work is completed.

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Version francais disponsible bientot!