September, 15 2009, 04:17pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Nell Greenberg, 510.847.9777;
Eriel Deranger, 587.785.1558
Rainforest Action Network Releases Seventy-Foot Banner Over Niagara Falls to 'Welcome' Prime Minister Harper to the U.S.
Banner: Canadian Tar Sands Oil Undermines North America's Clean Energy Future
NIAGARA FALLS
Three concerned U.S. citizens have just released a vivid 70-foot
banner above the Niagara Falls. Just one day before Prime Minister
Harper's first official visit to the U.S. to meet with President Obama,
the banner is intended to call attention to Harper's efforts to lock up
the U.S. market for tar sands oil, and the threat tar sands holds for
the climate. Against the dramatic Niagara Falls background, the most
well recognized border between the U.S. and Canada, the banner is
intended to send the message that Canadian tar sands oil threatens
North America's clean energy future. The banner reads: clean energy
future with an arrow pointing in one direction, and tar sands oil with
an arrow pointing in the other.
During Harper's first official trip to meet Obama in the
U.S., the two leaders are expected to discuss climate change and energy
policy ahead of the upcoming G20 Summit. Canada supplies 19% of U.S.
oil imports, more than half of which now comes from the tar sands,
making the region the largest single source of U.S. oil imports.
Unconventional tar sands oil is derived from lower-grade, difficult and
expensive-to-access raw materials that have enormous consequences for
air quality, drinking water and the climate.
U.S., the two leaders are expected to discuss climate change and energy
policy ahead of the upcoming G20 Summit. Canada supplies 19% of U.S.
oil imports, more than half of which now comes from the tar sands,
making the region the largest single source of U.S. oil imports.
Unconventional tar sands oil is derived from lower-grade, difficult and
expensive-to-access raw materials that have enormous consequences for
air quality, drinking water and the climate.
"Tar sands oil, the dirtiest oil on Earth, has no place in
our clean energy future," said Brant Olson, director of the tar sands
campaign for the Rainforest Action Network. "President Obama's meeting
with Prime Minister Harper will be a moment of truth. Is President
Obama serious about moving the country toward a clean energy economy or
will he allow pollution to be piped in from Canada?"
our clean energy future," said Brant Olson, director of the tar sands
campaign for the Rainforest Action Network. "President Obama's meeting
with Prime Minister Harper will be a moment of truth. Is President
Obama serious about moving the country toward a clean energy economy or
will he allow pollution to be piped in from Canada?"
Tar sands oil has serious environmental, climate and human
health impacts. Described by the United Nations Environment Program as
one of the world's top "environmental hot spots," global warming
pollution from tar sands production is three times that of conventional
crude oil.
health impacts. Described by the United Nations Environment Program as
one of the world's top "environmental hot spots," global warming
pollution from tar sands production is three times that of conventional
crude oil.
Tomorrow's visit to the U.S. by Prime Minister Harper is
the latest attempt by Canadian Federal and Provincial officials to lock
in subsidies for 22 new and expanded refinery projects and oil
pipelines crisscrossing 28 states, which would transport and process
the dirty tar sands oil. Many are concerned that Prime Minister Harper
wants to protect the tar sands oil industry from climate regulation,
even though it is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas
emissions in Canada.
the latest attempt by Canadian Federal and Provincial officials to lock
in subsidies for 22 new and expanded refinery projects and oil
pipelines crisscrossing 28 states, which would transport and process
the dirty tar sands oil. Many are concerned that Prime Minister Harper
wants to protect the tar sands oil industry from climate regulation,
even though it is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas
emissions in Canada.
"Climate change, one of the biggest security threats of our
time, is something Canada and the United States face together.
Extracting tar sands oil, which sends three times more climate-changing
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than conventional oil, puts us all
at risk," said Eriel Deranger a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First
Nation and Rainforest Action Network's Tar Sands Campaigner in Alberta.
time, is something Canada and the United States face together.
Extracting tar sands oil, which sends three times more climate-changing
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than conventional oil, puts us all
at risk," said Eriel Deranger a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First
Nation and Rainforest Action Network's Tar Sands Campaigner in Alberta.
Opposition to tar sands oil has been rising on both sides
of the border. Just last month, four Native American and environmental
groups sued Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Deputy Secretary James
Steinberg and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over Enbridge Energy's
Alberta Clipper pipeline. If built, the 1,375 mile pipeline would pump
800,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day from Northern Alberta to
Midwestern refineries.
of the border. Just last month, four Native American and environmental
groups sued Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Deputy Secretary James
Steinberg and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over Enbridge Energy's
Alberta Clipper pipeline. If built, the 1,375 mile pipeline would pump
800,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day from Northern Alberta to
Midwestern refineries.
"Americans need to know that tar sands oil from Canada will
prevent progress on climate change," said Logan Price, one of the lead
climbers in today's action. "Expansion of tar sands oil consumption in
the U.S. undermines domestic and international efforts to achieve real
greenhouse gas emissions reductions."
prevent progress on climate change," said Logan Price, one of the lead
climbers in today's action. "Expansion of tar sands oil consumption in
the U.S. undermines domestic and international efforts to achieve real
greenhouse gas emissions reductions."
Canada has no regulations to reduce greenhouse gas
pollution, and the federal government's climate change plan would allow
total pollution from the tar sands to increase almost 70 percent by
2020. Tar sands oil production is the fastest growing source of
greenhouse gas emissions in Canada and was recently cited as one of the
most important reasons Canada will miss its Kyoto targets by over 30%.
pollution, and the federal government's climate change plan would allow
total pollution from the tar sands to increase almost 70 percent by
2020. Tar sands oil production is the fastest growing source of
greenhouse gas emissions in Canada and was recently cited as one of the
most important reasons Canada will miss its Kyoto targets by over 30%.
Mining oil from tar sands requires churning up huge tracts
of ancient boreal forest and polluting so much clean water with
poisonous chemicals that the resulting waste ponds can be seen from
outer space. The health impacts to Alberta's First Nation communities
are severe, with cancer rates up in some communities as much as 400
times its usual frequency. In addition, as this oil spills into the
U.S., communities living near oil refineries face increased air and
water pollution from tar sands oil, which contains 11 times more sulfur
and nickel and five times more lead than conventional oil.
of ancient boreal forest and polluting so much clean water with
poisonous chemicals that the resulting waste ponds can be seen from
outer space. The health impacts to Alberta's First Nation communities
are severe, with cancer rates up in some communities as much as 400
times its usual frequency. In addition, as this oil spills into the
U.S., communities living near oil refineries face increased air and
water pollution from tar sands oil, which contains 11 times more sulfur
and nickel and five times more lead than conventional oil.
Despite hopes that carbon capture and storage (CCS) can
solve the problem, recent reports commissioned by the Governments of
Alberta and Canada show that just a small percentage of the carbon
dioxide released in the tar sands could be captured through this
expensive and unproven technology.
solve the problem, recent reports commissioned by the Governments of
Alberta and Canada show that just a small percentage of the carbon
dioxide released in the tar sands could be captured through this
expensive and unproven technology.
To follow today's action online through live blogs, video
and photos, visit www.ran.org/tarsands. You can also follow the
climbers on a live Twitter.com text loop at "follow ran actions". High
resolution images and b-roll available upon request.
and photos, visit www.ran.org/tarsands. You can also follow the
climbers on a live Twitter.com text loop at "follow ran actions". High
resolution images and b-roll available upon request.
For quick facts on tar sands and the protest, visit www.ran.org/tarsands
Rainforest Action Network (RAN) is headquartered in San Francisco, California with offices staff in Tokyo, Japan, and Edmonton, Canada, plus thousands of volunteer scientists, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens around the world. We believe that a sustainable world can be created in our lifetime and that aggressive action must be taken immediately to leave a safe and secure world for our children.
LATEST NEWS
Amid Spying Fight, House Passes Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act
"As FANFSA and the 702 reauthorization move to the Senate, lawmakers in that chamber need to take a stand for the rights of people in the United States," said one advocate.
Apr 17, 2024
While applauding the U.S. House of Representatives' bipartisan passage of a bill to ensure that "law enforcement and intelligence agencies can't do an end-run around the Constitution by buying information from data brokers" on Wednesday, privacy advocates highlighted that Congress is trying to extend and expand a long-abused government spying program.
The House voted 219-199 for Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act (FANFSA), which won support from 96 Democrats and 123 Republicans, including the lead sponsor, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio). Named for the constitutional amendment that protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, H.R. 4639 would close what campaigners call the data broker loophole.
"The privacy violations that flow from law enforcement entities circumventing the Fourth Amendment undermine civil liberties, free expression, and our ability to control what happens to our data," said Free Press Action policy counsel Jenna Ruddock. "These impacts affect everyone who uses digital platforms that extract our personal information any time we open a browser or visit social media and other websites—even when we go to events like demonstrations and other places with our phones revealing our locations."
"We're grateful that the House passed these vital and popular protections," she added. "The bill would prevent flagrant abuses of our privacy by government authorities in league with unscrupulous third-party data brokers. Making this legislation into law with Senate passage too would be a decisive and long-overdue action against government misuse of this clandestine business sector that traffics in our personal data for profit."
Wednesday's vote followed the House sending the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act to the Senate. H.R. 7888 would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows for warrantless spying on noncitizens abroad but also sweeps up Americans' data.
The House notably included an amendment forcing a wide range of individuals and businesses to cooperate with government spying operations but rejected an amendment that would have added a warrant requirement to the bill, which the Senate could vote on as soon as Thursday.
Noting those decisions on the FISA reauthorization legislation, Ruddock stressed that "today's vote is a victory but follows a recent loss and ongoing threat as that Section 702 bill moves to the Senate this week too."
"As FANFSA and the 702 reauthorization move to the Senate, lawmakers in that chamber need to take a stand for the rights of people in the United States," she argued. "That means passing FANFSA and reforming Section 702 authority—and prioritizing everyone's First and Fourth Amendment rights."
Jeramie Scott, senior counsel and director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center's Project on Surveillance Oversight, also praised the House's FANFSA passage on Wednesday.
"The passage of the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale underscores the extent to which reining in abusive warrantless surveillance is a bipartisan issue," Scott said. "We urge the Senate to take up this measure and close the data broker loophole."
Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel at ACLU, similarly said Wednesday that "the bipartisan passage of this bill is a flashing warning sign to the government that if it wants our data, it must get a warrant."
Hamadanchy added that "we hope this vote puts a fire under the Senate to protect their constituents and rein in the government's warrantless surveillance of Americans, once and for all."
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a critic of the pending 702 bill and FANFSA's lead sponsor in the upper chamber, called the the House's Wednesday vote "a huge win for privacy" and said that "now it's time for the Senate to follow suit."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Leaked Cables Show Biden Pressuring Nations to Oppose Palestine's UN Membership
"This is the evidence that President Biden's talk about a two-state solution is nothing but idle talk," said one former Lebanese diplomat.
Apr 17, 2024
As the United Nations Security Council prepares to vote Thursday on Palestine's bid to become a full U.N. member, the Biden administration—which claims to support Palestinian statehood—is lobbying UNSC nations in an effort to wrangle enough "no" votes so that the United States can avoid resorting to a veto.
Leaked cables obtained by The Intercept show U.S. pressure on Security Council members including Malta—which currently presides over the body—and Ecuador.
While claiming that President Joe Biden backs "Palestinian aspirations for statehood," one of the cables asserts that "it remains the U.S. view that the most expeditious path toward a political horizon for the Palestinian people is in the context of a normalization agreement between Israel and its neighbors."
"We therefore urge you not to support any potential Security Council resolution recommending the admission of 'Palestine' as a U.N. member state, should such a resolution be presented to the Security Council for a decision in the coming days and weeks," the document advises.
The U.S. argument essentially is that the U.N. should not create an independent Palestinian state by fiat—even though that's precisely how the world body voted in 1947 to establish the modern state of Israel.
The renewed push for Palestine's U.N. membership comes as Israel wages a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Authority, which hasn't controlled Gaza for nearly two decades, rejected the Biden administration's requests to hold off on seeking full membership.
"We wanted the U.S. to provide a substantive alternative to U.N. recognition. They didn't," one unnamed Palestinian official toldAxios on Wednesday. "We believe full membership in the U.N. for Palestine is way overdue. We have waited more than 12 years since our initial request."
As The Intercept's Ken Klippenstein and Daniel Boguslaw noted:
Since 2011, the U.N. Security Council has rejected the Palestinian Authority's request for full member status. On April 2, the Palestinian Observer Mission to the U.N. requested that the council once again take up consideration of its membership application. According to the first State Department cable, U.N. meetings since the beginning of April suggest that Algeria, China, Guyana, Mozambique, Russia, Slovenia, Sierra Leone, and Malta support granting Palestine full membership to the U.N. It also says that France, Japan, and Korea are undecided, while the United Kingdom will likely abstain from a vote.
Along with the United States, China, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom are permanent members of the UNSC, so they also have veto power.
Ahead of Thursday's planned vote, Spain has been doing its own lobbying in Europe to build greater support for Palestinian statehood. At a joint Tuesday press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said the question is "when, not if, but when is the best moment to recognize Palestine."
Belgium—which is seeking economic sanctions against Israel in response to its genocidal war on Gaza—is expected to join Spain's push for Palestinian statehood after the country's European Union presidency expires in June.
Currently, 139 of the U.N.'s 193 member states recognize Palestine as an independent state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—who has also claimed to support a so-called "two-state solution"—has alternately boasted about thwarting Palestinian statehood.
Critics pointed to the leaked cables as more proof of U.S. duplicity and double standards on the Israel-Palestine issue.
"This is the evidence that President Biden's talk about a two-state solution is nothing but idle talk," Massoud Maalouf, a former Lebanese ambassador to Canada, Chile, and Poland, said on social media.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Database Exposes 'Illicit Network Undermining Democracy Around the World'
Yanis Varoufakis hailed the effort as "a treasure chest of well-researched reports on how the reactionaries of the world unite."
Apr 17, 2024
"Coups. Assassinations. Riots. Detentions. Disinformation. We know the tactics that have been deployed to undermine our democracies. But who is behind them?"
Progressive International (PI) asks and answers this and other questions with an extensive new database published Wednesday that connects the dots in what the leftist group calls the "Reactionary International"—a loose global network of right-wing leaders and organizations working to subvert democratic institutions.
PI calls it an "illicit network undermining democracy around the world."
"Today is a mask-off moment for the Reactionary International and the parties, politicians, judges, journalists, foundations, think tanks, tech platforms, NGOs, activists, financiers, and entrepreneurs that comprise it," PI said.
"After a year of preparation, we finally open the doors to our new research consortium, exposing the global network of reactionary forces that corrode our democracies, destroy our planet, and drive us closer to world war," the group added.
"The twin insurrections at the U.S. Capitol in 2021 and BrasÃlia's Three Powers Plaza in 2023 left no doubt about the international coordination of reactionary forces," PI argued. "Yet far too little is known about the entities of this network, their sources of financing, and their institutional allies operating inside our political systems."
Ultimately, PI aims to "support democratic systems to become more resilient to their insidious tactics."
From leaders like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and former U.S. President Donald Trump—the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee—to evangelical Christian groups influencing laws in African countries criminalizing LGBTQ+ people and tech companies empowering ubiquitous state surveillance, Reactionary International is a who's-who of the world's right-wing forces.
A cursory search of the database's contents shows users can:
- Learn about Israel's NSO, Rayzone, and Team Jorge, and how a team of Tel Aviv tech entrepreneurs fuel unrest in Latin America;
- Meet the Grey Wolves, Turkey's roving death squad with links to President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan and the ethno-nationalists in his governing coalition; and
- Explore the global network of the Falun Gong, its Trump-connected media outlet The Epoch Times, and its traveling dance troupe known as Shen Yun.
Yanis Varoufakis, a PI member and secretary-general of the left-wing Democracy in Europe Movement 2025, called the database "a treasure chest of well-researched reports on how the reactionaries of the world unite."
PI invites the public to contribute to the database.
"Together, we will not only name, shame, and expose the forces of the far right—but also dismantle their network of complicity," the group said.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular