

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.


Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.

"This is truly a disaster," said Young, painting a dire picture in which the people, land and animals of the region are greatly suffering.
"The fuel's all over - the fumes everywhere - you can smell it when you get to town," Young recalled. "The closest place to Fort McMurray that is doing the tar sands work is 25 or 30 miles out of town and you can taste it when you get to Fort McMurray. People are sick. People are dying of cancer because of this. All the First Nations people up there are threatened by this."
"Yeah it's going to put a lot of people to work," Young said of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which is slated to transport the excavated tar sands to export terminals in Texas and Louisiana. "I've heard that, and I've seen a lot of people that would dig a hole that's so deep that they couldn't get out of it, and that's a job too, and I think that's the jobs that we are talking about there with the Keystone pipeline," he said.
"The fact is, Fort McMurray looks like Hiroshima," said Young. "Fort McMurray is a wasteland. ... All of the First Nations people up there are threatened by this. Their food supply is wasted. Their treaties are no good. They have a right to live on the land that they always did but there's no land left that they can live on. All the animals are dying. This is truly a disaster."
"Neil Young is speaking for all of us fighting to stop the Keystone XL," Jane Kleeb, Executive Director of Bold Nebraska, a coalition of landowners and others opposed to the $5.3-billion Keystone XL pipeline, told the Globe and Mail. "When you see the pollution already caused by the reckless expansion of tar sands, you only have one choice and that is to act."
_______________________
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. He is the author of Migrant Justice in the Age of Removal. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.

"This is truly a disaster," said Young, painting a dire picture in which the people, land and animals of the region are greatly suffering.
"The fuel's all over - the fumes everywhere - you can smell it when you get to town," Young recalled. "The closest place to Fort McMurray that is doing the tar sands work is 25 or 30 miles out of town and you can taste it when you get to Fort McMurray. People are sick. People are dying of cancer because of this. All the First Nations people up there are threatened by this."
"Yeah it's going to put a lot of people to work," Young said of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which is slated to transport the excavated tar sands to export terminals in Texas and Louisiana. "I've heard that, and I've seen a lot of people that would dig a hole that's so deep that they couldn't get out of it, and that's a job too, and I think that's the jobs that we are talking about there with the Keystone pipeline," he said.
"The fact is, Fort McMurray looks like Hiroshima," said Young. "Fort McMurray is a wasteland. ... All of the First Nations people up there are threatened by this. Their food supply is wasted. Their treaties are no good. They have a right to live on the land that they always did but there's no land left that they can live on. All the animals are dying. This is truly a disaster."
"Neil Young is speaking for all of us fighting to stop the Keystone XL," Jane Kleeb, Executive Director of Bold Nebraska, a coalition of landowners and others opposed to the $5.3-billion Keystone XL pipeline, told the Globe and Mail. "When you see the pollution already caused by the reckless expansion of tar sands, you only have one choice and that is to act."
_______________________
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. He is the author of Migrant Justice in the Age of Removal. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.

"This is truly a disaster," said Young, painting a dire picture in which the people, land and animals of the region are greatly suffering.
"The fuel's all over - the fumes everywhere - you can smell it when you get to town," Young recalled. "The closest place to Fort McMurray that is doing the tar sands work is 25 or 30 miles out of town and you can taste it when you get to Fort McMurray. People are sick. People are dying of cancer because of this. All the First Nations people up there are threatened by this."
"Yeah it's going to put a lot of people to work," Young said of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which is slated to transport the excavated tar sands to export terminals in Texas and Louisiana. "I've heard that, and I've seen a lot of people that would dig a hole that's so deep that they couldn't get out of it, and that's a job too, and I think that's the jobs that we are talking about there with the Keystone pipeline," he said.
"The fact is, Fort McMurray looks like Hiroshima," said Young. "Fort McMurray is a wasteland. ... All of the First Nations people up there are threatened by this. Their food supply is wasted. Their treaties are no good. They have a right to live on the land that they always did but there's no land left that they can live on. All the animals are dying. This is truly a disaster."
"Neil Young is speaking for all of us fighting to stop the Keystone XL," Jane Kleeb, Executive Director of Bold Nebraska, a coalition of landowners and others opposed to the $5.3-billion Keystone XL pipeline, told the Globe and Mail. "When you see the pollution already caused by the reckless expansion of tar sands, you only have one choice and that is to act."
_______________________