by Stephanie Goodwin, Greenpeace B.C. Director
Greenpeace activist Brian Beaudry and I have been locked down in our large protest camp outside Enbridge Pipelines' downtown Vancouver office for the past eight hours. We are locked inside a simulated oil spill, with Enbridge pipes spewing fake oil onto a large image of the world-renowned Great Bear Rainforest. We are comfortable but very warm. In the middle of the heavy steel reinforcements of the camp is a small trap door about the size of my face that I open only for media interviews. Our camp is built so we can't be moved, and we won't until Enbridge hears our message loud and clear.
We are here to send Enbridge the message that they must cancel their Northern Gateway Pipelines proposal. They want to build a massive pipeline from Alberta's tar sands to Canada's national treasure, B.C.'s Inside Passage. The environmental and social impacts of the pipeline, its oil tankers and the inevitable spills are simply too great for this ecological treasure to bear. We know that oil spills happen. Even Enbridge's CEO admits he can't promise an accident will never happen. We've seen accidents in the Gulf of Mexico, in China last week and in Michigan just two days ago when Enbridge spilled three million litres of oil into a river. B.C.'s coast WILL suffer from an oil spill if Enbridge is allowed to build its pipeline, which comes with oil tankers so large that each one will carry almost half the total amount of oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico so far.
So far, Enbridge has not responded to our protest. We are prepared to stay until we feel Enbridge has heard our voice loud and clear.
Inside Enbridge’s office, a team of four activists also remains locked in place, stopping business as usual from proceeding. Business as usual looks like the expansion of the Alberta tar sands to fill the pipeline and release more climate changing emissions as a result. Business as usual looks like oil spills and habitat destruction. Business as usual looks like feeding our world's insatiable hunger for oil.
What I know is that we can't keep moving in the direction of more fossil fuels and dirtier, more dangerous unconventional energy sources. We need to cure our addicition to oil by moving quickly to renewable energies, like wind and solar power. We can do this, but we need governments to act quickly. When they do, the first energy sources to be left behind are the dirtiest and most dangerous, including Alberta's tar sands, which Enbridge hopes will fuel its pipeline to our paradise.
Our brave activists are largely among friends here on the streets. A mother and son walked by us this morning and abruptly stopped, the boy mesmerized by our display. The mother quickly explained by saying, 'Oh honey, that's an oil spill." Unfortunately, oil spills are quickly recognizable these days.
Aaron, a Greenpeace volunteer, has been telling people who pass our oil spill, "Look. What do you think about Enbridge's plans to redecorate our coastline? Don't like it? Tell them yourself." We can all tell Enbridge what we think of their proposed project ourselves. Our voices count and matter. We can also tell the Canadian government so they can solve the problem by legally banning oil tankers from our coast. Visit www.greenpeace.ca/Enbridge to take action.
On the radio, I just heard the Michigan governor talking about Enbridge's recent spill. She said, "We have got to stop the spread of the crude right now." I couldn't agree more.
Stephanie Goodwin is the B.C. director for Greenpeace Canada.