{"id":15776,"date":"2018-04-05T18:35:56","date_gmt":"2018-04-05T16:35:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=15776"},"modified":"2021-12-01T13:52:06","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T12:52:06","slug":"meet-the-activists-uniting-to-put-people-ahead-of-pipelines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/15776\/meet-the-activists-uniting-to-put-people-ahead-of-pipelines\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the activists uniting to put people ahead of pipelines"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Indigenous-Led

More than 10,000 people marched in British Columbia last month to protest the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion. \u00a9 Rogue Collective<\/p><\/div>\n

The resistance to oil company Kinder Morgan\u2019s tar sands pipeline in Canada is heating up. In early March, Indigenous leaders from across Canada and the United States came together to build a traditional <\/span>\u201cWatch House\u201d<\/span><\/a> \u2014 or a place to keep guard \u2014 near the pipeline route. <\/span><\/p>\n

If completed, the pipeline would carry bitumen \u2014 one of the most dangerous and polluting types of oil \u2014 from the Alberta tar sands in central Canada out to the Pacific Ocean. From there, it would be shipped down the coast to California and overseas markets. Kinder Morgan does not have consent from the Indigenous Peoples whose territory the pipeline would cross.<\/span><\/p>\n

On 10 March, <\/span>more than 10,000 people<\/span><\/a> marched in British Columbia to support the Indigenous-led protest against the pipeline. Across the eight days of protest, more <\/span>than 170 people were arrested<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

To better understand the protesters\u2019 concerns, I looked at their stories.<\/h2>\n

There was <\/span>Ocean Hyland<\/span><\/a>, a young woman from the Tsleil-Waututh community in British Columbia who marched alongside family and friends.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ocean

Ocean Hyland is from the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, whose territory is threatened by Kinder Morgan’s proposed oil sands pipeline. \u00a9 Rogue Collective \/ Greenpeace<\/p><\/div>\n

“It\u2019s not if, but when Kinder Morgan\u2019s pipeline or tankers spill,” Hyland said. “Just look at the Dakota Access Pipeline, which, in only six months of operation, has already <\/span>spilled five times<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0It is up to us all to protect the sea and the land, and to speak on behalf of the creatures who share this Earth. Water is life. It connects, sustains, and keeps us alive every day.”<\/span><\/p>\n

There was also Terry Christenson a 70-year-old grandfather who sat in a tree directly in the path of <\/span>Kinder Morgan\u2019s clear-cutting activity<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>\u201cThis is insane, you can\u2019t even quantify how much fresh water this pipeline crosses,\u201d Christenson said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Meet Terry. He's a 70-yr-old grandfather who literally "rose up" against Kinder Morgan's pipeline, setting up an aerial camp in the trees at the oil giant's Burnaby terminal. #StopKM<\/a> #ProtectTheInlet<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/d8vdbRGOxY<\/a><\/p>\n

— Greenpeace Canada (@GreenpeaceCA) March 22, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n