"It's one of the last bastions of Canadian wilderness: the Great Bear Rainforest, on BC's north and central Pacific coast. Home to bountiful marine mammals, fish, and wildlife - from orca and humpback whales to wild salmon, wolves, grizzlies, and the legendary spirit bear - this spectacular place is now threatened by a proposal to bring an oil pipeline and supertankers to this fragile and rugged coast.
The plan is to pump over half a million barrels a day of unrefined bitumen from the Alberta Tar Sands over the Rockies, through the heartland of BC - crossing a thousand rivers and streams in the process - to the Port of Kitimat in the Great Bear Rainforest. From there, supertankers would ply the rough and dangerous waters of the BC coast en route to Asia and the United States. Dubbed the Northern Gateway Pipeline, the project is of concern for three main reasons: 1. It would facilitate the expansion of the Tar Sands, hooking emerging Asian economies on the world's dirtiest oil; 2. The risk of leaks from the pipeline itself; 3. The danger of introducing oil supertankers for the first time to this part of the BC coast.
Now a growing coalition of First Nations, conservation groups, and concerned citizens from Canada and around the world is banding together to say no the Enbridge project - in what is shaping up to be the defining Canadian environmental battle of our time." - From the website of PacificWild.org
Please take a moment to watch the video about the threat to this beautiful place. An ecosystem that that truly represents the cycle of life and that has the potential to be destroyed if the pipeline becomes a reality.
Dear Prime Minister Stephen Harper,
We the undersigned, strongly oppose bringing crude oil to the Great Bear Rainforest.
The proposed plan to build a crude oil pipeline from the Alberta tar sands to the North Coast is the wrong choice for British Columbia. Allowing this pipeline to be built and oil tanker traffic in the pristine waters of the Great Bear Rainforest would undermine the conservation gains already made and the way of life of the coastal First Nations people.
More than 80 percent of British Columbians oppose crude oil tanker traffic on the North Coast and the coastal First Nations have declared a ban under their traditional laws. This project would be a major, long-term investment in dirty oil development at a time when B.C. and Canada should be investing in the clean energy economy.
We have the opportunity to set an example here. To show how we deal with the last few wild places on our planet and more importantly, for how we honor and respect the rights and traditions of First Nations and all indigenous people. I strongly urge you to have the foresight and ingenuity to move forward with a plan that will move British Columbia, and Canada, into the future instead of clinging to the status quo.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
