Tar Sands tailings poisons muskeg and nearby First Nations community | rabble.ca by Ben Powless with pictures.
The trip out to the tar sands tailings pond reminded me of other recent trips to places where indigenous people were trying to survive.
It recalled for me a trip out to the Russian Arctic earlier this year to visit a group of Saami (Indigenous) reindeer herders struggling to maintain their way of life, and also the work I did last year with a group of Amazonian peoples who were trying to stop oil companies and oil spills in the Peruvian jungles.
But in the end this was far worse, even compared with those two dire situations, and it was being promoted by the Canadian and Alberta governments.
We left on a pair of four wheelers in the afternoon, embracing the freezing temperatures and snow for about six hours to gather footage of what I was promised would be a shocking find. And it was -- when we finally arrived on the site of the Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. -- CNRL -- tailings pond (which, at about five-km long and one-km wide, was more of a lake), we saw tailings being released on the opposite shore, flowing out and covering the muskeg and bush underneath. I was accompanied by Mike Orr, a councillor in the community of Fort McKay and avid hunter and trapper, and his daughter.
Here we were, standing on traplines and hunting trails that remain in use by members of the Fort McKay First Nation, as the toxic waste covered many hectares with an oily ooze...
Showing posts with label Indigenous people. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indigenous people. Show all posts
Monday, November 29, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Indígenas exigen un papel en la cumbre de cambio climático de Cancún - Planeta CNN - CNNMéxico.com
Indígenas exigen un papel en la cumbre de cambio climático de Cancún - Planeta CNN - CNNMéxico.com
MEXICO CITY (AP) - Representatives of several Indian groups on Wednesday demanded the right to participate in discussions to combat climate change, in the context of the summit to be held in Cancun from 29 November to 10 December next.
Meeting at the National Indigenous Council on Climate Change, developed this week, leaders of ethnic-like Purépecha, the Zapotec and Totonac- announced an action plan to be presented at the Sixteenth Conference of the Parties (COP 16) of the UN, to be attended as observers.
In a document entitled Declaration of Indigenous Peoples of Mexico on Climate Change, the groups are calling on all parties involved in this summit, especially the Mexican government to take them into account in making decisions.
The text in addition to demand- reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases and dependence on fossil fuels, greater respect for life forms and indigenous development models, as well as recognition of the rights they have on their territories.
The declaration calls for leaving "the false solutions to climate change linked to market mechanisms," citing as an example mega wind power and hydropower, as well as carbon credits, nuclear power, biofuels and GM crops to begin without prior consultation indigenous groups.
The partnerships seek to exploit the COP 16 to establish itself as collective subjects of rights, which can make proposals to combat climate change.
Of the 107 million Mexicans, at least 12 million are indigenous, divided into 64 ethnic groups and often affected by conditions of poverty and marginalization.
MEXICO CITY (AP) - Representatives of several Indian groups on Wednesday demanded the right to participate in discussions to combat climate change, in the context of the summit to be held in Cancun from 29 November to 10 December next.
Meeting at the National Indigenous Council on Climate Change, developed this week, leaders of ethnic-like Purépecha, the Zapotec and Totonac- announced an action plan to be presented at the Sixteenth Conference of the Parties (COP 16) of the UN, to be attended as observers.
In a document entitled Declaration of Indigenous Peoples of Mexico on Climate Change, the groups are calling on all parties involved in this summit, especially the Mexican government to take them into account in making decisions.
The text in addition to demand- reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases and dependence on fossil fuels, greater respect for life forms and indigenous development models, as well as recognition of the rights they have on their territories.
The declaration calls for leaving "the false solutions to climate change linked to market mechanisms," citing as an example mega wind power and hydropower, as well as carbon credits, nuclear power, biofuels and GM crops to begin without prior consultation indigenous groups.
The partnerships seek to exploit the COP 16 to establish itself as collective subjects of rights, which can make proposals to combat climate change.
Of the 107 million Mexicans, at least 12 million are indigenous, divided into 64 ethnic groups and often affected by conditions of poverty and marginalization.
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