Tar Sands tailings poisons muskeg and nearby First Nations community

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...

Ecopolity » Will the G20 help Cancun to succeed?

Ecopolity » Will the G20 help Cancun to succeed?

“Fossil Fuel Subsidies: We reaffirm our commitment to rationalize and phase-out over the medium term inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption, with timing based on national circumstances, while providing targeted support for the poorest. We direct our Finance and Energy Ministers to report back on the progress made in implementing country-specific strategies and in achieving the goals to which we agreed in Pittsburgh and Toronto at the 2011 Summit in France.” From The Seoul Summit Document: Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth

“Medium term” and “timing based on national circumstances” give any country a legitimate exit option based on the subjective interpretation of “medium” and “circumstances”. Chance of achievement near zero.

Here’s what they said about climate change and the low carbon economy:

“Climate Change and Green Growth: Addressing the threat of global

The Enclosure: Moon Palace & Cancun Messe.

COP16/CMP6 enclosure
The COP16/CMP6 will be held on the premises of Hotel Moon Palace and Cancunmesse , located along the Cancun- Chetumal road , a distance of approximately 7 km apart.

Access to government delegates , media and observers between the two spaces will be constant , safe and unhindered. However, if there is a contingency or force majeure, shall take the measures deemed necessary to guarantee safety of participants .

The number of observers who will have access to the various conference rooms in which to carry out the governmental negotiations are determined in accordance with United Nations practice . In this regard , the Secretariat of the Convention will distribute the corresponding secondary passes to ensure access to various meeting rooms in an orderly manner . The government of Mexico has no interference in it.

As usual it takes money to reserve a room at $265.00/night x 7 nights at the Moon Palace and the CancunMesse.
Maybe again , I will be along the fringe- and outsider looking in..I just hope that I will be safe- and maybe get a tan/healthy glow- and NOT get sick!

Cop16 , November 29th-December 10th,2010

The 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held in Cancún, Mexico, from 29 November to 10 December 2010.[1] The conference is officially referred to as the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 6th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties (CMP 6) to the Kyoto Protocol. In addition, the two permanent subsidiary bodies of the UNFCCC – the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) – will hold their 33rd sessions. The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference extended the mandates of the two temporary subsidiary bodies – the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) and the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) – and they will meet as well.

Four preparatory rounds of negotiations (i.e. sessions of the AWG-KP and the AWG-LCA) were to be held during 2010. The first three of these were in Bonn, Germany, from 9 to 11 April, 1 to 11 June (in conjunction with the 32nd sessions of SBSTA and SBI), and 2 to 6 August. The Bonn talks have been reported as ending in failure.[2][3][4] The fourth round will be in Tianjin, China, from 4 to 9 October.[5]

Ban Ki-moon has stated he doubts member states will reach a new global agreement to address global warming (the current climate change). [6]