Montréal - On the one year anniversary of the Gulf oil spill, a lively torrent of 'human oil' is expected to rush through downtown streets today, forcing wildlife and residents to flee for their survival and Enbridge workers to scramble to save their public image. The street-scale performance action, organized by Climate Justice Montreal, will dramatize the hidden dangers of pipeline construction and dirty oil extraction.
"From Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico to right here in Montreal, fossil fuel extraction is making people sick, polluting the air and water, and fueling climate change,," explain Robin Reid-Fraser, a member of Climate Justice Montreal. "It's time to move beyond dirty energy, and that means stopping projects like shale gas extraction and the planned Trailbreaker tar sands pipeline."
The pipeline breach is expected to occur at approximately 12:30 pm at the corner of Sherbrooke and McGill College. A spill of human beings dressed in black garbage bags and covered in sticky crude will flow forth through the streets with a 25 foot pipeline dragon, the embodiment of the tar sands monster. As the crowd moves on, the spill will only gained in intensity as the dragon spews "tar ball" balloons full of sticky crude in its trail.
A PR team in Enbridge outfits will be on hand trying to downplay the dangers of the oncoming tide with statements such as "there is nothing to worry about here," "Enbridge has only the highest standards in safety monitoring and control," and "please return to your energy-intensive lifestyles." A much smaller and less well-funded 'clean-up crew' will also make a token attempt to clean up the mess. This time, Enbridge's campaign of greenwashing is unlikely to keep the human and environmental costs of their pipelines out of the public eye.
In fact, organizers plan to bring attention to Enbridge's track-record of failing to protect the environment and ensuring the safety of communities. "Just last year, an Enbridge pipeline spilled 20,000 barrels of oil into rivers in Michigan. We don't want that to happen here," said Dru Oja Jay, a member of Climate Justice Montreal. The group is targeting Canadian energy giant Enbridge in opposition to its proposed Trailbreaker pipeline project which plans to bring 200,000 barrels/day of Alberta tar sands crude through Montreal, and its role as the primary mover of tar sands crude across the continent.
This action is part of the international "Day of Action Against Extraction" with creative demonstrations, performances and non-violent actions taking place in over two dozen cities on 4 continents to mark the anniversary of 2010's BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Ultimately, the group is seeking to highlight extraction as the root of climate change and oil spills. "If we leave it in the ground, it doesn't get in the air, it doesn't pollute the water, and it doesn't contribute to catastrophic climate change," added Oja Jay.
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Contacts
Dru Oja Jay: 514 515 4693
info@climatejusticecoop.org
Cameron Fenton: 514 467 6413
cam@climatejusticecoop.org
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