First Nation Chief visits Edinburgh to warn against tar sands oil rush

Chief Al Lameman of the Beaver Lake Cree Nation speaks about the oil-driven environmental disaster in Canada at an event in Edinburgh.

Desperate oil exploration is not only damaging the local community in Alberta, but also risking global runaway climate change.

Chief Al Lameman said:

“The animals, fish, plants and medicine that sustain us are being destroyed. Caribou, moose and other wildlife will not come near the disturbance caused by tar sands operations and the hundreds of kilometres of pipelines, seismic exploration lines and access roads criss-crossing our land.

“It’s an enormous source of strength to receive the goodwill and support of the people of the UK. We are facing powerful and wealthy opposition, but we remain firm in our resolve to protect these lands from destruction. Your fight is our fight.”

The Beaver Lake Cree Nation is a small indigenous community of about 700 people in the boreal forest of north east Alberta.

The local community has taken legal action to protect their environment and stop new developments.

The forest is the world’s second largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia.

But this is not normal oil, tar sands are mostly sand, water and clay and extracting the low quality oil is an incredibly dirty and destructive process – destroying pristine forest, producing huge quantities of toxic waste and polluting the air and water.

The tar sands event is a joint event between The Co-operative, The Royal Scottish Geographical Society, World Development Movement and Friends of the Earth Scotland.

ENDS

For media enquiries please contact:

Per Fischer, Press Office, Friends of the Earth Scotland
t: 0131 243 2719

Notes to Editors

Tar sands, featuring Chief Al Lameman of the Beaver Lake Cree Nation
www.tarsands.org.uk

Friends of the Earth Scotland exists to help people in Scotland look after the planet for everyone’s future. We think globally and act locally in Scotland, delivering solutions to climate change by enabling and empowering people to take both individual and collective action. We offer help to people with the big things in life – helping to sustain a healthy society and environment. We believe that all of our children’s futures will be better because of what we do.
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