Tar Sands- A dirty secret

Lush (a cosmetic company known for their natural fair-trade products) were handing out leaflets about Canada’s destructive method of getting their oil from tar sands situated under ancient forests. Looking at the ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos I initially thought that the ‘after’ photo was an impressionistic oil painting (with brush marks carelessly dragged left and right) of what will happen in the future. The shock of finding out that this was not a painting but an actual aerial shot taken recently of the forest was a huge blow. And to top it off, many UK banks and industries are funding this monstrosity! In order to help fight this, I signed a sheet that was to be sent to our local MEP to request tar sands to be kept out of Europe. Below is a template of the same letter so please copy paste it in an email or letter signed with your name and send it to your local MEP too. Spread the word- this is a serious issue.

Here is the letter template for those interested:

Dear Member of the European Parliament,
I am deeply concerned about moves by the Canadian government and industry to bring tar sands-derived fuel into the EU.

The tar sands have been described as the most environmentally destructive project on earth. As you may be aware, the tar sands deposits in Canada are situated beneath ancient boreal forest, a precious habitat for many animals and one of the most important forested regions of the world. The area is also the ancestral land for many indigenous First Nations communities who feel that their treaty rights are being trampled on by the Canadian government. Alarmingly, the tar sands extraction process is estimated to be three to five times more carbon intensive than traditional forms of oil.
For the sake of meeting EU carbon reduction targets and for protecting the forests and people of Canada, please do everything in your power to keep dirty tar sands oil out of Europe. Intense lobbying by industry to make tar sands fuel acceptable under the Fuel Quality Directive (2009/30/EC) is one major area of concern. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) talks are another avenue where lobbyists are trying to force tar sands oil into Europe, so please use your influence to ensure these talks are put on hold until the concerns of environmental campaigners and human rights activists are taken on board.

Kind regards,