Dear Friend,
It was the biggest tar sands pipeline spill in history -- and Big Oil says New England is next.
In July 2010, over a million gallons of tar sands poured into Michigan's Kalamazoo River. The spill caused almost $1 billion in damage, and two years later, it still hasn't been completely cleaned up.
Big Oil doesn't learn from its mistakes -- they're planning their next major tar sands pipeline for New England. The pipeline's route crosses 11 beautiful rivers and poses a special danger to the water and wildlife of the Connecticut and Androscoggin Rivers, Lake Sebago, and Casco Bay. It's up to you to stop this attack on our climate and clean water --
which is why Sierra Club supporters will be rallying outside the New England Governors' Conference in Burlington, VT, on Sunday, July 29th.
It's our biggest rally of the year, and your voice is needed against the tar sands -- can you RSVP today for the rally on July 29th?
Here are the details:
WHAT: Rally at the New England Governors' Conference
WHO: Concerned citizens from across the northeast
WHEN: Sunday, July 29 -- Occupy March at 12:00 p.m. and Human Oil Spill at 2:00 p.m.
WHERE: Battery Park, Burlington, VT [
Map]
WHAT TO BRING: Black clothing to create a human oil spill
QUESTIONS: Contact Jessica Eckdish at
jessica.eckdish@sierraclub.org
This is no ordinary rally. New England's governors and Eastern Canada's premiers will be gathered at an important conference in Burlington, so this is our best chance to send our elected officials a critical message:
We need a Tar Sands-Free Northeast. Publicly oppose tar sands pipelines now.
RSVP here to join the rally and speak out against the tar sands in Burlington.
Studies have shown that tar sands pipelines may be far likelier to leak than ordinary crude pipelines
1 -- and a new government report shows that Enbridge, the Canadian oil company behind both the Michigan and New England pipelines, knew about 15,000 problems with their Michigan pipeline, but only fixed 900.
2 When the spill happened, they ignored it for 17 hours, and even increased the amount of oil they were pumping through the pipeline. But thanks to this report, opposition to another tar sands pipeline -- Northern Gateway in Canada -- is increasing, and the project looks dead.
3
While you gather in Vermont, activists across the continent will show their solidarity with other "We are the Kalamazoo" events across the U.S. and Canada.
If we stand together like our Canadian allies have done, then we can stop New England's tar sands pipeline the same way.
RSVP today to come out to Burlington and show our elected officials that we mean business.
Thanks for all you do to protect our environment,
Michael Marx
Sierra Club Beyond Oil Campaign Director
P.S. If you can't make it to Burlington next Sunday, you can still make a difference by
forwarding this email and event information to your friends or sharing with the social network buttons below!
References
[1] Swift, Anthony et all. "Tar Sands Pipeline Safety Risks." Natural Resources Defense Council et all. Web (PDF). February 2011.
[2] Olive, David. "Enbridge, TransCanada pipeline safety is a pipedream." Toronto Sun. Web. 13 July 2012.
[3] Yaffe, Barbara. "U.S. report sounds death knell for pipeline." Vancouver Sun. Web. 13 July 2012.
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