On the full moon our little tribe stopped in Monument Valley, Utah. To the Navajo Nation the area is called Tse Bii Ndzisgaii - valley of the rocks. Its’ beauty is knee buckling. Red rock buttes soar above the valley floor - some reaching 1000 feet. Legendary Hollywood director John Ford filmed many of his western classics here including Stagecoach starring America’s cowboy hero John Wayne. Hell, I felt just like John Wayne out there in those valleys sometimes.

As our crew soaked in the splendor and beauty some feral dogs appeared accompanied by a little black kitten. To the Navajo these animals represent wandering spirits. A few pats on heads set tails wagging and spirits soaring. We moved up the valley through the day and set up camp in Monticello where we spent the night. The full moon engulfed us and guided me to dreams of old friends and new journeys.  

I rose before dawn and brewed up a sunrise coffee. Then I stepped out into the crisp air to greet the coming day and checked Linvolt’s charge connections. I heard the meowing just after that. He dropped down out of the engine bay of a support vehicle. It was the very same black kitten from Monument Valley. He travelled with us all day and all night as a stowaway. Fearless. When I called him he ran over and rubbed back and forth against my ankles. Other than a little oil on his ear he seemed none the worse for wear. How could I resist?  

I poured him a bowl of cream and he fell into it purring, content, connected. The rest of the Lincvolt crew emerged into the dawning. Everyone amazed at the stowaway - this lucky little black full-moon kitten. The Fixer decided to take him home almost instantly - home to California. He called his wife. She concurred.  He bought a litter box, some food, a cage and the kitten settled quickly into out traveling regimen.  I called him Lucky for a few days. ‘Cause he was.

We woke up in Salt Lake City beside a pond with a healthy population of Canada geese. Always a good sign those Canada honkers. The Driver and I shared a laugh about the similarities between us, and them. We also shared a morning walk before we hit the road. I love piling on those morning miles, they shorten the day somehow - and we had things to do. 

Driving from SLC down and around the Great Salt Lake has always dredged up up visions of perseverance to me. I think it is one the most important character traits of all. Perseverance will keep you moving forward. Like the settlers finding their way here 150 years ago. Like the First Nations who lost theirs as a result. 

In my mind forward is the only valid way to go. We are only out here in this magic ivory ride because The Driver had perseverance. He would not quit. Not when the early trials failed. Not when his project partner and dear, dear friend died. Not even when the whole thing went up in flames. He never wavered. He just kept moving ahead. Now he’s driving us out onto the Great Salt Desert floor.  

Out there at the desert’s western edge the mirage phenomenon is powerful. I could see cars way out at the end of the pavement, people walking alongside the road miles away. And I could see spirits dancing everywhere. The lucky black full-moon kitten cradled in my arms for the past hour or so, could see them too. I didn’t ask if anybody else did.

The Driver stared out over the endless white for quite awhile. So did I. So did the rest of the tribe. We met some people. Young environmentalists bent, just like us, on protecting Mother Earth’s atmosphere from CO2 emissions. 

Lincvolt had travelled nearly 6000 miles to this spot, at the end of the highway in the middle of the desert. Her CO2 reduction offset was nearing the 6000 mark too. That’s 3 tons of CO2 emissions that did not enter our precious air supply while we toured like royalty in a shiny ivory 1959 Lincoln Continental Mark II convertible. She was actually helping the situation. A car weighing over 6000 pounds was helping Mother Earth.

Imagine that big car and truck and SUV and RV lovers. Imagine that truck and bus builders. Just imagine that.

We adjusted sunglasses and pulled up off the desert, checked the mirrors and hit it for California. Damn I love that state.

Lincvolt is running better than ever. Breaking in just splendidly. Stable and secure in the high mountains. Climbing confidently all the way to and through The Donner Pass. Quick and responsive down the chute through to Emigrant Gap. All the way down the big drop to the west side. Flawless. The car is pure cream at every level and in every circumstance we faced.

We drove through snow and sleet and freezing rain. We drove into the sunshine and ran headlong into gale force winds. We climbed the mountains and crossed the desert through goodlands and badlands and all other manner of USA-lands. And now she was back in the palm trees in California and I’m pretty sure I could hear her chuckling inside.    

Down in the proud industrial glory of the Alameda shipyards we made a quick stop so Lincvolt could link to the International Space Station. The Driver and Commander of Expedition Chris Hadfield had a video chat and exchanged ideas on how all people can move onward in harmony with Mother Earth.

For a while there, Lincvolt was hooked up to outer space. Man, we were pretty far out there now. Felt good.  

Just before the Big Drive concluded we made our way to The San Mateo Bridge, Hayward side at sunset. The last time Lincvolt crossed the San Mateo Bridge she was heading in the opposite direction. The Driver was riding with our lost, much-loved friend Larry Johnson. They were heading to Wichita and headlong into the future. Every day for three years Larry and The Driver lived and breathed the Lincvolt project together. For decades more they collaborated. Through good times, bad times, through stardust fields and through shit storms - best friends, best partners, best efforts, together. Then Larry died. We all miss him so. 

Now the cockpit holds The Driver, Shotgun and Larry’s son The Shooter, who has taken on Larry’s camera and production duties. The brilliant sun is dropping in over San Francisco Bay. I’m alongside with The Fixer, our sound recordist, Clix, our cinematographer and still shooter and the little black kitten - we’re back to where it all began - heading to the peninsula side of The San Mateo Bridge - cruisin’.

When two sea birds glide in to soar perfectly beside Lincvolt and then the sun hits off her hood ornament like a solar flare it smacks me right in the center of my being. The spirit part! Larry was there too. I could feel him. My tears poured out - tears of joy. The little black kitten looked up at me and smiled just like we were old friends. I felt peace.   

A few miles down the road Lincvolt pulled up to her very own garage for the night. 

Home.

— The Passenger

April 26, 2013

We hit Mayflower, Arkansas on Earth Day. Maybe it was part of the plan, maybe not. But it was Earth Day and we were on the ground at the site of Big Oil/Big Pipeline’s latest toxic spill. 

This one - there are so many now - had filthy Alberta bitumen running freely through the streets of the Northwoods suburban community. Across lawns, down the street, past parked cars and trikes, past driveway basketball nets and into the stream and lake beyond. Tens of thousands of barrels of foulness pouring right into the lives of people who mostly didn’t even know there was a pipeline in their backyard. Here’s a link to the original story - the video is haunting.  

http://rt.com/usa/interstate-40-mayflower-arkansas-149/

We arrived over three weeks after the spill occurred and the place is still a mess. The acrid smell hit us as soon as Lincvolt pulled off Highway 40 at the Mayflower exit. There was a containment boom at the eastern end of Lake Conway filling with dispersant and bitumen - killing all the aquatic fauna and flora there. The town was crawling with police cars. Their presence grew more formidable the closer we got to Northwoods. I still wonder what they were protecting. Their main mission seemed to be stopping photographers and filmmakers like us from seeing the tragedy of Mayflower firsthand.  

It didn’t take long for us to get our fill of the nasty scene. We headed back to the highway and with great pride pointed our fossil fuel free dream car west. Getting miles between us and Mayflower felt good. We fell silent for a long time. Our heartfelt feelings and best wishes for the people there welled up inside. They are all victims of capital extremism.

We crossed into Oklahoma in the afternoon. It was windy - real windy - and storm clouds loomed in the western sky. Lincvolt handled the buffeting with ease and is keeping her amazing pace of 30 mpg on track. At mid morning we found ourselves on the Trail Of Tears. Our little tribe grew silent again. No need to explain why.

In Oklahoma City we stopped to charge her at a Nissan dealership. Nissan has recharge stations to support their fine electric vehicle the Leaf. I’m pretty sure she told some great stories to the anxious Leafs all awaiting their turn out on America’s highways.

The next morning - after an impressive thunder storm wet the city down - we made a pit stop at a hot rod and custom car shop for a minor repair to Lincvolt’s passenger side window mechanism. Steve’s crew did Oklahoma City proud and we were good as new and rolling before most folks had breakfast.

We flew across Texas. Lincvolt loving those long straight highways. Just before the New Mexico border we pulled onto the great mother highway Route 66. Like many of the once vibrant communities out there on what was America’s greatest highway back in the day Glenrio is a ghost town now. I stood out on the dry dry land and felt the spirits of so many who passed this way. I learned later that the Grapes Of Wrath - another American classic - film crew spent three weeks filming that epic in and around Glenrio. Maybe I was feeling the ghost of Tom Joad. 

A few miles into New Mexico The Driver steered Lincvolt into Tucumcari. Unlike Glenrio this town has stayed alive. Lincvolt danced down the main street like a frisky colt - so glad to be back on this great highway - so glad to be feeling the magic of the open road. Tucumcari was the structure model for the animated movie Cars and Lincvolt was acting like a movie star. Which of course she is. 

In Albuquerque we found a charging station right on a downtown street. What a sensible thing for cities to do. The impact of CO2 emissions is greatest in urban areas and Albuquerque impressed me with some 21st century thinking. I truly hope that others follow this city’s lead.

The journey took us north by northwest from Albuquerque towards Four Corners and the intersection of New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Utah. We rode across Indian Territory. The land is parched. Dry riverbeds, dry creekbeds, skinny cows, dry arid unusable land as far as I could see - desertification. Anyone still doubting the urgency of sane water management plans should come out here. The land is oxidizing. The only thing growing is the desert. Proceeding with policies that allow reckless water wasting operations like fracking to continue are pure folly. My heart hurts for the people out here.

Highway 191 took us further north into Utah. Massive red sandstone outcroppings appeared in the desert like ships sailing on the sea. Past Monticello the constant panoramic view took my breath away. And it just kept getting better. After 1200 miles we made it from Mayflower to Moab. From the depressing reality of the foul Exxon Pipeline spill to one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. 

But just beneath the spectacular beauty of Moab and the Canyonlands and Arches National Park and the upper stretches of the Colorado River lurks the monster of avarice. Big Oil wants to frack in this region. They have discovered another tar pit like the one that is destroying Northern Alberta. Filthy oil - the very same toxic stew that ruined a neighbourhood Mayflower. And they have no conscience about bespoiling this beautiful place. There is just no end to their greed. 

We met some exemplary people in Moab. We made some friends. Young, committed, a new generation of activists with a fierce love of Mother Earth who are ready to stand and fight if necessary to protect her. Ordinary people focused on stopping the relentless desecration of nature by the Capital Extremists who only care about money. People who are part of a burgeoning alliance of groups who will put everything on the line to save Mother Earth. And I love them.

— The Passenger

April 22, 2013 

From Somewhere Out In Arkansas

It’s time to tell you about Shotgun. He is a real dear friend to me. He loves to ride up in the jump seat. ‘Cause there’s just so damn much to see.

He is the one who lights the darkness. He is the one who sees so far. We never worry that we’ll get lost. Shotgun’s connected to the stars.

Shotgun is a simple man and he keeps us moving on. His spark it is what drives us from the sunrise till the dawn. We all know he’s the reason that makes the whole deal go. We know that he will never quit. And that’s why we love him so.

He loves to ride beside The Driver. He never asks us for a thing. He knows this big car’s headed onward. He loves the stories it will bring.  

He fills my soul up with his laughter. He has a twinkle in his eyes. He’s always living in the here and now. He never stops to question why.

So if you wake up in the morning. And you start feeling   sad and blue. Try thinkin’ ‘bout my main man Shotgun. He knows exactly what to do.

Just wrap your arms around the moment. Then wrap your heart around your friends. The loving bosom of your family - it will sustain you till the end. 

Shotgun is a simple man and he keeps us moving on. His spark it is what drives us from the sunrise till the dawn. We all know he’s the reason that makes the whole deal go. We know that he will never quit. And that’s why we love him so.

— The Passenger    

A Haiku for Poetry Month

April 20, 2013 

     America floats past shatterproof glass.

     People rush to live their busy day.

     Our destiny lies ahead – onward.

—The Passenger

April 19, 2013

We left Detroit mid-morning. The Driver headed straight for back-roads and we charted a course due south. There was a pile of bad weather on our tail but we stayed just ahead of it. Pretty soon Ohio farmland was drifting past the windows of Lincvolt. Some much welcomed sunshine and warmth embraced our little tribe. Felt real good.

We stopped for lunch in a small town and watched the bank manager across the street fly up a brand new flag - at half mast. The whole nation and most of the world is still mourning the unfathomable – Boston.

We spotted our first tree blossoms on the walk back to Lincvolt. The tree, the flowers, the land all looking up to the sun - all anxious to get spring into overdrive. And we were anxious to get back on the road. There were a lot of miles still ahead.

There’s something essential about this big shiny ivory car. She sharpens my senses - makes me feel a part of something really important, really critical. 

The more people are exposed to her the more they think about what she means. Everywhere we stop folks are drawn to her beauty and style and then to her function. And they mostly get it - because she makes so much sense. No pollutants necessary - just a big beautiful ride and a double scoop of pride about what can be done. Pretty soon they start talking about what they could do to keep their favourite car or truck rolling into the 21st century. Out in farm country the people adore the simple idea of growing their own clean burning fuel. When we leave it’s all smiles. Lincvolt is spreading the message and a little love to boot. 

At the end of the day we pulled into a motel out near the interstate – tired, content, a big drive under our belts. I don’t think I can explain exactly where we stayed. 

In the morning we were up before dawn. No time to waste if our goals for the day are to be realized. The Driver hit the back-roads again. That’s where the people are – where their houses are. That’s where life is. We hugged the mighty Ohio River and floated south by southwest through rich farmland. The trees were greening right before our eyes and the sun blazed orange and pink and fantastic out over the river.  

As we crossed into Kentucky I turned to my travelling companions and everyone is smiling. It’s a fantastic day and we are all so lucky to be right here in the middle of it.

We laid our heads down in Tennessee. Keeping a constant watch on the weather and planning our silent exit from this iconic land of music and song. The ballad of Lincvolt runs through my head – an unfinished symphony. 

I think about my family back home, my beautiful wife, my children, the future. I think about our past and our old friends and all the new ones we’ve made on this journey. 

Just before sleep arrives a poem drifts across my dissolving consciousness. 

       Have compassion for everyone you meet
               even if they don’t want it.
         What appears to be bad manners, an ill
         temper or cynicism is always a sign of
               things no ears have heard,
                       no eyes have seen.
         You do not know what wars are going on
                            down there
             where the spirit meets the bone.

       -Miller Williams.

Goodnight friends. Goodnight Lincvolt.

—The Passenger

April 16, 2013

Two days ago we woke in Iowa. Our journey across the Great Plains nearly done. Lincvolt’s running like a Swiss watch - there is no finer time. We ran through sleet and rain and bitter cold but the sun finally broke through. And the crew fell to work washing her and shining her up for the run into the Great Lakes region. 

Later in the day somewhere out in Wisconsin we stopped in a packed cafe for eggs and ham and coffee. The land rolling now, farms morphing from vast flat fields of corn and grain into compact family run dairy operations. We were in the land of milk and cheese and our spirits ran high.

Yesterday we rose before the sun. Chicago beckoned as we set out to capture her awesome urban beauty at first light. Lincvolt cruised along Lakeshore Drive with the dawn commuters, turning heads. It was amazing. What a city. What a vibe. Second to none.

Then we rolled out into Indiana and the urban decay of Gary. Once so proud now so forlorn. Struggling to find a toehold in the new world order. Still hopeful that a place can be found. 

Michigan felt like a dream. The Driver and Shotgun nestled into the forward cockpit with me and The Shooter in back. Shotgun’s new seat is fantastic and he smiled and laughed as we wove our way across the back roads through some great Michigan towns and villages. It was like a trip into the past - a journey back through time. This noble machine from 1959 filled with family and friends and purpose - just the way the promise of the open road has always been. 

We flew past lakes and log cabins and antique mahogany boats poised and ready for spring and the summer beyond. I felt honoured just to be there, proud of our message. Rooted in the past, embracing the future. A car for all ages in a world where reason may prevail. A world free of the horrible consequences of unbridled addiction to oil.

Last night we hit Detroit. A homecoming for Lincvolt. Here in the Motor City is where she was born. Now she’s risen from the past, risen from the ashes and risen from the misguided age of fossil fuel. Where Detroit gave her life, it’s now her turn to give back. Today it’s all about renewal. 

If Lincvolt can do it, so can Motown.

— The Passenger

April 8, 2013

It’s very quiet here right now. A good time for reflection. A good time to look out into the cosmos and play a little catch up. I just read that The International Energy Agency has, for the second consecutive month, forecast weakening global demand for oil. Makes you feel kind of warm inside eh?

All those solar installations and all those wind turbines and all those clean nuclear plants in Europe (and the 25 projected for China and 12 for India) are gaining some traction. We’re starting to roll.   

So let’s just say the tide is turning on fossil fuel consumption. Let’s say we are at the apex of a transformative age. Let’s say we prevail.

If that’s where we’re at then let’s focus a bit on “next.” 

All that wind and all that dust is not a figment of your imagination. It could be a portent of things to come. Desertification is the relentless degradation of land in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Absolute loss of fauna, flora and water are its trademarks. The complete rendering of these lands as useless is its product. It’s a huge contributor to global warming and it’s much closer than you think.      

http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~umchan83/PLNT4600/mini1/Desertification_map.png

Allan Savory’s Ted Talks on the subject is revelationary. It directly addresses a monumental onrushing climate change challenge. What do we do with the CO2?  

http://www.ted.com/talks/allan_savory_how_to_green_the_world_s_deserts_and_reverse_climate_change.html

Lincvolt is on the open road. Earth Day lies ahead and everything here in the forest is turning green. 

Onward.

— The Passenger

April 1, 2013

This is not an April Fools Day joke. It’s not a joke at all. Foul bitumen from the Alberta Tar Pit is flowing freely through a quiet suburb in Mayflower Arkansas. Brought to us by the Big Oil climate change deniers. 

It could be a glimpse of the future. It could be your neighbourhood. 

http://rt.com/usa/interstate-40-mayflower-arkansas-149/

I have friends in Arkansas - I’m thinking about them today.

The Lincvolt project loading has begun. Departure is imminent and the message is clear. Change is possible. All it takes is some courage, some faith and some resolve. 

It’s time to roll.

—The Passenger      

March 26, 2013

Nothing strikes fear into the hearts of climate change deniers hell-bent on building toxic pipelines like an alliance between the First Nations and the Environmentalists. These are extremely brave people. 

Imagine the Greenpeace crew on board the Rainbow Warrior sailing directly into the path of whaling vessels to stop that pointless slaughter. Or the Friends Of The Earth eco warriors who chained themselves into old growth trees directly in path of the chainsaws. Remember the Indian Summer of Oka in 1990 when Mohawk people stopped the Canadian Army at the border of their territory in order to shut down developers trying to build a golf course over ancestral burial grounds. 

Oka, Quebec, 1990:

This evolving First Nation/Environmentalist movement is the scariest thing possible to the fossil fuel industry. These are determined people. Together they will be powerful. They’ll be buoyed by the recent Canadian Supreme Court decision that recognized Metis ownership, based on their treaty with Canada, of 1.4 million acres of southern Manitoba. If courts finally start to recognize treaties the people may find a way to shut the whole Alberta Tar Pit down. That’s a worthy goal.

Here’s a press release from the Yinka Dene Alliance website posted a few days ago:

—————————————————————————————-

March 20, 2013

For Immediate Release

March 20, Ottawa - Chiefs and hereditary leaders from ten First Nations with traditional territory in the tar sands and on tar sands pipeline routes in western and eastern Canada and the United States gathered in Ottawa today to deliver a clear and unified message: tar sands pipelines will not pass through their collective territories under any conditions or circumstances. The First Nations signed two historic agreements pledging their mutual support to one another in their respective battles to protect their lands, water and health from proposed tar sands projects.

“The International Treaty to Protect the Sacred from Tar Sands Projects and Save the Fraser Declaration are rapidly gaining international support across Canada, the US and beyond. Whether or not Prime Minister Harper or President Obama approves the Enbridge, Kinder Morgan, the Keystone KL or the Enbridge Line 9 pipelines, they will not pass through our collective Aboriginal Territories under any conditions or circumstances,” said Hereditary Chief Phil Lane Jr., Ihanktonwan Dakota signatory of the International Treaty to Protect the Sacred from Tar Sands Projects, whose traditional lands include the ecologically sensitive Ogallala aquifer along the route of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Representatives of the Yinka Dene Alliance, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, the Yankton Sioux Nation and the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Nation stood together to demand a cap to tar sands production and say no to further projects.

“Forcing these projects through would contravene our Indigenous laws and our decision-making rights under the Canadian constitution and international law. We have said no, and we call on the Canadian government to recognize and respect our decisions,” said Chief Martin Louie of the Nadleh Whut’en First Nation, which lies in the path of the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline. 

The Yinka Dene Alliance, the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Nation and the Yankton Sioux Nations of South Dakota engaged in mutual signings of the Save the Fraser Declaration and the International Treaty to Protect the Sacred from Tar Sands Projects, instruments asserting the illegality of tar sands projects under these nations’ own Indigenous laws. Leaders fighting the effects of environmental degradation on their rights and culture stressed that building more pipelines will increase tar sands production and destroy Indigenous communities.

“The Canadian government is spending a lot of money and time in the United States saying the tar sands are environmental and well-regulated, but my community — the polluted air we breathe, the polluted water we drink, the miles of toxic lakes — is living proof the Canadian government is telling one long, expensive lie,” said Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in Alberta.

Four pipelines are being proposed to transport tar sands oil: Enbridge Northern Gateway,  Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain, Trans Canada Keystone XL, and the Enbridge Line 9 reversal. First Nations represented along all of these proposed pipelines rejected efforts by government and industry to greenwash these projects and to push them through without consultation, stressing that Canada’s energy program must change to meet the challenges.

“We must ensure a clean and healthy world for future generations by providing different solutions. Together we are more empowered than apart. Our resistance is strong and growing and we believe we will succeed,” said Rueben George of the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, which is opposing Kinder Morgan’s new pipeline.

The Alberta tar sands currently produce approximately 1.8 million barrels of oil per day, but if industry and government’s expansion plans are approved that number could reach six million barrels per day. Analysis by the Pembina Institute shows the projected emissions from the tar sands are increasing Canada’s overall emissions. If the tar sands were capped at the current production, Canada’s emissions would decrease - not enough to reach the government’s 2020 target, but enough to stop Canada from going backwards.

The Save the Fraser Declaration is an Indigenous law declaration banning tar sands pipelines and tankers from crossing British Columbia, signed by over 160 First Nations and supporters since its creation in 2010. The International Treaty to Protect the Sacred Against Tar Sands Projects is a treaty of peace and mutual defense concluded in January 2013 between the Yankton Sioux and Pawnee Nations, marking the 150th anniversary of a historic peace treaty between the two nations and committing signatories to defending their territories and sacred sites from tar sands infrastructure.

http://yinkadene.ca/index.php/home

—————————————————————————————-

Chiefs and leaders from both sides of the USA/Canada border signed the agreements and spoke. Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation whose territory is directly on the Alberta Tar Pit framed the immediate future, “It’s going to be a long, hot summer,” he said at a news conference. “We have a lot of issues at stake … we’re going to stop these pipelines”

Phil Lane Jr. of the American Yankton Sioux, pledged support for his Canadian cousins. “We’re going to stop these pipelines on way or another,” he said.

Chief Martin Louie of the Nadleh Whut’en First Nation in northern B.C., said the pipeline opponents will never back down. “If we have to keep going to court, we’ll keep doing that,” he said, “The stakes are high and go beyond native issues. We’re the ones that’s going to save whatever we have left of this Earth,” he said.

This union of First Nations and Environmentalists will have enormous political clout and media attention. Back in February their ability mobilize people was evident. 

Pix from Washington DC Forward On Climate rally February 17, 2013.

Yesterday a group of Cree people completed Nishiyuu - a people’s walk - that started three weeks ago with a small group of young snowshoers on the shores of Hudson’s Bay and travelled 1200 miles south to Ottawa. 

 By the time they reached Canada’s capital city the message was clear. Spring is in the air. The Idle No More movement is awake. The people have something to say. The drums are playing. 

So much of what the First Nations people want; so much of what the Environmentalists want; so much of what I want is tied into taking care of our beautiful Earth. 

Lincvolt gets it. She’s nearly ready to take to the open road and share her part of this most-important-ever issue. 

Once we get out there, cruising, top down, wind blowing I’ve got a feeling we’ll hear the drums. You can’t help but hear them if you just listen.

— The Passenger 

March 18, 2013

There’s some disturbing infantile name-calling behavior coming from Big Oil lackeys and their government toadies designed to define everyone opposed to their view as “environmental extremists.” Their position is that global warming is not a problem. That it’s a natural phenomenon - that greenhouse gasses are good for us and that we should all just shut up and leave the hard decisions to them. You know, relax and leave the driving to us. 

For a little insight into their character and methodology you can check out the website of a new film by writer/director Craig Scott Rosebraugh. The film exposes these patronizing capital extremists - those who put money before everything else - for what they truly are:  

http://greedylyingbastards.com/

There’s a war brewing between these capital extremists and those wishing to protect the environment in British Columbia and Alberta. The proposed Northern Gateway pipeline is designed to cross some of the most beautiful wilderness left in North America - once a pristine paradise. 

If constructed the Northern Gateway will cross through the territory of more than 130 Native Bands - all of whom are vehemently opposed to this toxic project. The proponents of the pipeline, Big Oil and Enbridge, have an abysmal record of environmental disaster. But they choose to ignore that, hoping we will do the same and they don’t want to talk about facts. Like the fact that Enbridge has nearly 1000 recorded leaks and spills in their faulty pipeline operations over the past decade. That they’ve dumped hundreds of thousands of barrels of toxic sludge into the environment.

The Northern Gateway would cross through the beautiful valleys of both the Fraser and Skeena Rivers - the two largest remaining habitats for wild salmon on the entire west coast.

See Larger Map Here

    The Canadian government, led by capital extremist Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is firmly in the pocket of Big Oil. How far will Harper’s profit-before-everything regime go? So far they’ve gutted Canada’s environmental protection agencies citing cutbacks and fiscal responsibility as motivation. They’ve muzzled all non-approved (by them) publication of information gathered by scientists, particularly by environmental scientists working under government grants or in government-subsidized institutions including universities. And they have set up an untenable review process called the Joint Review Panel (JRP) to study the environmental, economic and social impact of the Northern Gateway pipleline. This JRP is comprised of 3 committee members charged with hearing thousands of concerns from various stakeholders in Alberta and BC. To date over 130 Native groups and many more environmental protection groups have filed opposition to both the pipeline and to the tanker traffic that is proposed to carry its toxic product through the crystal clear waters of the Douglas Channel to markets as yet undefined.

Canada’s pro-Big Oil government has set an unattainable limit on the length of time the committee has to finish its job - the end of this year. It has further passed an authoritarian piece of legislation - Bill C-38 - that gives the Harper government the power to ignore the recommendations of the Panel if they don’t like its outcome. This bit of legislative thuggery ensures that the needs of Big Oil will be served no matter what the people want. 

It’s clear that the Canadian Government and Alberta Provincial Government will stop at nothing to achieve the capital extremist ends of Big Oil. British Columbia is another matter. With a provincial election looming the will of the people might triumph and the Beautiful Province could shut the whole thing down. My fingers are crossed.

In any event the Native and Non Native Groups fighting to preserve what’s left of the Northwestern Rainforest and those fighting for Treaty Rights and environmental equity in Alberta will likely have to take their struggle all the way to Canada’s Supreme Court. At that level the influence of Global Warming deniers is limited. 

A recent Supreme Court case just found in favour of a Metis Nation land claim that gives them traditional, unequivocal treaty-based ownership of 1.4 million acres of Southern Manitoba including most of the City of Winnipeg. The process cost the Metis 5 million dollars in legal fees.

The fight to stop the capital extremists in BC and Alberta will be costly. Their pockets - lined by a century of unbridled greed, are deep and inhabited by both the current federal government of Canada and the provincial government of Alberta. But the fight is winnable.

You can help out right now. Go to the 350.org website and sign the petition to President Obama to stop the Keystone XL pipeline - another Enbridge environmental disaster in the making designed to pipe toxic bitumen from Alberta’s tar pit to Texas.

http://act.350.org/sign/tar-sands/

Then go to the Forest Ethics website and learn more about the effort to shut down the Northern Gateway pipeline. Don’t let the capital extremists lay waste to one of North America’s last pristine regions. 

http://forestethics.org/

It’s time for change. It’s time to leave the past and embrace the future. If we ride together we can do this. 

—The Passenger