Philippa de Boissiere was one of 8 students who took part in People & Planet’s tar sands solidarity exchange this summer:

“Our trip to Alberta, Canada marked the start for us of an ongoing commitment to take on the most destructive oil project on Earth. Our visit was in response to an invitation from the former Beaver Lake Cree Nation (BLCN) Chief, Al Lameman, whose community is being directly threatened by the expansion of tar sands.
There was a lot to take in from our experience of this dirty oil extraction industry. We were treated to a full PR assault from Suncor representatives, harassed by industry workers whilst surveying the destruction of the boreal forest and left choking by the fumes emitted from toxic waste ponds.
More importantly however, we developed links of solidarity with indigenous people from Beaver Lake. Over campfires, meals and some dancing at their annual Pow-Wow we learnt of a wise and loving culture. We were able to send a powerful message on behalf of the People & Planet network that the Beaver Lake Cree Nation do not stand alone in taking on the most powerful oil companies on the planet.

Post by Rik Ganly, one of 8 students recently returned from a People & Planet youth exchange visit to Tar Sands ground zero in Alberta, Canada.

Rik and others outside the DfT in London this morning (photo by Anthony Upton)

It’s been a beautiful day in London, and what finer way to spend it than nipping down to the Department for Transport (DfT)?  It may not be the most popular destination in the capital but we were on a mission: to force Lib Dem minister Norman Baker to change his mind about the EU Fuel Quality Directive. To read the press you’d think the Lib Dems have very little real power, but Mr Baker’s remit as Under-Secretary for Transport puts him squarely on the battle-lines between environmentalists opposing tar sands and oil companies. The minister has displayed a disappointing lack of willingness to fight for the environment so far; but all the indications are for a U-turn and we had a petition of 50,000 signatures to hand over, with the message: public pressure is mounting.

Allow me to explain. The European Union is currently finalising the Fuel Quality Directive which sets out to reduce Europe’s transport fuel emissions by 6% by 2020. If it recognises the higher emissions resulting from tar sands fuels it would effectively ban their import into Europe. So far so good, but an army of Canadian and oil lobbyists are currently in Brussels and EU capitals trying to make sure that doesn’t happen, as they know where Europe goes on minimum environmental standards the rest of the world generally and eventually follows. This would be a disaster for oil companies, who want to exploit Tar Sands regardless of the environmental cost. The only language these people understand is the language of cold hard cash, so it’s been a massive aim for environmentalists to hit them where it hurts and damage the commercial viability of these dangerous projects by closing this important market. Unfortunately Britain (why is it always Britain?!) appears to have joined Canada and the oil industry in opposing a ban.

Which is why about a dozen of us are parked on the pavement outside the DfT on a Wednesday afternoon, holding up a big banner while security guards squint to make out the writing. Early on, the admirably astute government security people lock the door we’re standing in front of, obviously wary of some kind of attempt to storm the building. We’ll leave such stuff for another day; our booted and suited group includes representatives from Friends of the Earth, WWF, Avaaz and the Co-operative, and of course People & Planet. Colin from the Co-op hands over a massive petition to Baker’s private secretary, in the hope this will help him make his mind up to do the right thing. Friends of the Earth are planning on turning up the heat over the next week or so, so keep your eyes peeled for a call to action from them. And in the meantime go on Twitter, write to your MP, and take whatever action you can to change our government’s mind: Britain creates enough environmental damage as it is, without needing assistance from the dirtiest industry in the world. Canada: thanks, but no thanks.

Apologies for the short and garbled post - we’ve been travelling for over 24 hours all told without sleep. More photos, videos and blog posts from students coming soon.

Oil refineries on route north of Edmonton

We’re here!  12 intrepid travellers set off from London yesterday morning at 3.30am and arrived in the tiny town of Lac La Biche, Alberta after a mammoth (and yes, carbon-intensive) journey.  Within an hour of landing in Edmonton (the capital of Canada’s proud oil province) we’d already passed a dozen refineries and heavy industry plants on our 3 hour trip northwards to visit the Beaver Lake Cree Nation who are welcoming us to their community for the next two weeks.

The road to Beaver Lake Cree reservation

First impressions?  It’s all so big!  The trucks, the refineries, the wide open spaces.  Driving out of Edmonton all you see for miles and miles are stripmalls, burnt forests and giant industrial plants spewing out plumes of dirty smoke.

Oil is undoubtedly king here in Alberta. The immigration officers at border control took several of the students aside to get reassurances that we weren’t here to protest over the oilsands - hmm!  An hour later, we were making an impromptu stop at a Shell oil refinery to get a closer look at the gas flares and weren’t all that surprised when it took less than 5 minutes for security to show up and throw us and our cameras off-site.   We can expect more of the same in the next week as we venture out to visit Suncor and several in-situ tar sands extraction sites with our guides. Just a taster of the intimidation and widespread public support for tar sands that indigenous communities face when they stand up to the oil companies making a profit at their expense here.

More on that after our first meeting with the community tomorrow. For now though, we’re crashing out in a motel before heading out to Beaver Lake tomorrow to set up camp and meet the elders and youth at their annual Pow Wow.  So far so… overwhelming!

Untitled from Taking on Tarmageddon on Vimeo.

The Tarmageddon documentary crew following our youth exchange project should have produced a short video of our first day. You can also follow our progress on Facebook and Twitter.

Here’s a report by Jess Worth on Monday’s Tar Sands action - and some photos, by Orin Langelle and Daygot Leeyos.

About 200 of us gathered outside the Canadian Embassy in Copenhagen to protest at the way Canada is blocking progress on binding, ambitious climate emissions reductions - because it’s committed to expanding the most destructive project on earth: the Tar Sands. (more…)