At Canadian Consulates worldwide on the night of March 7, people came together with candles in solidarity for environmental and climate justice. The Canadian tar sands, located in Alberta Canada, reside below the boreal forest, which is the largest intact ecosystem in the world. Tar sands is notoriously dirty, and its extraction and refining is spoiling rivers and ecosystems, causing illness in indigenous and rural communities, and poses a serious threat to stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions to acceptable levels. While politicians and corporations in Canada have worked very hard to exploit this resource, they have done so by placing the health and welfare of their own citizens at risk, particularly the indigenous communities in Fort Murray and surrounding communities.

At the Delaware Chapter of the Sierra Club, we were proud to partner with the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Sierra Club, the New Jersey Chapter of the Sierra Club, Earth Quakers, Food and Water Watch, 350.org, Tar Sands Action, and other environmental groups who made this event so successful. Approximately 45 activists participated in the Philadelphia candlelight vigil (see photo), including the President of the national Sierra Club Robin Mann.

Future actions for the tar sands are currently being planned, particularly for International Stop the Tar Sands Day on May 5, 2012. If you would like more information, or would like to participate in this action, contact Amy Roe at amywroe@gmail.com.

Watch a youtube video photo-essay on the impact of tar sands mining on the Lubicon Cree First Nation community.

View a presentation slideshow on the tar sands and Keystone XL Pipeline by Yiming Roberts, "Being the Change We Hope For: Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline."

Photo credit:  Amy Roe