Delawareans are in solidarity with the communities impacted by the tar sands on this two-year anniversary of the Kalamazoo oil spill. We learned last week that the Delaware City Refinery, located within Delaware's protected coastal zone, would be increasing its rail shipments of oil to include 100,000 barrels per day of Canadian tar sands. We joined together to watch the documentary film "An Evolving Legacy: Delaware's Coastal Zone Act", which according to Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands in 1971, speaking as Chairman of the World Wildlife Fund, "...was the first time in the world any community has won such a battle with international oil companies." Through this solidarity action, we are filled with hope that we can continue to win the battle with international oil companies - in Delaware, in Kalamazoo, and worldwide.
Tar sands oil is the most toxic fossil fuel on the planet that leaves in its wake scarred landscapes and a web of pipelines and polluting refineries all while delaying our transition to a clean energy economy. It is an oil disaster that we can still stop.
July 25th marks the two-year anniversary of the Kalamazoo oil spill, the largest and costliest inland oil spill in American history. The Kalamazoo disaster destroyed jobs, compromised human health and poisoned the environment in Michigan. The spill is still not cleaned up.
Join us in solidarity with the two-year anniversary of the Enbridge tar sands pipeline spill in Kalamazoo, Michigan, as we learn about efforts in the State of Delaware to protect our Coastal Zone from heavy industrial development:
Wednesday, July 25, 2012 from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Delaware City Library, 5th St & Bayard St, Delaware City, DE 19706
Canadian tar sands crude could be coming to Delaware in the near future. On Jul 18m, 2012 Aaron Clark from Bloomberg Newsroom reported that PBF Energy plans to build a 100,000-barrel-a-day train offloading site at its Delaware City refineryto bring in oil from Canada and the U.S. Midcontinent.
The Delaware City Refinery has announced that it is postponing its proposed $1 billion expansion in favor of the dirtiest oil on earth, the Canadian tar sands.
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.
To encourage President Obama to deny the Presidential Permit for the tar sands Keystone XL Pipeline, thousands came to Washington D.C. and surround the White House, arms linked and bodies deep.
Vice President Joe Biden's visit to UD Campus was an opportunity too good to resist to spread the word about the tar sands and to put extra pressure on the White House to deny the Presidential Permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline.
About the Tar Sands
The Sierra Club Beyond Oil Campaign will block the most dangerous tar sands oil projects (Keystone XL, Enbridge Gateway, Trailbreaker pipelines) and revoke the oil industry's license to operate above the law and interfere with our transition to a clean energy future.
Sierra Club's tar sands video demonstrates why tar sands are the least desirable form of oil and why the Keystone XL pipeline must be stopped.
Melina Laboucan-Massimo, a member of the Lubicon Cree First Nation and a Climate and Energy Campaigner with Greenpeace, describes the impact of oil and gas developments and the recent oil spill in the traditional territory of the Lubicon Cree in northern Alberta.
Being the Change We Hope For: Stopping the Keystone XL Pipeline by Yiming Roberts, places Alberta tar sands development and the Keystone XL Pipeline within their environmental, climate and social justice contexts.
