After 11 years of bringing you local reporting, the team behind the Vancouver Observer has moved on to Canada's National Observer. You can follow Vancouver culture reporting over there from now on. Thank you for all your support over the years!

Greenpeace activists blockade Kinder Morgan Burnaby facility

Sixteen Greenpeace activists at are the Kinder Morgan Burnaby docking facility  trying to disrupt the loading facility.  They gained access from the water.

Also, there are two activists chained to the fence at the entrance to the facility along with a banner and a First Nations elder.

A news release from Greenpeace says that two activists are now locked to the dock’s oil pumping mechanism. Their message: “Harper: No Tar Sands Pipelines.” Another group of activists are currently painting: “Stop the Tar Sands“ on one of Kinder Morgan’s storage tanks. 

“We’re here to remind Prime Minister Harper and Premier Clark that British Columbians do not want tar sands pipelines and hundreds of super tankers threatening B.C.’s pristine coast,” Mike Hudema, a climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace Canada, said in the news release.

The protest is in response to the Harper government’s renewed efforts to push two tar sands pipelines through British Columbia as well as pipelines to the U.S. and through eastern Canada and Quebec. Both Kinder Morgan’s pipeline expansion project to Vancouver and Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline are opposed in B.C. by 130 First Nations, as well as environmental and other groups.

“With every extra tanker or kilometer of pipeline, we increase the risk of an accident that would be catastrophic to the coast and our communities,” said Hudema. “On the day of the throne speech, we’re telling Prime Minister Harper to say no to tar sands expansion and yes to a green energy future.”

The action reflects Greenpeace’s continuing opposition to energy projects that pose the greatest threat to the world’s climate.

“The tar sands and Arctic drilling represent the ugliest face of our global oil addiction,” said Hudema. “Greenpeace protests these dangerous oil projects whether they are in B.C. or north of Russia. Harper and other political leaders need to get the message it’s time to end our addiction to oil and build the green energy revolution we need.”

The activists in today’s protest wore armbands with “Arctic 30” printed on them. It’s in support of the 30 people detained by Russian authorities after two Greenpeace activists, in a peaceful protest, tried climbing onto an oil drilling platform in international waters in the Arctic, near Russia.

 


 

More in News

Views from a refugee camp: Who gets into heaven?

I have just returned to Vancouver Island from Greek refugee camps where I met a Yazidi man named Jason who told me about his escape from ISIS in Iraq.   His story begins on a desert road where a...

Vancouver's bicycle sharing grows as 15 new stations installed

Mobi bicycle by Shaw Go in Vancouver. Photo by Christopher Porter from Flickr Creative Commons

International Women's Day Concert celebrates female musicians who turned tragedy into triumph

Every March 8, on International Women's Day, we hear about the achievements of brilliant, talented women around the world. But how often do we learn about the physical and mental disabilities or...
Speak up about this article on Facebook or Twitter. Do this by liking Vancouver Observer on Facebook or following us @Vanobserver on Twitter. We'd love to hear from you.