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Posted March 1, 2005
Media Release: Oil Summit Picketed
For Immediate Release
Date: Today, Tuesday, March 1, 2005
Time: 10:30 - 11:00 am
Place: Delta Ocean Point Resort, 45 Songhees Rd., Esquimalt
Today, a small group of picketers will unfurl 2 large banners ("Ban Oil
Drilling and Seismic Testing Off BC's Wild Coast" and "Keep our Coast
Oil Free") and hand out leaflets outside the BC Oil and Gas
Opportunities Summit in Victoria, sponsored by the BC Chamber of
Commerce.
The keynote speaker at the conference will be Richard Neufeld, BC's
Minister of Energy and Mines, who will be promoting coastal oil
development and seismic testing (oil exploration) off BC's coast under
the guise of "filling in science gaps." The BC government in their
recent Throne Speech proclaimed that they will spend $5.75 million of BC
taxpayers' money by 2008, on top of this years projected $5.8 million,
for a total of $11.55 million over 4 years, to fund their Offshore Oil
and Gas Team. The team is a taxpayer-funded PR/lobby group working to
push the federal government to lift the moratorium.
"The BC Liberals are slick - like oil on water. They're promoting
seismic
testing under the guise of 'doing science', when it's simply a sneaky,
foot-in-the-door strategy to eventually get the moratorium lifted,"
states Ken Wu, WCWC's Campaign Director in Victoria. "Once companies
spend hundreds of millions of dollars to undertake oil exploration -
seriously harming fish, whales, and crabs with sonic shock waves through
the ocean - and if major deposits are found, then it'll be extremely
difficult to keep the moratorium in place by that point."
The Wilderness Committee is also criticizing the federal Paul Martin
government for signing an agreement last week with the BC government to
establish proposed regulations for seismic testing off BC's coast - even
though the federal government hasn't even made a decision yet on whether
or not to lift the moratorium. The agreement is called the "Statement of
Canadian Practice on Marine Seismic Activities" and is now open for a 60
day public commentary period.
"Why is the federal Liberal government signing deals with the BC
government to make regulations for seismic testing and oil exploration
off BC's coast, if they haven't even decided yet if they're going to
lift the federal moratorium? It's an ominous sign that the federal
government may already be buckling to the BC Liberal's
anti-environmental pressure to eventually lift the moratorium after the
provincial election," states Wu.
Studies show that seismic testing kills marine larvae and fish, damages
the
reproductive organs of crabs, deafens whales, and drives marine mammals
and
fish long distances away from their feeding areas and migration routes.
Coastal oil development would result in chronic daily pollution
(drilling fluid discharges, oil leakages), major greenhouse gas
emissions (contravening our Kyoto commitment), and large and small oil
spills in Canada's most earthquake prone region. 75% of British
Columbians during last spring's public input process wanted to maintain
the moratorium on coastal oil and gas development in BC.
Contact: Ken Wu, Campaign Director, WCWC
Victoria (250) 388-9292
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