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Street Theatre protests offshore oil
Victoria News, November 19, 2004
By Marke Brown
A group of University of Victoria students took a theatrical
approach Tuesday to protest the possibility of oil and gas development
off BC's coast Tuesday.
The students dressed up as oil slick slimes and performed a
street theatre protest in front of UVic's McPherson Library. The protest
included an OOG (Offshore Oil and Gas) monster, a simulated oil spill in
the foundation in front of the library and a three-metre high windmill
as an alternative to fossil fuels.
The street theatre event was followed by speeches from various
environmentalists.
Offshore oil and gas development and exploration could
potentially cause such problems as oil spills and pollution, which could
have a serious impact on marine ecosystems, said Graeme Verhulst, UVic
coordinator for ht Western Canada Wilderness Committee.
[2 Pictures] Caption: Guy Dauncey speaks against offshore oil
exploration while University of Victoria members of the Western Canada
Wilderness Committee perform skit with students representing an oil
slick and cleanup workers.
"Even before any oil is extracted there is a huge impact from
seismic testing," he said.
The event coincided with the WCWC's nationwide campaign to put
pressure on the federal government to legislate a permanent ban on oil
and gas development off the West Coast. Later this month, federal
Natural Resources Minister John Efford is slated to assess the results
of last spring's public consultation on the issue. Sixty-nine perscent
of the oral submissions and 59 percent of the written submissions called
for the current moratorium on offshore oil and gas development to stay
in place.
Guy Dauncey, president of the BC Sustainable Energy Association
and author of 101 Solutions to Global Climate Change, stressed the need
to move away from fossil fuels and towards alternative energy sources
such as those derived from sun and wind. As it currently stands, he
said, the world's supply of fossil fuels are dwindling to the point that
there is no choice but to adopt alternative energy sources.
"Within our lifetime there will be no more oil and gas" Dauncey
said.
"Then there's the issue of the impact the use of fossil fuels
are having on climate change. A recent report showed that climate change
could pose some serious consequences for the Arctic in terms of melting
ice, Dauncey said.
"On this planet we cannot have polar bears without ice," he
said.
Kevin Pegg, owner of Energy Alternatives, said there is no
reason not to move toward using alternative energy sources.
"This is not a future technology - it exists now," he said.
The Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce has maintained that the
moratorium should be lifted. Chamber CEO Bruce Carter told the Weekend
Edition that oil and gas exploration will be an effective way of
determining whether drilling for oil and gas off BC's coast will pose
any problems.
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