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Press Release: Oil Slick Slimes Onto UVic Campus
For Immediate Release
[November 16, 2004] At 11:30 am today, University of Victoria students will stage a small street theatre
protest with speakers to raise the alarm about the potential of lifting of the 30 year old moratoria on coastal oil and gas extraction in BC by the provincial and federal governments. The protest will include an OOG (Offshore Oil and Gas) Monster looking for victims, an “oil spill” in the fountain, and a 3 metre high wind mill as an alternative to dirty fossil fuels. Speakers will include Graeme Verhulst (Western Canada Wilderness Committee UVic Club coordinator), Guy Dauncey (Author of Stormy Weather: 101 Solutions to Global Climate Change and President of the BC Sustainable Energy Association), and Kevin Pegg (Entrepreneur and Owner of Energy Alternatives).
The UVic event coincides with a nationwide campaign by the WCWC to pressure the federal Paul Martin government to enact a permanent legislated ban on any coastal oil and gas development in BC. Later this month, Minister of Natural Resources John Efford is expected to assess the results of last spring’s federal public consultation process, where 69% of the oral submission and 59% of the written submissions wanted the moratorium to be kept in place. The WCWC has launched an online petition (hardcopies can also be downloaded) at www.bcoilslick.org
Coastal oil and gas development would harm the environment through seismic testing (loud sonic booms in the ocean that kill and harm fish and invertebrates, and drive fish and whales away from their feeding areas and migration routes), daily chronic pollution (through the discharge of toxic chemicals and oil leakages), the release of greenhouse gases contravening Canada’s Kyoto commitment, and through the possibility of catastrophic oil spills in Canada’s most earthquake prone region. Few jobs will be provided for BC citizens, as specialized labour is required and would be taken from around the world, and oil rigs would be constructed in other countries where labour is cheaper and where facilities already exist.
When: Today, Tuesday, Nov.16, 2004
Where: Fountain behind Library, University of Victoria
Time: 11:30 am – 12:00 noon
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