Eco Club

Spread the Word! Invite your Friends! We are making a difference! The power is YOURS!

The Eco Club will be foraying into caribou territory on April 25th and 26th (a Wed and Thursday).
We will camp at either William A. Switzer provincial park, or go a little more backcountry and camp in the Wildhay Glacial Cascades natural area. Bring a tent (or find someone to share one with), your sleepin' bag and both warm weather and cooler weather clothing. It will almost certainly be very wet and soggy in some areas so bring waterproof hikin' boots + gators if you got them. If you have a spacious 4x4 that we could take up, let me know, as some of the backroads could be dicey for a dinky car. We'll figure out food and other minutiae closer to the date. Please confirm that you are interested by sending an email to ewaswans@ucalgary.ca or calling me (Eric) at 313-8182. So far, I think there are 7 or 8 people interested so two vehicles will probably be required.

The picture is of Solomon Valley, taken by Helene Walsh of CPAWS - we will probably be wandering around a little bit northeast of there...

Right on everybody! Will, Sierra, Connie, Jake, and Elysse are superheroes!


The demonstration was reported on in the March 2nd edition of the Calgary Sun. Find the full article here: Eco Club demonstration makes the newspaper

So good work everybody, now we just have to convince Conoco and others that we in fact are not naive in thinking that deferrals would magically change 'the scenario', and that the whole point is that such actions on the part of individual operators would have a lot of power 'symbolically' to speed the process forward towards 'an integrated plan' - in addition the caribou would not be subject to e.g. Conoco's activity in the interim, an obvious plus for critically endangered animals. This does nothing to mention the moral, and perhaps, ethical imperative on the part of fully aware companies to do something along the lines of what we are requesting.

I'm drafting a letter to send to the ministers of Sustainable Resource Development; Energy; Environment; and Tourism, Parks, and Recreation today as well that I will send out for comments and support.

Eric

Good Morning! All of you who can make it to the rally today are superheroes! [meet at 2:30 in the clubs office, or at 3:30 outside of Sun Life Energy building downtown - between center st. and 1st st. SW on 4th Ave. - goes till 4:30, 5:00 tops - bring mittens and toque although it is supposed to be warmer today ]

Regardless, please send the following letter to Suncor Energy if you have the time and want to see Caribou stick around in Alberta.
Print out or attach the above card (by copying it off the blog and pasting it) and send with following letter (modify with own words if you want) to:

Mr. Richard George
President and CEO
Suncor Energy Ltd.
P.O. Box 38
Calgary, AB
T2P 2V5
FAX: 403 269-6271
Email: info@suncormail.com

Dear Mr. George:

As a signatory in 2003 to the Canadian Boreal Conservation Framework, your company said it would lead initiatives to maintain abundant and natural distributions of wildlife, agree to deferrals of industrial activity, and work to ensure the timely designation of parks and other such legislated protected areas.

Please put those words to work for the recovery of Alberta's threatened mountain and woodland caribou. I'm asking you to show leadership by(a) supporting immediate legislated protection for the habitat of the Little Smokey and A La Peche caribou herds in west-central Alberta, and (b) articulating support for legislated protected areas, moratoriums on new industry allocations and deferrals of industrial development within Alberta's caribou ranges to the Ministers of Sustainable Resource Development and Energy.
I look forward to your answer to Alberta's caribou's call to be their Valentine.

Yours truly,

Signature

Download this to see the official media release for the rally: Press Release 02-14-2007 caribou suncor.pdf
Peace!
Eric

Ok, so I felt I had to respond to the following comment (look under the most recent caribou update for the original).

From an anonymous reader: What do you all expect to get from these rally's of yours. You expect a large coporation like Conoco to bow on there knees and listen to your every demand. Here's a tip come up with a logical and economical solution to the problem of oil and gas production and manufacturing then people like myself may habe some respect for you.

Maybe if all the time you wasted on trying the save the trees and caribou were put into coming up with a solution to the oil and gas issue your efforts would be better.

My response begins with a little lighthearted illustration...
...and continues in writing (fair as always )
Dear Anonymous:
(1) Speaking of respect, I respect your opinion that the whole fossil fuel addiction is perhaps the biggest problem of our times. In fact, there are many individuals, organizations, societies, think tanks, governments, etc. working on turning that particular ship around...including us! If you live in Calgary check out our Global Warming Week (www.ucalgary.ca/ecoclub).

(2) We do not expect ConocoPhillips do 'bow on their knees'; however, they did in fact listen quite respectfully and with understanding to our every demand in the two meetings that have been held subsequent to, and resulting primarily from the first rally on Dec 1st 2006.

(3) Yes, Conoco failed to defer all of their 2007 winter drilling activities in the Little Smoky caribou range, as per the Eco Club's primary request. Thus, we will continue the public campaign pressuring Conoco to take more meaningful action to protect caribou.

(4) Despite (3), Conoco has shown interest in taking the lead in bringing other industry stakeholders in the region together and preparing a memorandum of understanding within 6 months outlining the support of all industrial operators for stronger caribou protection; this would then be taken to the Alberta government, as the Alberta electorate don't seem to have the ear of their representatives on this issue.

(5) Conoco's reputation (in Northwest Territory communities) as a responsible proponent of the potential Mackenzie Gas Project depends heavily on the perception that they work very hard to protect caribou (a cornerstone source of country food). Thus, they are relatively eager to prove this elsewhere, making them more receptive to both technical and general public outcry concerning the fate of the Little Smoky herd (the most critically endangered herd in Alberta).

(6) In more detailed response to your tip to "come up with a logical and economical solution to the problem of oil and gas production and manufacturing" --> The solution as I see it in my brain right now: Catalyze societal behavioural shift whereby people realize they don't need to burn insane quantities of fossil fuels (or use insane quantities of any kind of energy) to be happy; simultaneously convince people of the mythological nature of the argument that a perpetually expanding economy is necessary for societal wellbeing. In addition, convince people that they may be trapped in the wage economy (read: industrial economy) because they (a) havn't considered or discovered any alternatives, or (b) are unable to pursue alternatives because the ecological integrity of the planet has been degraded to such extremes that they no longer even have much choice. THE ABOVE, I CONTEND, is slightly more difficult than putting on some antler hats, making some signs, and takin' the caribou message to the street - an issue where with a small investment of time we can and have already made a difference.

(7) But don't forget to save the trees too! They function to keep atmospheric levels of CO2 down, and produce some of the oxygen we breathe. Old growth forests (as opposed to fibre plantations) are some of the most magnificent places on the planet, and worth the protection and concern of every citizen. The whole 'save the trees' slogan, however, has now become one of the main phrases used against people with an ecological conscience to marginalize their reason and compassion.

There are less than 100 caribou left in the Little Smoky Herd. When they're gone, they're gone forever, and for what? It doesn't take a lot of my free time to make a difference for these neighbours. You have to fight for the small things too!

~ Eric