Photo by Mike Wells; more photos:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/09/437193.html 

This was a really powerful, spirited, soulful, celebratory and angry day. Last year we wrote to NPG boss Sandy Nairne about BP and tar sands, and received no response. This time we came in our hundreds, led by our excellent Canadian friends, leaving the NPG, Canadian Embassy and BP itself in no doubt that we will not allow a narcotising drip of greenwash divert us from our commitment to make sure the tar sands remain undrilled...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8232522.stm
www.ienearth.org/cits
www.oilsandstruth.org
www.climatecamp.org.uk

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Original press release:

BP'S "BLOODY PETROLEUM" TARGETED IN PROTEST BY INDIGENOUS ACTIVISTS AND CLIMATE CAMP

Indigenous Canadian activists and a large number of Climate Campers will arrive in the centre of London on Tuesday morning to take action against BP and the Canadian government. The indigenous activists [1] have spent the week at the Camp for Climate Action on Blackheath, to expose BP's role in the most destructive fossil fuel project on the planet.

The Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada, contain almost as much oil as Saudi Arabia, but this oil takes huge amounts of energy to extract, requiring the levelling of entire ancient forests, and creates toxic ponds so vast they are visible from space [2]. The pollution from this project - which is the largest industrial development in the world, spanning an area larger than England - is poisoning the land and water of the local indigenous people, who are now dying from rare forms of cancer.

"Canada and Alberta have consistently dismissed claims by my community of Fort Chipewyan, despite a cancer study in 2009 that confirmed elevated levels of rare cancers," said George Poitras, former Chief of the Mikisew Cree First Nation. "The response, or lack of, by the Canadian government and its partners in the Tar Sands industry is irreprehensible. Anyone who approves or invests in Canada's Tar Sands is contributing to current life and death situations in my community."

Oil from Tar Sands produces three to five times as much global warming pollution per barrel as conventional oil. If all the oil in the Tar Sands were burned, it would tip us over the edge into runaway climate chaos. Although the project is based in Canada, British-based companies are heavily involved [3].

Jess Worth, from the Camp for Climate Action, said: "Having abandoned the pretence of being "green", BP is poised to dive headfirst into the toxic Tar Sands. They will make the decision in the next six months as to whether to go ahead with the massive Sunrise Tar Sands project in Alberta. We've been shocked, moved and inspired by the time we've spent with George and Lionel, whose communities are being ripped apart by this desperate rush for dirty oil. It is our responsibility as British residents to make sure that BP drops the disastrous Sunrise project." [4]

The indigenous activists and their new UK allies will set off from the Climate Camp [5] at 10am. They will arrive at the North East corner of Trafalgar Square at 11am. They will start their "Tar Sands Tour" of London outside the National Portrait Gallery, which is heavily sponsored by BP. They will then go to the Canadian Embassy to "shame Canada" for its enthusiastic support for Tar Sands extraction. The tour will culminate at BP's headquarters in St James' Square, where they will hold a press conference at 12.30 pm.

The tour will be a lively spectacle, with music, costumes, chants, banners and a cycle-powered sound system, but will also have a sombre edge in remembrance of all those who have been killed by Canada's "Bloody Petroleum".

Clayton Thomas-Muller, an indigenous Tar Sands campaigner from the Indigenous Environmental Network which coordinated the trip, said "We are here in the UK to internationalize the struggle of the people of Fort Chipewyan and to build solidarity with the UK Climate Justice movement. Together we are confronting Greenhouse Gangsters such as BP that are working in partnership with the Climate Criminal government of Canada, to exploit Alberta's Tar Sands. Our message is clear: BP must get out of Tar Sands."

[1] The indigenous delegation consists of:

George Poitras is a Mikisew Cree member and served as the Chief from June 1999 to June 2002. He is internationally recognized in his work highlighting the grave threat of Canada's tar sands. As Chief, he initiated a successful, precedent-setting legal action against the Federal government for their lack of consultation with the Mikisew Cree on a proposed winter road that would traverse their traditional lands.

Lionel Lepine is a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and currently resides in the community of Fort Chipewyan. He is a nationally prominent anti-Tar Sands advocate and works closely with many groups ensuring that Indigenous issues are at the forefront in the global fight against the Canada's Tar Sands.

Clayton Thomas-Muller, of the Mathais Colomb Cree Nation also known as Pukatawagan in Northern Manitoba, Canada, is an activist for Indigenous rights and environmental justice. Recognized by Utne Magazine as one of the top 30 under-30 activists in the United States, Clayton is the Tar Sands campaign organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network. He works across Canada, Alaska and the lower 48 states with grassroots indigenous communities to defend against the sprawling infrastructure that includes pipelines, refineries and extraction associated with the tar sands.

Heather Milton-Lightening is from the Pasqua First Nation, Saskatchewan-Canada. She has been organizing with Indigenous youth since 1994 through the Grand Council (Student Council) of Children of Earth High School in Winnipeg, Manitoba-Canada. She has been a member of Native Youth Movement since 1995. She is on the board of the Ruckus Society, advisory council member of the Indigenous Peoples Power Project (IP3) and the Alberta, Canada based Tar Sands organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network.

[2] See www.ienearth.org/cits and http://oilsandstruth.org

[3] Although the Tar Sands are happening in Canada, they are being driven from London's Square Mile. Shell is heavily committed, and BP took a significant stake in 2007. Both companies are financially backed by pension funds from the UK. Meanwhile London's investment banks, such as RBS, Barclays and HSBC, have helped finance a wide range of Tar Sands projects.

[4] In 2007, BP took the decision to move into Tar Sands in a big way. In partnership with Husky Energy, a Canadian company, it announced the 'Sunrise Project', a large 'in situ' extraction project in the Athabasca region. In situ operations do not involve open pit mining, but while not creating the same massive craters in the earth itself, are far more water and energy intensive in the extraction of bitumen for processing. The Sunrise development uses SAG-D (Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage) where water is superheated into steam with vast amounts of natural gas, then injected deep into the earth to "melt" the oil from the sand and clay.

However, there is still a roughly six-month window before BP executives make the final decision as to whether to proceed with the development. BP also operate many pipelines and processing facilities vital to the Tar Sands infrastructure. The Sunrise development will involve shipping Tar Sands bitumen to BP's US-based Toledo, Ohio refinery. This refinery has been organized against by local communities for excessive flaring, emissions and concerns about health. The goal in the next decade is to produce around 200,000 barrels of bitumen a day -- on a par with the largest mines in the world.

[5] The Camp for Climate Action is a gathering of climate justice activists in Blackheath, London, who have come together for a week of education, sustainable living, movement building and direct action on climate change. See www.climatecamp.org.uk