Following Northwest Territories Premier Bob McLeod’s announcement yesterday of a year-long feasibility study looking at an energy, communications and transportation corridor up the Mackenzie Valley, which could include a tar sands pipeline to the Arctic, Jessica Wilson, head of Greenpeace Canada Arctic campaign, said:
“The oil industry may be desperate, but that doesn’t mean we should let them do something foolish. A tar sands pipeline to the Arctic Ocean would have to contend with shifting permafrost while oil tankers would need to navigate the remote, hazardous, and icy conditions of the Arctic. Add to that the fragility of the Arctic ecosystem and the fact that there is no proven method for cleaning up oil spills in Arctic waters, and you have a recipe for disaster.
“Communities across the continent are opposing pipelines because they threaten their drinking water, trample on Indigenous rights and fuel global warming. While the world awaits President Obama’s historic veto of the Senate’s Keystone XL approval, Canada is once again demonstrating how embarrassingly out of step its energy policies are.”
For more information:
Diego Creimer, Communications officer, 514-999-6743 diego.creimer@greenpeace.org