George Poitras of the Mikisew Cree First Nation – a
tribal
nation whose traditional homeland lies downstream from Canada’s
Athabascan tar
sands – articulated the devastating
impacts
of oil development on traditional peoples when he said, “if we don’t have
land and we don’t have anywhere to carry out our traditional lifestyles,
we
lose who we are as a people.”
A decision by the U.S. State Department this week represents a
significant step towards the preservation of the homeland and culture of
indigenous peoples impacted by the tar sands.
First Nations communities like the Cree, Dene and
Metis
presently experience profound negative impacts to their lands, waters,
health
and human rights arising from the tar sands project. These
Canadian tar sands are the largest industrial project
in the world, spanning 10.6 million acres and intending to produce over 1
million barrels of oil per day via highly-destructive methods of
extraction and
refinement. Clayton Thomas-Muller of the Indigenous Environmental
Network describes
the Athabascan tar
sands
region as a “landscape resembling a war zone marked with
200-foot-deep pits
and thousands of acres of destroyed boreal forests.”
And the lion’s share of the oil extracted is
intended for
the U.S. market.
Despite these staggering impacts – for example,
exceedingly
high cancer rates in indigenous communities around the extractive
regions, and
high rates of land and aquatic animal birth defects – few are aware of
this
project, let alone of the havoc it wreaks. Until
recently, U.S. support for the project continued
unabated. The U.S. State
Department has been preparing to approve the third major pipeline
project,
called Keystone
XL, from the tar sands to oil refineries in Texas.
But the tide is turning. During
a recent visit by Avatar director James Cameron to
the tar sands, the acclaimed filmmaker exhorted
decision-makers to “include the First Nations in these important
policy decisions because right now they can’t even trust the water they
are
drinking.” Shortly after that
visit, Republican Senator Mike Johanns (R-NE) wrote a letter
to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in which he voiced his opposition
to the
Keystone XL Pipeline. Senator
Johanns named his concerns with this proposed 1,600-mile long pipeline,
intended to transport oil from Canada’s tar sands to U.S. oil
refineries. In his letter, the Senator noted
the potential for large-scale oil contamination of the Ogallala Aquifer,
which
supplies nearly 80 percent of potable water and over 80 percent of
irrigation
water for the state of Nebraska.
And in an historic victory, this week the State
Department
decided to indefinitely delay its decision on the approval of the
Keystone XL
Pipeline. Officials cited the
multiplicity of interests, both regional and international, that must be
addressed
and reconciled before any pipeline construction can proceed. Indigenous leaders recognize that until
the U.S.
denies
the permit or the pipeline proponent withdraws its application,
there is still work to do.
Even so, the coalition of concerned citizens
involved in
this campaign – tribal nations, residents along the pipeline route,
farmers,
and environmentalists – acknowledges this decision as an unequivocal
success. More so, leaders see this
step as an indication of the loss of popular consensus around oil’s
viability
as a long-term energy resource.
Tribal peoples along the pipeline’s proposed route, and at the
source of
the devastation, continue to stand in solidarity with one another in
pursuit of
environmental justice, human rights, and a sane, sustainable energy
policy for
the Americas.
Caitlin Sislin, Esq. is the North America Director for Women’s Earth Alliance,
where she coordinates the Sacred Earth Advocacy Network — a network of pro bono legal and policy
advocates in collaboration with indigenous women environmental justice leaders.
For more information about participating in the Advocacy Network as a pro
bono advocate, or our three 2010 Advocacy Delegations, please contact Caitlin
at Caitlin@womensearthalliance.org.
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