Over 1000+ people signed up for last night’s “Folk The Pipeline” festival. This incredible community raised over $10k to ignite the next phase of support for Indigenous legal action against Trans Mountain. With stellar sets by Dan Mangan, The Wilds and Luke Wallace, we came together with warmth and solidarity to renew our commitments to stand together with First Nations to protect the territories we all love.
Youth truly continue to inspire, humble and energize us. Lilah Williamson, a youth climate justice organizer with Sustainabiliteens reflected on the event:
“Events like this make me realize every small action counts. We need new systems and ways of living that care for the land and prioritize human lives over profit. we have to keep having these conversations and getting involved! As a youth climate activist, I have learned we have to keep fighting, even when we get shut down, even when it seems things aren’t going our way. This covid 19 crisis really gives us a chance to change everything: the climate crisis is so intimately connected with so other social issues because they all stem from the same root: colonialism. Indigenous sovereignty is climate justice, stopping TMX is climate justice, Racial justice is climate justice, trans and queer liberation is climate justice, housing justice is climate justice, migrant justice is climate justice, and land back is climate justice. I truly believe we can turn this around and create a new future.”
We were moved by the powerful traditional welcome prayer and story given by Kayah George, a young member of Tsleil-Waututh and Tulalip. You can read Kayah’s latest on the role big banks have in financing the climate crisis — to the tune of $2.7 trillion in fossil fuel project investments.
Kayah writes, “A revolt by young people to collectively refuse to do business with banks driving the climate emergency is a worrisome prospect for these financial institutions. That’s why we have banded together to launch the Not My Dirty Money Pledge, where you can resolve to bank elsewhere, like with not-for-profit credit unions that invest in sustainability and local communities.” Join Kayah George and take the “Not My Dirty Money” pledge!
Missed the show? You can still donate here and watch the festival video below:
Although the Supreme Court’s decision marked the end of one legal road to stop TMX, we learned how Coldwater Nation is stepping up in defence of their drinking water, threatened by the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion route.
Though one of the conditions of approval of the pipeline requires that measures be taken to protect this Indigenous community’s water supply, 4 years later Coldwater is still waiting for TMX to deliver on a government-mandated study of the Nation’s aquifer.
“If Canada continues to fail us, and if Trans Mountain refuses to move its Project out of the recharge zone of our aquifer, we may be forced to go back to court.” — Coldwater Chief Lee Spahan.
If Coldwater’s latest submission is accepted by Canada’s energy regulator, TMX will be forced to stop construction, causing months of delay. If, however, Canada allows the project to proceed without meeting its own conditions, Coldwater has promised to take legal action. Stay tuned: visit our website for the full story.
Solidarity, fueled by joy and love, is powerful. Let’s keep this momentum and our commitment to one another and this coast, going. Here are some actions you can take, shared by festival attendees:
- Help Coldwater raise the $80k they need to pursue legal action to protect their waters from the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion route!
- Call on Liberty Mutual to drop Trans Mountain’s insurance.
- You can call or email lawmakers and cite this key document from the NOAA on known and unknown risks of transporting tar sands, and spills from National Oceanic and Atmospheric: https://crrc.unh.edu/sites/default/files/media/docs/noaa_oil_sands_report_09.2013.pdf
- Join Wilderness Committee in Hume Park on the Burnaby/New Westminster border on Saturday, Aug. 8 to protect the trees Trans Mountain is planning to cut down in the Brunette River conservation area. Wilderness Committee is leading physically distant witness tours to see where the company is cutting trees and the waters it threatens.
- Oregon and WA state folks can stop terminals to unload the oil. No terminal? No Pipeline ! Pressure your local legislators, find which one is yours here for the state of Washington: https://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder/ and here for Oregon: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/findyourlegislator/leg-districts.html
We are in this for the long haul. We’ve seen major wins across Turtle Island, as three major pipelines were halted: Keystone XL, Dakota Access and Atlantic Coast. Indigenous Nations along the TMX pipeline route have declared that they will never give up. Neither will we.
