OTTAWA -- The Green Party of Canada has joined with the Dene Nation and other First Nations as well as tribal leaders and property owners in supporting the Mother Earth Accord. The accord details the potentially negative impacts of the XL Keystone pipeline and the expansion of the Alberta oil sands, urging President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton to reject the Presidential Permit for the project. In an official letter, the Greens state, “We need to build a responsible, renewable, and secure energy sector that keeps in mind the well-being of communities and the environment. The Green Party of Canada urges decision-makers to step back, rethink and oppose this project so that our efforts can be put towards sustainable energy methods supportive of future generations.”
“We stand in full solidarity with Chief Erasmus of the Dene Nation and the thousands of others who have spoken out against this pipeline and asked for a moratorium on oil sands development,” said Green Leader Elizabeth May, MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands. “We must end our reliance on oil and move toward a new system based on sustainable energy. It is the only ecologically and economically sound choice.”
The proposed Keystone pipeline would carry bitumen from the Alberta oil sands more than three thousand kilometres south for processing in the United States, carrying up to 900 000 barrels per day. The proposed route crosses ecologically sensitive lands and aquifers.
Representatives of the Dene Nation will hand-deliver the Mother Earth Accord in Washington, D.C., at the pipeline hearings.
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Debra Eindiguer
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