Oil Sands Truth: Shut Down the Tar Sands

A thought on the denial of the Keystone XL permit

A thought on the denial of the Keystone XL permit

Not a statement, but a thought on the denial of the Keystone XL permit. This was not Obama "getting it right"-- this was Obama afraid of people power. As a result of the long term struggles of many groups-- in particular the first nations being killed off in actual fact by tar sands developments and all of the infrastructure from gas lines that feed to pipelines that supply and refineries that dev...elop in Ontario, the US and elsewhere-- but also the real fear of an administration that has seen people in city after city and across the US *in the streets*, taking back their power in numbers not seen in decades, the real heroes are all of you who have participated in building resistance to KXL, climate change, tar sands and corporate plunder and even capitalism itself. You-- not Obama-- are to be congratulated today, for it is only a reflection of power wielded at the grassroots level in this moment in history-- the great awakening of peoples struggles across North America/Turtle Island-- that made this possible.

Do not be so humble you forsake yourself and instead lavish praise on a President who is mostly worried about re-election, who has destroyed American civil liberties and waged wars on the poor at home, for oil abroad and on the climate everywhere since day one. It was the people who got there.

But even more important is that today we celebrate and tomorrow we struggle. We fight because now the even more pro oil administration of Canada will now try to destroy first nations land and oceans across British Columbia, sell the tar sands oil to China and California (people forget that this bitumen could be shipped there via tanker and get into Texas refineries anyhow) and this puts more economic pressure on making that disaster a set of dirty tricks to come. A system built on colonialism and sustained on an oil-fuelled profit motive is the final target, the only target that we can win against and breathe easy for more than a day. This battle wins a little precious time, but makes our struggles elsewhere harder and more important than ever.

So celebrate tonight, fight harder tomorrow. It is all you can do-- if we are serious and want to win, not little battles but the entire battles for the planet.

We can do it. We just must believe it. They said we could not win this one. They were wrong. They say we can't shut down the tar sands. They are wrong.

Macdonald Stainsby,
co-ordinator, oilsandstruth.org.

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