Take action
1 Target BP and Shell!
If you are in Britain, Europe, Australia or New Zealand/Aotearoa, you can help persuade shareholders to support the resolutions on tar sands at BP and Shell’s Annual General Meetings in April and May. FairPensions, which is co-ordinating the effort, has a very nifty web portal that makes taking action really simple.
GO DO IT NOW!
www.countingthecost.org.uk

Activists in Britain are mobilizing for a BP ‘Fortnight of Shame’, from 1 April (Fossil Fools Day) to 15 April (BP’s AGM). They have called for Saturday 10 April to be an international day of action against BP. Find out more here:
www.no-tar-sands.org

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2 Target RBC!
If you are in Canada, support the Rainforest Action Network’s push to stop Royal Bank of Canada financing the tar sands.
http://ran.org/campaigns/freedom_from_oil

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Learn more
FILMS
The tar sands have to be seen to be believed. Luckily, there are some amazing documentaries out there. Try these:
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H2Oil
In the vast, pristine forests of Western Canada, the ‘war for water’ has begun, and the people of Fort Chipewyan are already paying the price for one of the largest industrial projects in history.
http://h2oildoc.com/home
Dirty Oil
Powerfully illustrates the devastating impact that tar sands developments are having on the environment and local First Nation communities. Narrated by Canadian actress Neve Campbell.
www.babelgum.com/dirtyoil


Petropolis
Shot primarily from a helicopter, this film offers an unparalleled view of the world’s largest industrial, capital and energy project.
www.petropolis-film.com
BOOKS
Andrew Nikiforuk, Tar Sands: dirty oil and the future of a continent, Greystone Books, 2008.
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William Marsden, Stupid to the last drop: how Alberta is bringing environmental armageddon to Canada (and doesn’t seem to care), Vintage Canada, 2008.
Tony Clarke, Tar Sands Showdown: Canada and the new politics of oil in an age of climate change, Lorimer, 2008.
WEBSITES
Indigenous Environmental Network:
www.ienearth.org/cits
UK Tar Sands Network:
http://tarsandsinfocus.wordpress.com
Oil Sands Truth:
www.oilsandstruth.org
Greenpeace Canada:
www.greenpeace.ca/tarsands
Dirty Oil Sands:
www.dirtyoilsands.org
Oilsands Watch:
www.oilsandswatch.org
The Ethical Consumer’s Oil Sands Boycott:
www.ethicalconsumer.org/Oilsandsboycott.aspx
This article is from
the April 2010 issue
of New Internationalist.
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