Fossil Fools!

Hello FemmeToxic readers! April first marked the date for an event that is becoming more and more popular across North America: Fossil Fools day!

On this day, people everywhere celebrate emission-less practices (like riding a bike) and look critically at the root causes of climate change. In Canada, and especially in Montreal where I live, this is a really important day. Unfortunately, Canada is home to the largest and perhaps most environmentally destructive project in the world right now: the tar sands. What’s so bad about them? Well, first off, the tar sands cover a huge area of Alberta, and in order to get to them the ground must be cleared of all trees and topsoil (they have these huge trucks called “earthmovers” and their tires about twice the height of an adult!). The sticky stuff underneath the earth is what everyone is after (called bitumen). Processing one barrel of tar sands oil can take up to five barrels of fresh water! It's not easy stuff to get.

And even though the environmental implications are huge, I think the effects on human health is the most striking evidence that something wrong is going on with this project. Communities that live downstream from the project along the Athabasca River are suffering unusually high rates of very rare cancers (see http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/09/business/worldbusiness/09sands.html?_r=1&ref=worldbusiness  for some more information). The water downstream from the project is filled with strange and seemingly dangerous chemicals; cancer rates in tiny Fort Chipewyan only started increasing after the project started.

So what does this have to do with April First? And Montreal? Many environmentalists have taken Fossil Fools day as a golden opportunity to raise awareness about projects like the tar sands that play a huge role in environmental contamination. In Montreal, a group of people on bicycle gathered to travel to the east island to protest an oil refinery that is currently being refitted to process tar sands tar (it requires special equipment to extract the good stuff). I think it’s really important that days like Fossil Fools are gaining popularity, because it really makes us think what kind of world we want to live in. How could we change our world to make projects like the tar sands totally unnecessary? And what can we do in the meantime to work with people who are being hit the hardest by toxins from the tar sands? These are all questions to think about, come next Fossil Fools day. I still refuse to be toxified, and I hope you do too!