Is Canada giving up Ice for Oil?
WWF-Canada is proud to host Oil and Ice, a cross-Canada speaking tour featuring award-winning authors Andrew Nikiforuk (Tar Sands) and Ed Struzik (The Big Thaw)during November. Speaking from coast-to-coast, the authors will discuss the choices that will determine the future of Canada’s Arctic, and what Canadians can learn from the tar sands.
“Canada’s Arctic is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth. But, the fate of the Arctic is not set -yet. Its future, and our future, depends on choices that Canadians will make,” saidGerald Butts, President and CEO, WWF-Canada.“This tour is intended to help discuss and debate those choices.”
“Having spent much time in the Arctic, I have seen first-hand the peril that is facing the North,” says Struzik, author of The Big Thaw: Travels in the Melting North. “Climate change is opening up the Arctic at an alarming rate and the stakes are high. What happens in the Arctic’s future matters not only to culture, wildlife, the environment, security and sovereignty. It matters to the rest of the world.”
Increasing that threat is the world’s addiction to oil. As the Arctic opens, there is more pressure to exploit its oil and gas resources, which could come at a high price. The tar sands, now the biggest energy project in the world, offer a lesson and a warning.
“Nations become what they produce. Bitumen, the new national staple, has redefined Canada’s character. It has given us a petro loonie, eroded the manufacturing sector, and compromised the security of the world’s third largest watershed.” says Nikiforuk, author of Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent. “Canada must focus more on economic resilience and less on 19th century resources like bitumen.”
Join the tour in one of the ten cities across Canada or for more information, to RSVP, or to join the discussion online visit wwf.ca.
Tour dates:
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Edmonton, AL
Vancouver, BC
Calgary, AL
Yellowknife, YU
St. John’s, NL
Halifax
Ottawa
Toronto
Kingston
Montreal
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