There's no climate justice without Indigenous leadership
Did you know?
Indigenous resistance has stopped or delayed the equivalent of 25% of annual US and Canadian greenhouse gas emissions.
— Indigenous Environmental Network and Oil Change International
Five fossil fuel projects shut down by Indigenous resistance
Keystone Pipeline
Teck Frontier Tar Sands Oil Mine
Pierre River Tar Sands Oil Mine
Northern Gateway Oil Pipeline
Energy East Oil Pipeline
We're still watching
Enbridge Line 3
The Line 3 expansion pipeline would move tar sands oil from Alberta to Minnesota.
This directly threatens treaty rights, putting drinking water, sacred wild rice beds and community health at risk.
The Mississippi River Band of Ojibwe and others are leading the fight against the project.
Coastal Gas Link Pipeline
This pipeline would carry fracked gas from northeastern BC through the Rockies to a proposed LNG facility near Kitimat, BC.
All 13 house chiefs of the five Wet’suwet’en clans oppose the pipeline.
In September, the Gidimt'en clan set up barricades on Wet'suwet'en territory to protect the land from Coastal Gas drilling.
TMX
Remember the pipeline Justin Trudeau bought right after declaring a climate emergency? TMX, baby.
The Tsleil-Waututh First Nation opposes it due to a lack of consultation and the harm it would cause to communities and the climate.
Kinder Morgan (the original owners) and insurers have backed out in response to ongoing protests and lawsuits.
It's time for the government to follow suit and shut it down.
Enbridge Line 5
Line 5 transports 22 million gallons of oil every day from Wisconsin to Ontario, running through Bad River Band Territory.
Michigan ordered Enbridge to shut it down because of the risk of this aging pipeline leaking in a section running beneath the Straits of Mackinac in the Great Lakes. (Note: it has leaked 29 times in the past 50 years)
Enbridge promptly ignored this order and Canada invoked a treaty to back Enbridge and push the pipeline (Cool Canada, so these treaties you uphold?).
Evolving past fossil fuels
There is no place for fossil fuels in a climate-safe future. Our society has evolved past the need for them, especially with safer alternatives available.
This isn't the only situation where we have evolved our thinking/practices as a society. Remember asbestos? We used to put that shit everywhere. And pregnant people smoked indoors - we learned it was bad and did something about it. We have evidence of the cost of climate inaction. It's time we do what we do best and adapt.
We have renewable and safer energy alternatives. We should be acting accordingly.
Indigenous Leadership
Our best chance at sustainable and holistic healing and preservation of our planet — so that our species can continue to survive — is Indigenous leadership on solutions to the climate crisis.
Indigenous communities have shown, against all colonial barriers and odds, actual leadership and success in climate and nature protection.
We're calling on you, our community, to reach out to your elected officials and demand that they centre Indigenous leadership when discussing the future of our planet.
Learn more & do more
Google each pipeline to learn more and get involved
Donate to Indigenous communities on the front lines
Show up physically, if you're able to, to support Indigenous land defenders as they work to protect our planet
Keep contacting all levels of elected officials and government and demand they respect Indigenous sovereignty & centre Indigenous leadership in climate solutions
Sources: AlJazeera, Sierra Club, Wisconsin Public Radio, Stop Line 3, Indigenous Environmental Network, Indigenous Climate Action, and Oil Change International.
