Art for an OIl Free Coast

painting  on the beach - Great Bear Rainforest

I am currently on the road with the "Art for an Oil Free Coast" Project headed up by artist/naturalist Mark Hobson, and researcher and mariner Brian Faulkner.  The project is aimed at bringing public awareness to Embridge's proposed pipeline and super tanker route that will cross two mountain ranges and flow on to tankers that would route through Hecate pass off of BC's pristine coastline.  To see the recent Chek news Coverage, CLICK HERE

The media campaign from Embridge is well funded, fast and furious.  They present their proposal as "the Gateway to the Future".

What they fail to mention is that Hecate pass is the fourth most treacherous stretch water on the planet to navigate.  Shoals as shallow as 26 feet and waves as high as 100 feet make an oil spill a certainty at some point.  Add to that dense fog, human error, and a ship that requires one and one half miles to negotiate a turn, and it is a recipe for disaster.

In addition, the oil being shipped is not just crude oil, it is a mixture of oil and numerous other deadly toxic additives to help the oil flow through the pipelines.  In the even of a spill, our BC coast would be toast, the effects evident for countless generations.  Embridge investors are primarily Chinese, so that is who would realize the greatest profit from this venture.

Jobs realized for BC residents would be temporary, while livelihoods lost for numerous coastal First Nations villages, fisherman and tour operators would be permanent; never mind the devastation to grizzlies, eagles, wolves, humpback whales, fin whales....well, the list goes on.  The ecosystems are as fragile as they are diverse; the Great Bear Rainforest contains one of the few unsullied coastlines on the face of our planet.

Fifty artists from across BC came together and travelled to different areas of the Great Bear Rainforest through which the proposed tanker route would travel, and donated their pieces to the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, who has funded the project along with various other private benefactors.  We wish to educate the public to the reality and ramifications of Embridge's propsal, and the real and present danger it presents for our coastline.

The show opened in Vancouver and is currently in Victoria; it travels to Saltspring next and opens on Tuesday, December 11, then on to Nanaimo.

To view the pieces in the show (or place a bid  ) go to http://www.raincoast.org/

Working together, we can have a voice and make a difference.

Yours for a better planet,

Gaye