Right now, BP – the Big Oil giant behind the Deepwater Horizon disaster
and largest spill ever recorded – is quietly moving a massive oil rig to
offshore Nova Scotia
I urgently need your help. The Council of Canadians has just learned
that Big Oil giant BP is in the process of moving a massive oil rig to
offshore Nova Scotia where it has received approval from the Canadian
government
<http://e-activist.com/ea-action/broadcast.record.message.click.do?ea.url.id=1325460&ea.campaigner.email=GAisHwXaHtfMY0fsvBBJiw==&ea.campaigner.id=IjAI3Kqre%2F2ZkArzVWMSmA==&ea_broadcast_target_id=0>
to begin drilling exploratory wells.
*BP could start drilling just days from now – and the risk of an
environmental disaster is simply too great for you and me to ignore. *
To make matters worse, BP is on the move without obtaining a final
permit from the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB), an
unelected board of mostly former oil industry executives with a
conflicting mandate of both promoting oil and gas development and
protecting the marine environment. This is the same board that would be
given more power in federal environmental assessments under Bill C-69,
currently being debated.
So I’m urgently writing to ask if you can chip in $10, $25 or even $50
to help the Council of Canadians stop BP in its tracks and protect Nova
Scotia’s communities, sustainable fisheries, tourism and local
economies.
<https://e-activist.com/ea-action/broadcast.record.message.click.do?ea.url.id=1325461&ea.campaigner.email=GAisHwXaHtfMY0fsvBBJiw==&ea.campaigner.id=IjAI3Kqre%2F2ZkArzVWMSmA==>
The Council of Canadians is busily working to hire an independent expert
to provide evidence on the risks of offshore drilling in Nova Scotia
that challenges the BP project approval. And we’re building municipal
and grassroots opposition through petitions, social media, rallies,
education materials and presentations. But we need an urgent influx of
funds to get moving on this important work.
Yes, I'll chip in a donation
<https://e-activist.com/ea-action/broadcast.record.message.click.do?ea.url.id=1325462&ea.campaigner.email=GAisHwXaHtfMY0fsvBBJiw==&ea.campaigner.id=IjAI3Kqre%2F2ZkArzVWMSmA==>
*If the name BP sounds familiar it’s for good reason. It’s the same
company responsible for the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of
Mexico – the largest marine oil spill ever recorded. *
Now BP is eyeing new sources of oil offshore Nova Scotia and *has
federal approval to drill nearly twice the depth of the Deepwater
Horizon well*.
A spill would be devastating to area marine life, and the fishing and
tourism industries that are the lifeblood of Nova Scotia’s economy. For
example, BP intends to drill 70 km east of the Gully Marine Protected
Area and 50 km Northeast of Sable Island National Park, threatening
endangered species like the Right Whale and thousands of sustainable
fishery and tourism jobs.
The risk is even greater offshore Nova Scotia, where stopping and
containing a ruptured well is made more difficult by virtue of the
harsher conditions of the North Atlantic.
In January, the Trump administration proposed opening almost all U.S.
federal waters to similar offshore oil and gas drilling. Both Democrats
and Republicans from 12 Atlantic coastal states, including almost all of
Nova Scotia’s closest American neighbours, have unanimously opposed the
proposal citing unacceptable risk
<http://e-activist.com/ea-action/broadcast.record.message.click.do?ea.url.id=1325463&ea.campaigner.email=GAisHwXaHtfMY0fsvBBJiw==&ea.campaigner.id=IjAI3Kqre%2F2ZkArzVWMSmA==&ea_broadcast_target_id=0>.
*That’s why we must stop this reckless plan before it starts! *
_Please chip in what you can to help the Council of Canadians mobilize a
national campaign to urge the federal government to reverse its poor
decision to approve BP’s offshore drilling._
<https://e-activist.com/ea-action/broadcast.record.message.click.do?ea.url.id=1325464&ea.campaigner.email=GAisHwXaHtfMY0fsvBBJiw==&ea.campaigner.id=IjAI3Kqre%2F2ZkArzVWMSmA==>
Yes, I'll chip in a donation
<https://e-activist.com/ea-action/broadcast.record.message.click.do?ea.url.id=1325465&ea.campaigner.email=GAisHwXaHtfMY0fsvBBJiw==&ea.campaigner.id=IjAI3Kqre%2F2ZkArzVWMSmA==>
The Council of Canadians South Shore chapter and staff have been a
leading voice in this fight since we first learned of BP’s plans. We
just finished a hard-hitting coastal speaking tour
<https://e-activist.com/ea-action/broadcast.record.message.click.do?ea.url.id=1325466&ea.campaigner.email=GAisHwXaHtfMY0fsvBBJiw==&ea.campaigner.id=IjAI3Kqre%2F2ZkArzVWMSmA==&ea_broadcast_target_id=0>
in Nova Scotia featuring independent experts providing evidence of the
serious risks offshore drilling presents to sustainable fisheries,
tourism, clean water and our climate. Here’s what we know:
* BP is on the path to making similar mistakes as they did in the Gulf
Coast spill, including an oil spill plan that may use the toxic
Corexit (a chemical dispersant) and failing to have a capping stack
located nearby – in fact, the closest is in Norway!
* BP isn’t the only Big Oil company seeking to drill offshore Nova
Scotia. Norway’s Statoil is also pursuing approval to drill and
potentially many more.
* There is a renaissance of sustainable fisheries and tourism in Nova
Scotia, and the jobs created by those industries are critical to
local economies.
* Many Nova Scotians and Canadians beyond are still unaware that
offshore drilling is proceeding despite widespread lack of public
awareness and a growing opposition among those who are aware.
* Pursuing risky offshore drilling is inconsistent with Canada’s
commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement.
You and I can’t sit by and let BP start drilling with so much at risk.
But we must act with urgency.
_Please add your voice to our national petition calling on Prime
Minister Trudeau to step in and stop this._
<https://e-activist.com/ea-action/broadcast.record.message.click.do?ea.url.id=1325467&ea.campaigner.email=GAisHwXaHtfMY0fsvBBJiw==&ea.campaigner.id=IjAI3Kqre%2F2ZkArzVWMSmA==>*
Andrea Harden-Donahue
Energy and Climate Justice Campaigner
*The Council of Canadians*, 300-251 Bank Street, Ottawa, ON, K2P 1X3
1-800-387-7177 | inquiries@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
