<table class="uiInfoTable mvm profileInfoTable"> <tbody> <tr> <th class="label">&nbsp;</th> <td class="data"> <div class="description summary"> <div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">Please donate so First Nations people can tell their story.</div> <div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed"> <p>All donations are welcome, but different amount will get you different kinds of 'thank yous'...</p> <p>For example:</p> <p>&pound;10 will get you a personalised post card sent from Beaver Lake, when we're there in June/July.</p> <p>&pound;25 will get you access to a 'friends only' video diary of the out-takes from the trip... this could get silly!</p> <p>&pound;50 would get you a credit in the documentary being made about the exchange, which *may* air on TV</p> <p>&pound;100 will get you a screening of the documentary in your home, following the exchange, with someone from the group to introduce it.</p> </div> <div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">WHAT ARE YOU DOING?<br />Raising awareness of the impacts of the extraction of Tar Sands.<br /><br />A group of 8 young activists from the UK student network People &amp; Planet are taking part in an exchange with young First Nations people to raise awareness of the Tar Sands. We want to listen to the views of the Beaver Lake Cree Nation in order to understand how they are being affected, positively and negatively, and how we can work with them to understand how the tar sands are affecting their lives and to see how UK students can work together with youth trying to raise awareness about the true impacts of tar sands development. <br /><br />During our visit, we will be lucky enough to experience some of the local culture (and participate in local ceremonies, such as 'Pow Wow'), take a look at the area (tar sands and pristine wilderness), meet people who are already campaigning against the Tar Sands (IEN amongst others)... During the return trip we will be touring around universities together - it all starts at Shared Planet 2011, London.<br /><br />There is a documentary being made of the complete exchange, and we'll post up video diary updates as they come.</div> <div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">OTHER INFO:</div> <div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">The Alberta Tar Sands make up the 2nd biggest oil reserve in the world - 2nd to Saudi Arabia. The area covered is approximately that of England and Wales combined. This oil is no ordinary oil - it's bitumen, sand, clay and other traces... It's cold and it has to have steam pumped into it to make it flow so it can be extracted, refined, upgraded, refined, upgraded... First Nations communities are being affected by these developme<span class="text_exposed_hide">...</span><span class="text_exposed_show">nts. Their hunting, fishing and trapping rights are being threatened. Their communities are having to work in the oil industry to get by (a fork-lift truck driver reportedly earns around $100k/yr) and there has been an increase in cancers and other diseases. The pristine boreal forest is being ripped up. Up to 2 barrels of natural gas and 4 barrels of water are required to create 1 barrel of oil. Expansion: 1.5 million barrels per day now --&gt; 7 million barrels per day in 2030.<br /><br />Perhaps the most worrying thing is the CETA - this is a bilateral agreement proposed between Canada and the EU. It will allow oil from the tar sands to be used in the EU for the first time. One clause suggests that companies from Canada or the EU will be able to sue if they are unable to operate due to environmental issues.<br /><br />We need to raise &pound;2500 by the end of the year... There is a preliminary target of &pound;500 to be raised before I go over to Canada, but the money being raised (if you're up for it) is to get young First Nations people to come over to the UK and tell their stories of the 'most destructive industrial project in the world' - good and bad.<br /><br />Over the next few weeks there are a lot of opportunities for raising this money; we need to go out and raise it and tell people about the Tar Sands so we can create a movement to stop this. We need to draw up a timetable...<br /><br />If you want to find out more go to the Facebook page - <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/People-Planets-Beaver-Lake-Tar-Sands-Youth-Solidarity-Exchange/209567545750060" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3b5998;"><span>http://www.facebook.com/pa</span><span class="word_break">&nbsp;</span></span><span>ges/People-Planets-Beaver-</span><span class="word_break">&nbsp;</span><span>Lake-Tar-Sands-Youth-Solid</span><span class="word_break">&nbsp;</span><span>arity-Exchange/20956754575</span><span class="word_break">&nbsp;</span>0060</a><br /><br /><span style="color: #333333;">If you want to help raise money through your own networks, make a JustGiving page and link it to this 'team' - </span><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.justgiving.com/teams/tarsandssolidarity/" target="_blank"><span>http://www.justgiving.com/</span><span class="word_break">&nbsp;</span>teams/tarsandssolidarity/</a><span style="color: #333333;"> <br /><br />Just to let you know... I've just received briefings from the UK Tar Sands Network. You're more than welcome to have a copy of each of the first four as they just landed on the doorstep! </span><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.no-tar-sands.org/resources/" target="_blank"><span>http://www.no-tar-sands.or</span>g/resources/</a></span></div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div id="pagelet_event_wall"> <div id="event_profile_wall"> <div class="eventsWhiteComposer"> <div id="feedwall_with_composer"> <div class="pbm"> <div id="u856096_54" class="uiComposer uiComposerHideContent stat_elem uiComposerTopBorder uiComposerOpen uiComposerHideContent uiComposerWhiteMessageBox"> <div class="focus_target"><form action="/" enctype="application/x-www-form-urlencoded" method="get"></form></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>