Clean Energy Campuses
We need a clean energy revolution.
The greenhouse gas intensive operations of Canada’s tar sands are driving climate change, and their expansion represents what NASA scientist James Hanson calls a potential “game over” for the climate. They suck up immense amounts of energy and water to produce some of the dirtiest oil on the planet. As they expand, networks of pipelines across the continent threaten even more ecosystems with the inevitability of devastating spills.
But the impacts are not simply downstream or in our atmosphere. The expansion of the tar sands hurts all Canadians. The relationship between our government and the oil industry has created a deep democratic deficiency where the well-being of big polluting corporations is prioritized over the well being of people. The focus on rapid tar sands expansion has bound our economy to a petro-dollar and costs thousands of manufacturing jobs in the process. Meanwhile, Canada gives over one billion dollars in subsidies to the oil industry while student debt continues to rise year after year.
Syncrude Tailings Pond, www.dirtyoilsands.org
The Clean Energy Campuses project is a national initiative to educate university students across Canada on the impacts of the tar sands, their relationship with our post secondary institutions, and the potential for building a just, clean and sustainable energy future.
The project is currently in its development stage and will be launched this fall just in time for the fall semester! Check back here, or follow us on Twitter or Facebook for updates!
Links
- Following the Dollars: Tar Sands Money in Alberta Schools
- Students Boycott RBS Over Links to Tar Sands Projects
- Report: Big Oil Goes to College