WHERE ARE WE NOW?
Utah authorities have given final approval for a tar sands mine to be developed in PR Springs in eastern Utah. The corporation that owns the rights to this land is a Canadian company with the misleading name of U.S. Oil Sands. Operations could begin at the mine as early as this year (2013).
Additional tar sands mines are being proposed in other parts of Utah, such as the Asphalt Ridge area near Vernal. Many of our most beautiful wilderness areas like the San Raphael Swell could be leased by the BLM for tar sands development in the coming years.
However, no other proposed tar sands projects are as large or as far along in the permitting process as the one at PR Springs.
WHY IS STOPPING TAR SANDS MINING IN UTAH AND THE U.S. SO IMPORTANT?
Because we need to stop developing, mining, and using dirty fossil fuels for the sake of our health and the future of our children.
Because we have a right to unpolluted air, clean water, and protection of our public lands against unhealthy, unsafe, and destructive fossil fuel development.
Because we need to support those who are most adversely affect by tar sands mining — often , the most vulnerable among us.
Because the future of humankind depends on it.
WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TAR SANDS?
What are tar sands?
Simply stated, tar sands are sedimentary rocks that contain bitumen, a heavy hydrocarbon that can be turned into usable oil fuel through a lengthy process that requires a tremendous amount of energy. In Canada, the oil sands industry accounts for 40 million tons of CO2 emissions per year.
Why are tar sands dangerous?
Making liquid fuels from tar sands requires energy for steam injection and refining. This process generates 12 percent more greenhouse gases per barrel of final product than extraction of conventional oils. Atmospheric CO2 is a primary contributor to the unprecedented and dangerous warming of our planet.
In addition, the mining, transporting, and refining of tar sands increases air pollution. Contamination of water is another dangerous byproduct of tar sands mining. When tar sands are extracted, dangerous compounds locked in the rock, like mercury and arsenic, are release and washed downstream. Tar sands spills are also dangerous to human health and far more difficult than crude oil to clean up.
Furthermore, tar sands mining destroys wilderness areas and threatens its natural habitat. Once these precious natural treasures are destroyed, we can never get them back — which also threatens our tourism-dependent regional economy.
Why is the mining of tar sands in Utah and the U.S. a climate justice issue?
The pollution, health risks, economic fall-out, and other consequences disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. This makes a mockery of our legal and moral right to equal protection from pollution and environmental degradation.
WHAT IS PEACEFUL UPRISING DOING TO STOP TAR SANDS MINING IN UTAH?
We work in solidarity with our allies, including the communities most directly affected, on the following types of projects.
We educate:
Nonviolent direct action trainings
Climate Justice Bold School
Community discussions on tar sands
Website blogs
We organize
Protests/Demonstrations
Action Camps
Strategies and Tactics
We host:
Guest trainers (most recently, Greenpeace)
Guest organizers (most recently, Beehive Collective and Jamila Raqib from A. Einstein Institute, MIT )
We engage in direct actions against:
Big Oil
Potential investors
Regulatory agencies
BLM
SITLA
We engage in direct actions for:
Protecting PR Springs
Keeping our watershed safe
Action camps
Theater and art
Community-building
We promote a vision of:
A just world
A radically different relationship to energy
Healthy and inclusive communities
Life-affirming, cooperative, supportive relationships
[button link=”http://www.peacefuluprising.org/donate” color=”#f4b96c” size=”4″ style=”4″ dark=”1″ radius=”10″ icon=”http://corr.peacefuluprising.org/sites/default/files/resize/styles/full/public/images/2012-02/fist-31×32.png” target=”blank”]Click here to donate to this important cause today![/button]
WHY SHOULD I SUPPORT PEACEFUL UPRISING’S EFFORTS WITH A DONATION?
Generally, speaking:
Because we are a climate justice organization that understands that the economic forces responsible for climate change and its denial are also responsible for the continued oppression of many of the world’s people.
Because we educate the public about climate change, its pernicious root causes and its devastating consequences.
Because we organize and align with other climate justice groups – and there is strength in numbers.
Because we engage in effective non-violent direct action, something not everyone can or is willing to do.
Because we promote positive, life-affirming and healthy alternatives.
Because we build community.
Tar sands, specifically:
Because we alert the public that tar sands mines are being developed in Utah.
Because we educate the public about the destructive health, economic, and environmental consequences of tar sands mining.
Because we pressure government agencies to protect the good of the community, rather than the economic interests of Big Oil.
Because we align with other anti-tar sands organizations, both locally and nationally.
Because we take non-violent, direct action against the development of tar sands mining in Utah.
HOW WOULD MY DONATION BE USED?
$1000 would provide a one-month stipend for a 20 hr/week Peaceful Uprising Anti-Tar Sands Campaign Coordinator.
$1000 would provide a one-month stipend for a 15 hr/week Outreach Coordinator to coordinate efforts to reach out to affected communities and build alliances to stop tar sands development in Utah.
$1000 would provide a one-month stipend for a 15 hr/week videographer to take footage of PR Springs area, the tar sands mine site, and Peaceful Uprising Anti-Tar Sands events for the purpose of educating the public about this critical environmental issue.
$500 would pay the monthly salary of someone to maintain Peaceful Uprising’s website, including adding and updating information and events related to its Anti-Tar Sands Campaign.
$300 would provide funds for art supplies for making Anti-Tar Sands banner, protest signs, puppets, etc.
$200 would cover the FULL cost of a Peaceful Uprising Bold School session on creating an Anti-Tar Sands Campaign narrative to more effectively educate the public and the media.
$200 would cover the FULL cost of a Peaceful Uprising Bold School session on non-violent direct action philosophy, strategies, and skills to be used against tar sands development in Utah.
$200 would cover the cost of printed material in both English and Spanish about tar sands development in Utah.
$100 would cover the food for a week-end campout for 15 people at PR Springs, the proposed site of the nation’s first tar sands mine in Utah.
[button link=”http://www.peacefuluprising.org/donate” icon=”http://corr.peacefuluprising.org/sites/default/files/resize/styles/full/public/images/2012-02/fist-31×32.png” color=”#6cf4f4″ size=”3″ style=”4″ dark=”1″ radius=”10″ target=”blank”]Please donate to help stop tar sands mining in the U.S.[/button]
WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP STOP TAR SANDS MINING IN UTAH?
Educate yourself about tar sands and its disastrous effects on land, water, air and people.
Hold a tar sands discussion group with your community or organization. (Contact us for materials and support!)
Conduct a teach-in in your neighborhood.
Educate the public by writing letters to the editor and op-eds in the local newspapers.
Host a camp out to PR SPRINGS and enjoy its pristine natural beauty.
Have a house party to raise funds to support Peaceful Uprising’s fight against tar sands mining in Utah.
Join a protest march or demonstration. Organize one.
Engage in nonviolent direct action against tar sands mining.
[button link=”http://www.peacefuluprising.org/donate” color=”#f4b96c” size=”4″ style=”4″ dark=”1″ radius=”10″ icon=”http://corr.peacefuluprising.org/sites/default/files/resize/styles/full/public/images/2012-02/fist-31×32.png” target=”blank”]Click here to donate to this important cause today![/button]
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