Protesting the proposed dirty tar sands from Canada to Obama’s US

Now that’s imaginative civil disobedience:

Occupy Wall Street take note: when garnering headlines that don’t have anything to do with NYPD brutality, nudity—or more specifically, orgies—may be the way to go. At a meeting between British and Canadian officials yesterday in London, to discuss the UK’s purchase of Canada’s sweet sweet tar sands oil, two protesters stood up, stripped down, covered themselves in “oil” (what appears to be chocolate) and begin an “oil orgy” that looks like something out of a Christopher Guest movie.

“Ohhhh Canada! Ohhhhh Canada!” the man representing the UK moans. “Wait, what about the science? What about human rights?” he hesitates. “This is more ethical than Saudi Arabia!” the woman representing Canada shouts. All of the old white men assembled don’t appear very fazed: we suppose it wasn’t their first oil orgy.

A spokesperson for the protest group, UK Tar Sands Network, said in a statement“, We interrupted the Energy Round table today because the UK and Canadian governments flirtations are developing into friends with benefits. This seedy relationship puts profits for the oil industry and banks ahead of much needed legislation which will curb emissions from transport fuel in Europe.”

Canada’s tar sands are the biggest supplier of oil to the United States, and there are many serious environmental risks associated with extracting the petroleum. A Canadian oil company is also planning on building a $13 billion pipline from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico, a move opposed by activists. Yet if the United States doesn’t install the pipeline, the oil will be transported to European and Asian countries, causing even more environmental harm in transit.

“Oil Orgy” invades Energy Summit from You and I Films on Vimeo.

Text and images ©2024 Antony Loewenstein. All rights reserved.

Site by Common