News Release - September 19, 2014

Americans, Canadians, First Nations and Tribal leaders gather in solidarity against Salish Sea fossil fuel exports

VANCOUVER/SEATTLE – Citizens from both sides of the 49th parallel are coming together with Tribal and First Nations representatives this Saturday, September 20th for the “Climate Change Knows No Borders” rally at the Peace Arch border crossing, on unceded Coast Salish territory. 

Organized by the Wilderness Committee, Georgia Strait Alliance and 350 Seattle, the groundbreaking international event is sending a clear message to the fossil fuel industry: we will not allow our region to become a global fossil fuel export hub.

As world leaders gather for the UN Climate Summit in New York City, people from diverse communities surrounding the Salish Sea will join to demand an end to oil, gas and coal exports that threaten to turn this region into a gateway to global climate change. The rally is in solidarity with the NYC People’s Climate March (Sept. 21) and will honour the International Treaty to Protect the Sacredness of the Salish Sea, which is to be signed by Coast Salish Nations in the following days. 

“It’s inspiring to see communities on both sides of the border coming together like this to stop fossil fuel exports and protect our climate,” said Eoin Madden, Climate Campaigner at the Wilderness Committee. “If coal, gas and oil exporters are thinking they have an easy out for their products through the Salish Sea, they are seriously mistaken.”

In conjunction with the rally, the Wilderness Committee, Georgia Strait Alliance and partners in the US are officially launching the Pledge to Save the Salish Sea, a collaborative campaign aimed at gathering cross-border support to protect the region from fossil fuel expansion. The campaign will call on pledgers to act at critical moments to stop key projects and push for climate leadership in the region, organize cross-border delegations to decision-makers and create more events like this one to build power across the border. 

"The scale of fossil fuel development on the Salish Sea is staggering. We all need to pay more attention to what's happening on both sides of the border, and what it could mean for our oceans and our climate,” said Alexandra Woodsworth, Energy Campaigner at Georgia Strait Alliance. “This weekend is just the start of an ongoing campaign designed to create new pressure points on US and Canadian decision-makers, and to build a cross-border community of action that industry and politicians won't be able to ignore." 

Should all of the fossil fuel export projects planned for the Salish Sea be constructed, over 300 million tonnes of climate-changing greenhouse gases will be released into the atmosphere. That is five times the amount released by the whole province of British Columbia, and the resulting climate change impacts would cause an enormous amount of damage to our communities.

Saturday’s rally will feature speakers from Canadian First Nations and American Tribes, as well as an inspiring youth climate activist from Seattle. In a symbolic act, participants will join hands across the border and pledge to stand as a community united against fossil fuel exports. 

“We in the Salish Nations have always seen our Salish relations across the border as our brothers,” said Rueben George, Sundance Chief with the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. “The pollution we are facing does not recognize borders, and that is why we are standing together as one Nation to stop this destruction.”

The rally begins at the Peace Arch border crossing (at the junction of Hwy. 99 and I-5) on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. This is a peaceful, family-oriented event, and all are welcome.

– 30 –

For more information, please contact:

Eoin Madden | Climate Campaigner, Wilderness Committee
604-353-9603, eoin@wildernesscommittee.org

Alexandra Woodsworth | Energy Campaigner, Georgia Strait Alliance
778-316-5558, alexandra@georgiastrait.org

Jared Howe | 350 Seattle
206-250-2568, jaredchowe@gmail.com

Click here for additional details about the Peace Arch rally.

Learn more about the Pledge to Save the Salish Sea at SalishSeaAction.org

Photo: Defend our Climate Rally in Victoria, BC (Rikki MacCuish)