At 27 Social Center (2727 W 27th Ave) there will be a fundraiser to aide the Tar Sands Blockade and the Unist'ot'en Camp on Saturday Jan. 5 and 6 from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Deep Green Resistance member Lexy Johnson explained, "This will be a fundraiser and a supply drive for the Tar Sands Blockade in Texas and the Unis'tot'en Camp in British Columbia, both of which are using nonviolent direct action to blockade construction of tar sands pipelines. In addition, there will be a series of workshops over the two days, including presentations by Deep Green Resistance, Denver Anarchist Black Cross, local indigenous organizers and the Beehive Collective, as well as 'Know Your Rights' and nonviolent direct action training."
The Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline was an expansion that was proposed in 2008. The current pipeline begins in Alberta, Canada and ends in Cushing, OK. The expansion would go from Cushing, OK to the Gulf Coast of TX.
Many feel that tar sand mining is dangerous due to wetlands having to be drained and causing damage to ecosystems due to chemicals reaching water supplies and the removal of wildlife. Tailing ponds have been found to be toxic following tar sand mining. Nature Canada reported that the ponds are a combination of water, clay, and oil that give off the smell of hydrocarbons that rarely freeze. Environmental Defense Canada reported that tailing ponds are "leaking over 11 million litres a day of contaminated water into the environment, which is equivalent to over 4 billion litres a year."
Protesters in Diboll, TX have been blockading XL pipeline construction by camping out on "dump platforms" in the trees. Tarsandsblockade.org stated, "These special 'dump platforms' are shielded by an unprecedented 80-100 ft perimeter of life-lines which, if disturbed, would certainly dump the two blockaders nested in them roughly 50-60 ft in the air. The Blockaders are sitting in solidarity with the now global Idle No More campaign for First Nation’s human rights and tribal sovereignty that very recently started in Canada." On Jan. 3, 2013, protests intensified when authorities brought in a firetruck and a cherry picker in an attempt to remove the protesters in the trees.
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