A documentary about whales and narrated by Ethan Hawke premiered this morning at a press conference in Halifax. Environmentalists are extremely worried about the damage done by offshore seismic blasting. We report on the press conference and include a link to the video and a full transcription of the remarks by Mi’kmaq film maker Eliza Knockwood.
Halifax, NS – Starchild Production’s new film The Vanishing Call of the Right Whale featuring Ethan Hawke and Dr. Linda Weilgart will premiere on May 14th in Halifax, NS. The film will kick off a new campaign to protect endangered whales in Canadian waters from the impacts of seismic blasting.
Some 70 environmentalists from across Nova Scotia rallied at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Halifax while inside senators were conducting hearings on Ottawa’s new Impact Assessment Act, or Bill C-69. Bill C-69 contains legislation that defines how federal environmental assessments are conducted.
Media release: The Offshore Alliance is claiming MKI’s delay of its offshore seismic exploration project as a victory, following news that the company will take some time to “assess demand for seismic data from region.”
Scott Neigh, through his weekly Talking Radical podcast, provides a centre stage to activists, their causes, and the how and why of their strategic approaches. Scott always kindly allows me to repost a podcast if it is of particular relevance to Nova Scotia Advocate readers. Earlier we featured his eye opening interview with El Jones on organizing vulnerable prison populations and the responsibilities that brings, and an interview with water protectors Dorene Bernard and Rebecca Moore on the mess that is Alton Gas. This week we present Scott’s interview with Marilyn Keddy and Peter Puxley of the Campaign to Protect Offshore Nova Scotia,, about the threat of offshore oil exploration to climate change and fisheries, and about the challenges of organizing in rural Nova Scotia.
Two things we can learn from that record-setting oil spill off the coast of Newfoundland. Storms in the North Atlantic are something else, and government oversight of the offshore in Newfoundland is very lax. The really scary part? Nova Scotia oversight is no different. And Newfoundland’s stormy ocean is Nova Scotia’s stormy ocean.
News release: News of BP Canada’s dry well offshore Nova Scotia is an opportunity for change, according to the Offshore Alliance, a coalition representing fishermen, environmental groups, and coastal communities. But that’s not the end of offshore drilling in Nova Scotia – BP has permission to drill six more wells, and Equinor (formerly StatOil) is planning seismic blasting in waters adjacent to George’s Bank.
News that BP is abandoning its oil exploration off the shore of Nova Scotia is a relief, but it’s way too early to celebrate. There are other companies eyeing our offshore, and harmful seismic testing may start as early as next spring.
Earlier this month anti-capitalist activist Chelsea Fougere, a member of the Campaign to Protect Offshore Nova Scotia, took part in a series of public panels on the risks of offshore drilling in Halifax and Mahone Bay. This is her powerful opening statement.
Cory Levander writes about Wednesday’s panel in Mahone Bay about offshore oil exploration. Not worth the risk, was the consensus, ““You can’t eat oil. You can’t eat drilling mud… But you can eat lobster.”