Pamela Anderson Speaks Out
to Support a BC South Coast Tanker Ban
In
a youtube video released this week, Vancouver island born, Hollywood
actress, Pamela Anderson came out in support of the No Tanks Coalition
campaign to ban oil tankers on the south coast of British Columbia. Shot
on the Ladysmith beachfront were the former Baywatch beauty played as a
child and a kilometer away from where she learned to swim, Anderson
explains why she is opposed to tar sands crude oil being shipped out of
Vancouver harbour.
“I love it here, this is what I consider my home and
we need to protect it for future generations” said Anderson.
While
Tuesdays parliamentary vote on the NDP motion to ban oil tankers from
the North Coast was a great gesture it is not legislation and is not
binding on the Conservative government who voted as a block against the
motion. More importantly this motion does not extend this proposed ban
to the south coast of British Columbia.
Crude
oil shipments from Vancouver to China and the USA started to ramp up in
2007, this followed the closure of three of the four refineries in the
Vancouver area. Currently two tankers a week carrying two to three times
the amount of oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez, travel under the Iron
Workers Memorial and Lions Gate bridges with as little as a few meters
of clearance from the ocean floor and with very little distance from
several bridge pillars. The oil industry wants to increase these tanker
shipments to ten a week.
A small navigational
error on the part of a tanker or another ship could result in a
catastrophic accident. Double hull technology has not proven to be an
adequate defense from a number of oil spills in recent tanker
accidents.
A major spill in Vancouver would
quickly spread with tides and winds throughout the Salish Sea, the
Strait of Juan de Fuca and all of the gulf islands with oil washing up
on the beaches of Nanaimo and Victoria within four days. The governments
environmental audit released on Dec 7th shows that Canada could not deal with a major spill and according to No Tanks Coalition spokesperson Rex Weyler “Municipal,
Provincial, and Federal governments would be scrambling to assemble
inadequate response systems. There would be pressure to apply toxic
dispersants. Such a spill would devastate our marine ecosystems, killing
sea birds, mammals, fish, crustaceans, and the plankton they live on.” A
major spill would also cost the BC economy billions of dollars.
While
No Tanks supports the proposed ban on oil tankers on the north coast,
“any such ban must include the actual tankers now shipping tar sands
crude oil through Burrard Inlet and Georgia Strait." said Weyler.
The video entitled Pamela Anderson - Oily beaches? No Tanks! Can be found on the CanadiansNanaimo channel on youtube at www.youtube.com/user/CanadiansNanaimo It
was produced by Paul Manly of Manly Media, another islander who grew up
in Ladysmith and learned to swim at the same beach where Pamela
Anderson learned to swim. “We
didn't know each other as children but we both share the same concern
that future generations should have the same opportunities we had as
children to enjoy all that nature has to offer on this beautiful coast.”
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This video is available for use in all media.
Please credit “Paul Manly Manly Media Ltd”
