Calling All Radicals - Now is the Time for Good Folks Like us to Show Joe Oliver & His Motley Crew What we are Capable Of! Sign the Letter!

Dear Larry , I don't know what it is about today but I'm feeling slightly,  well … radical. How about you? When I wrote before Christmas about an impending government  attack on Canada's environment movement, I wasn't expecting  a formal Declaration of War just 9 days into the New Year. It  came in the form of an "open letter" from Natural Resources  Minister Joe Oliver that’s receiving heavy media coverage all  across the country. The open letter is in response to public hearings into the  Gateway Pipeline that got underway earlier today in BC. The  Gateway project consists of two parallel pipelines between  an inland terminal at Bruderheim, Alberta, and a marine  terminal near Kitimat, British Columbia, each a length of  1,177 kilometers. The plan to build pipelines over mountains to ship Tar Sands  oil to China will put some of our most pristine forests, lakes  and salmon rivers at risk (not to mention the impact of climate  change when the dirty oil is processed and burned). If the scheme  goes ahead, the moratorium on oil tankers off the BC coast  will be lifted. The moratorium has been in place since the  1970s. Successive Liberal, NDP, Conservative and even  Social Credit governments have kept it in place because  the people in BC support it. So, here is a little of what Minister Oliver (read Federal  Cabinet) had to say in his open letter about people like  you and me: “Unfortunately, there are environmental and other radical groups that would seek to block this opportunity to diversify our trade. Their goal is to stop any major project no matter what the cost to Canadian families in lost jobs and economic growth.” “No forestry. No mining. No oil. No gas. No more hydro-electric dams.”“These groups threaten to hijack our regulatory           system to achieve their radical ideological agenda.” Radical ideological agenda? Highjack the system? Do you agree environmental groups and supporters who make  their work possible are "radical?" Are you pushing an ideological agenda when you express  concern over environmental impacts from mega-projects like  Gateway? Is it "radical" to participate in open public hearings  meant to gather input toward a thoroughly studied, transparent  and politically neutral decision? I say if this is the government's operating definition, then  absolutely—I AM A RADICAL. I know the Exxon Valdez story so I know the facts don't support  lifting the moratorium on oil tankers along the BC coastline. I  know there are real, legitimate concerns about moving Tar Sands  bitumen through 1177 kilometers of pristine wilderness and First  Nations territory. And I know investor impatience is no reason to  try to fast-track Mother Nature. So … let's get a little radical! We e think Joe Oliver, Environment  Minister Peter Kent, Prime Minister Harper and Opposition Party  Critics will all appreciate hearing from you! Send them a letter  explaining why you are a radical. Change it around to make it your own. CLICK HERE TO SEND YOUR LETTER