July 18, 2011
Religious activism on Tar Sands: exorcism of the evil spirit of BP from the Tate Modern
By Zahid Raja
Some background on Canada’s Tar Sands: It is an area larger than England and it is the biggest energy project in the world, currently producing 1.3 million barrels of oil a day. Canada has the second largest oil reserves in the world, after Saudi Arabia, and is the biggest supplier of oil to the US, the world’s largest oil consumer. I can hear alarm bells already ringing. Unfortunately, it gets worse.
Tar Sands Oil creates three to five times as many greenhouse gas emissions as conventional oil extraction.
Year on year, millions of barrels of Tar Sands oil have been extracted from under the Canadian wilderness – the extraction process creates three to five times as many greenhouse gas emissions as conventional oil extraction and uses enough natural gas every day to heat 3.2 million homes. Add to this the mass deforestation the project is causing and it becomes a clear point of contention for environmentalists everywhere who continue to call for the project to be shut down. Leading climate scientist James Hansen has described shutting down the Tar Sands extraction to be a milestone in controlling climate change. I’m inclined to agree.
The effects of the Alberta Tar Sands on local communities in Canada are devastating. The project has created toxic tailing ponds so huge they are visible from space, leaking poisons into the local water supply. It’s fair to say that indigenous rights being violated, livelihoods and futures are being destroyed. Here is a clear example of how corporate abuses of the environment can detrimentally impact rights-holders.
Tar Sands affecting the health of local communities.
Communities on the land where Tar Sands extraction has gone forward are experiencing worryingly high rates of rare forms of cancer and auto-immune diseases. Those who were sceptical about Amnesty’s new Demand Dignity campaign need only to look at these communities to be won over.
Reverend Billy and the Church of Earthalujah choir joined with art activistsand members of the public in the Tate Turbine Hall to lay hands on Tate Modern and ‘cast out the demon’ of BP’s oil sponsorship of the art institution.
An exorcism of the evil spirit of BP was performed in a special service in the Turbine Hall of the national gallery of international modern art.
Reverend Billy, said: “For 20 long years, BP has embedded its foulness deep within Tate, using the fair face of the arts to mask the stench of its true nature. Today the possession of this dark beast lurking within the bosom of one of our most cherished arts institutions is coming to an end.”
“While good-hearted, god-fearing, gallery goers glory in the miracle of art, the beast below is encircling the planet with its oily tentacles, destroying righteous communities, poisoning God’s beauteous creations, and bringing us all ever closer to the climate apocalypse. Art will soon be free of big oil interests. Eviction has begun. Brothers and sisters, it’s time to liberate the Tate!”
The Battle against Tar Sands in the UK.
The Tate and other public cultural institutions have seen long-standing public concern about their relations with oil companies. BP continues to use its arts sponsorship to project a public image at odds with its operations and lobbying. As part of a multi-million pound effort to create a social license to operate, the company has launched its first television advertising campaign since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill which centres on its arts, culture and sports sponsorship in an attempt to alter public perception about the company.
Whilst I share Reverend Billy’s concerns, I’d like to see more direct methods of leveraging against UK investors in this terrifying project whose negative effects have gone beyond the environment and has reached the homes of vulnerable families.
Whilst very little Tar Sands oil actually reaches the UK, UK banks and corporations are seeing this project as an opportunity. Shell is already heavily involved, and BP have recently announced their entry into the Tar Sands. The Royal Bank of Scotland is the world’s 7th largest investor, using taxpayers’ money to fund human rights violations and climate change. HSBC and Barclays are also major financers. Switching to greener banks and writing to shareholders seems to be the way forward. If you want to get more involved click here.