Message received from Amazon Watch.com
Dear Mark,
It was exactly one year ago today: a terrifying explosion, flames engulfing an offshore oil rig, 11 men dead. The beginning of one of the most horrifying environmental tragedies in US history – BP’s oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Of course this wasn’t the first major oil catastrophe. Twenty-two years ago, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spilled millions of gallons of crude into Prince William Sound. Nearly 50 years ago, Texaco (now Chevron) commenced oil operations in the pristine Ecuadorian Amazon that ravaged the rainforest and devastated local communities.
Today, as part of international “No Drill Day”, Amazon Watch celebrates the dignity and courage of frontline communities around the world who are fighting to create clean and healthy environments. From the Gulf Coast to the Niger Delta to the Amazon rainforest, people are standing up for alternatives to reckless oil drilling.
In that spirit, we’d like to share a glimpse into the life and culture of the courageous Achuar people of the Pastaza and Morona river basins in the Peruvian Amazon, who have succeeded for decades in keeping oil drilling out of their ancestral territory.
The relentless pursuit of oil has reached the remote Peruvian Amazon and now the Achuar people find their way of life threatened by yet another oil company, Canada’s Talisman Energy. But the Achuar are standing up for their rights, and are united in steadfast opposition to Talisman’s planned expansion of oil operations into their ancestral territory.
On “No Drill Day”, stand with the Achuar by sharing this story on Facebook and Twitter and signing the petition to Talisman. We have a chance to prevent yet another oil-related tragedy from occurring.
In solidarity,
Mitch Anderson
Corporate Campaigns Director
marculyseas 