When I started this blog, I never thought it would feature Neil Young on a regular basis. Musically, I have never been a big fan of Neil. But in the arenas of social and environmental justice, he's taking on hero status for me.
A while back, my wife and I traveled to DC in opposition of the pipeline through the US that would aid Canada in exploiting the tar sands so that they can sell the bitumen to China. When we arrived there, we attended a meeting where members of the First Nations shared stories, statistics, and photos of the environmental and social destruction that has accompanied the extraction of the tar sands. The information they presented painted some very disturbing pictures: that the water from one of this continent's most pristine wilderness areas had become toxic, that the region's fish were covered in lesions, that the native caribou were suffering from internal ulcers and bleeding, and that birth defects and cancer rates had skyrocketed in the tribes that live near the the tar sands. My views on greed and selfishness, and my views of humanity in general, were radically changed that day.
Here is an article outlining Neil's opposition to the Canadian government's complete disregard for anything that stands in the way of exploiting the massively destructive tar sands project.
http://planetsave.com/2014/02/10/neil-young-tour-took-tar-sands-10-reasons-tour-rocked-music/
May our actions not carelessly destroy others.
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