Lessons from Nigeria

Canada has a problem. We are never going to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions if we allow the Alberta tar sands to continue to be "developed". A lot of us are trying hard to stop them. We are attending meetings, holding discussion groups, talking to ordinary people and lobbying our politicians. We know the problem is serious and needs action now.

And we're getting nowhere. Every few weeks a new contract is handed out and the tar sands expand and Canada gets further away from any meaningful action on climate change.

We have to stop this death machine called the economy. We have to stop it now. It's a daunting task for sure one that many of us aren't ready for.

Of all people Nigerians can teach us a lot about bringing down an unjust and destructive economy. Like Alberta, Nigeria is swimming in oil. To "extract" it many thousands of foreigners come to the country to facilitate the drilling and polluting of oil production. Perfect situation right? Rich Europeans get to keep driving and they get jobs in their colony, oops, I mean partner economy. The best part is all the pollution and toxic waste gets left behind. Everyone should be happy right?

It turns out that many of the Nigerians impacted by these "developments" actually have a deep understanding of power, class and race. You have to be pretty stupid to not tell when you're being taken; only North Americans could be so stupid. So many of them are taking up arms against the industry. They aren't going to meetings, they aren't calling their politicians, they're pulling the trigger.

Granted, many of these gangs don't actually want to stop the oil from flowing. They just want a piece of the pie. So they kidnap foreign workers, bomb pipelines and do anything to make a buck. They've learned well from Europeans. Despite their mercenary nature, the result is ideal, oil goes up in price as "instability" grows. Oil is going up anyway but their violence is pushing it higher. The higher oil goes, the more likely the economy is going to crash and the less likely people are to drive or go on that weekend trip to Las Vegas.

As unsavoury as their methods are to the civilized (who like to keep their violence at arm's length), Canadians concerned about the tar sands could learn a lot from them.