Tar Sand Song
SHORT VIDEO CLIPS, 14 Nov 2011
Words by Diane Perlman, PhD (TRANSCEND member)*
Music by Woody Guthrie
Performed by Ya’akov-Yisrael “Jimmy” Costello
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkCWJO6myDE
Lyrics:
To “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie
This land has tar sand
They have a grand plan
When they extract it
They unleash carbon
And release toxins into the water
Tar sands must stay for you and me
The land has natives.
What is their fate if
We give them cancer?
What is your answer?
And when we mine it
We wreck the climate
Tar sands must stay for you and me
They tell us oil’s
For our enjoyment
and the pipeline
Will bring employment
This industry robs
From many more clean jobs
Let’s hire more for you and me
Marsela has shale
Our shale’s not for sale
You frack out gases
Make sick the masses
Puts poison fire into the water
Our shale must stay for you and me
For mountain top coal
They’re selling our soul
Unto the devil
Each time they level
Coal cannot be clean
Deception is so mean
This coal must stay for you and me
Obsessed with fracking
and with extracting
Cause our addiction
is an affliction
Will legislature
Protect our nature?
And will they vote for you and me?
This land’s not our land
It’s for our children
for future life forms
the earth is too warm
We must preserve it
‘cause they deserve it
Three fifty (350) parts per mil for them
*Diane Perlman: Dedicated to my grandtwins, Neima and Neli, born 9/15/10, their cohorts and their descendants. The content inspired from learnings from Bill McKibben, James Hansen, Naiomi Klein, Native residents and chiefs from Alberta who visited DC, and the youth of the world who appeared at the UN Conference on Climate Change, the Klima Forum and all over the streets of Copenhagen in December 2009. This song is meant to be educational.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 14 Nov 2011.
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It seems to me that the impact of the above lyrics is much stronger than relevant international declarations on environment, including the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992), the Parma Declaration on Environment and Health (2010) and other relevant declarations of this kind.
For your information:
The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development: http://www.c-fam.org/docLib/20080625_Rio_Declaration_on_Environment.pdf
The Parma Declaration on Environment and Health: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/78608/E93618.pdf
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When Europeans began to colonize the American Continent, they thought this way: “This land belongs to us.” Native people on that continent thought this way: “We, residents of the land, belong to the land.” The former is a human-centered thinking, while the latter is a nature-centered thinking. Which way of thinking is environmental friendly? The answer is clear.
Even the term, “environmental protection”, for example, is based on the human-centered thinking. But the truth is that the atmosphere, water and any other elements of nature on the Earth have been protecting living creatures on the planet, including humans, over millions of years. Now, we, humans, say, “We protect environment.” Aren’t we too arrogant in relation to nature?
Who actually needs protection? The mother Gaia or we, humans, or both? The mother Gaia will exist even if we, humans, will destroy nature on this planet completely. But, in that case, we will perish from this planet.
Strategic studies teach, “We should not change. They should change.” Peace studies teach, “Both conflicting parties should change. Thus, we should change; they should also change. So, go beyond the contemporary situation.” Which way of thinking is environmental friendly? The answer is clear.