Panels Not Pipelines: A Speaking Tour About Solutions

Alberta has faced more than its fair share of environmental and fiscal horror stories. The province's chaotic emphasis on hydrocarbon development has delivered endless pipeline leaks, growing bitumen pollution and unaccountable one-party government. These problems have left many Albertans wondering if we could write a different story. A story that still creates jobs and keeps our economy strong but without the environmental downside.

Luckily those solutions are readily at hand and Alberta is the perfect place to implement them.

This October come listen to Jane Kleeb from Bold Nebraska as she tells the story of not only how her community stopped the KeystoneXL tarsands pipeline from endangering the Oglala aquifer but also how they are also building real energy solutions in the process.

From a solar powered barn, to replanting corn that has been lost for generations Jane tells a story of hope and resistance.  

On the tour other prominent speakers like award winning author and journalist Andrew Nikiforuk, solar energy guru Randall Benson with Gridworks Energy Group, and wind and solar expert David Isaac may also join Jane.

This is a moment not to be missed.

Premier Events

 

Wednesday, October 15 — Edmonton

CN Theatre (Room 5-142)
Grant MacEwan University City Centre Campus
7:00 – 9:00pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/757585990965923/

Monday, October 20 — Calgary

Parkdale United Church
2919 8 Avenue NW
7:00 – 9:00pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/368098743347093/

More about your speakers:

 

Jane Kleeb, Bold Nebraska:

Jane Kleeb is on the front lines of the pipeline fight against the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline helping to organize a group called Bold Nebraska that coordinates activities, groups, citizens and landowners in the state of Nebraska. The campaign has garnered national and international attention and recently Jane was profiled on the pages of the New York Times. She is also a regular guest on MSNBC’s “The Ed Show.” The Keystone campaign not only raised the concerns the pipeline posed to the Oglala aquifer but was a model for organizing with different constituencies and in incorporating and building real renewable energy solutions in the state. 

Recently elected to the Hastings School Board, Jane ran on a platform of healthy school lunches. Within just a few months, under her leadership, a new lunch program was adopted. During health care reform, Jane led the largest Nebraska group of citizens pushing elected officials to vote “yes” for reform. Before moving to Nebraska, Jane ran Young Democrats of America and created a youth vote model based on peer-to-peer outreach. Over 15 years ago, Jane got her start running nonprofit organizations with AmeriCorps. 

Jane lives in Hastings, Nebraska with her husband Scott Kleeb and their three young girls.

Andrew Nikiforuk, Journalist and Author: 

For more than two decades Andrew Nikiforuk has written about energy, economics and the West for a variety of Canadian publications including the Walrus, Maclean’s, Canadian Business, The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business, Chatelaine, Georgia Straight, Equinox and Harrowsmith.

Nikiforuk’s journalism has won seven National Magazine Awards since 1989 and top honours for investigative writing from the Association of Canadian Journalists. His dramatic Alberta based-book, Saboteurs: Wiebo Ludwig’s War Against Big Oil won the Governor General’s Award for Non-Fiction in 2002. The Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of the Continent, which criticized the pace and scale of the world’s largest energy project, was a national bestseller and won the 2009 Rachel Carson Environment Book Award.

His latest book, The Energy of Slaves: Oil and the New Servitude, argues that the energy institution of slavery has shaped our careless use of fossil fuels. The radical treatise calls for a moral revolution in our attitudes towards energy consumption.

Randall Benson, Gridworks Energy Group Inc.

Randall is a Master Electrician with over 15 years experience in the PV and Wind industry in the design, installation and training of grid-connected photovoltaic systems, and was one of Canada’s first PV installation instructors. Randall was also one of a small contingent of individuals responsible for assisting CSA (CE Code), NETCO, IBEW and CECA in developing the National Standards for PV installation practices and certification for Construction Red Seal Electricians. Further to this, Randall Benson was one of the persons, out of a group of six to eight Solar PV professionals, responsible for training standards for Electricians for PV installation and has personally trained hundreds of electricians, electrical inspectors and engineers throughout Canada and continues to do so.

David Isaac (Wugarduck), Mi’kmaq, Solar and Wind installer:

David Isaac (Wugadusk) is Mi’kmaq from Listuguj, Quebec but is based out of Vancouver, BC, Coast Salish territory. While studying at the University of Victoria, he developed a strong interest in health and sustainability. David has a passion for protecting the environment and helping First Nations achieve energy independence and food security. David was involved in the first constructed commercial wind energy project in Treaty 8 territory in BC. 

Over the past ten years, he has served in leadership roles within a diverse range of sectors, namely energy and health. He served as the deputy executive director for the Vancouver Native Health Society where he first began to explore social ventures. He is currently developing projects in Vancouver and throughout Canada involving solar and wind energy integration, urban horticulture and community planning.  David cofounded FirstTerra in 2011 to deal with environmental contamination faced by First Nation communities across Canada, which is a values-based company to build local capacity through training and skills development in First Nation communities. 

David works primarily with W Dusk Group in partnership with Urban Systems Ltd., is serving on the Vancouver Foundation's Greenest City Action Plan 2020 Advisory Committee and is also a board member for the Centre for Native Policy & Research. 

Panels Not Pipelines: Solutions Tour Schedule

 

Tuesday, October 14 — Warburg

Wednesday, October 15 — Edmonton

Thursday, October 16 — Lac La Biche

  • Speaking in Lac La Biche.
  • 2:00 – 4:00pm

Friday, October 17 — Slave Lake

  • Speaking in Slave Lake.

Saturday, October 18 — Peace River

  • Speaking in Peace River

Monday, October 20 — Maskwacis

  • Speaking in Maskwacis.
  • School talk.

Monday, October 20 — Calgary