Oil Giant in a showdown with Local "Big Loop Group" Ranchers in Alberta

onMar 30, 2009 @ 21:57 PDT

Looks like Petro Canada and Suncor are in for a Wild West Showdown with a group of angry landowners in Alberta.

The local ranchers, calling themselves the “Big Loop Gang” are anrgy about plans by oil giants Petro Canada and Suncor to run a natural sour gas pipeline through pristine lands at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. According to a story in the Calgary Herald today “the energy giant wants to put the pipeline carrying sour gas through what remains an undisturbed tract of land in Kananaskis Country.”

“There are 72 water crossings over a 40-kilometre distance … and building a pipeline will downgrade the water quality all the way downstream,”said Stan Carscallen, a lawyer and rancher who is representing the ranchers.

The ranchers have started a new website where you can find more information and sign their petition to the Alberta government. The oil sands are trashing enough of Alberta, and these ranchers are defending their land and an untouched piece of beautiful pristine land. Please take a moment and help spread the word.

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By Kevin Grandia

Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmog. He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a “Green Hero” by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the “Top 50 Tweeters” on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning. Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevin’s research into the “climate denial industry” and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Koch’s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea party networks. Kevin is the first person to be designated a “Certified Expert” on the political and community organizing platform NationBuilder. Prior to DeSmog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health. In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the world’s best e-Content and innovative ICT applications. Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.