Dispatch from the Wabamun community library kids’ reading area:

The excitement is building around Alberta’s Eco Action Camp as we sort through trainings and schedules, greet new and extraordinary activists everyday, move tables and chairs around, gather wood for the fire, drink LOTS of tea and cocoa, and figure out how exactly we are going to fit 60 plus young people from around the world (the number grows everyday and is three times as many people as last year) into 2 cabins – we were told there were more but they’re apparently hiding.

THIS JUST IN: an alarm that sounded like San Francisco’s fog bell just sounded- when i asked the librarian if we needed to evacuate the building she chuckled and said only if were hungry. “Its just the lunch alert. You’re in small town Alberta now, hon.”

Not having been to Canada since I was 7 years old and my grandparents took a shortcut through Canada to get to Michigan and I marvelled at the novelty of paying for my McDonald’s happy meal with funny money, my expectations for Alberta were wide open. After being here for a good 48 hours now I can safely say that Lake Wabamun is one of the more beautiful and disturbing places I’ve been in awhile.

Driving from Edmonton to Lake Wabamun was the first indication that the work we do at RAN is right on and real neccessary. In the space of about an hour we saw many Weyerhaeuser logging trucks taking wood away from the Boreal forests and headed towards the consumer market. As the road changed from highway to gravel, we were welcomed into Wabamun “A powerhouse of a community.” The welcome sign was directly across from a HUGE coal plant. As we wound our way through the golden-amber-red fully fall forest, our route followed that of a train track. Since, we’ve arrived there’s been an almost constant rumble of train running coal along the line. Alberta extracts more coal than the rest of Canada combined and a full 70% of Canada’s coal comes from here.

As we drove along this truly beautiful lake the view is obscured by not one, not two, but three huge spewing nuclear power plants. Aaaah. No wonder the crisp fall air has a chemical tinge to it (the smell that seeps out of drains and permeates the air is reminiscent of the time when i ill-advisedly got a perm in the late 80s)

There are warning signs everywhere. Little orange flags advertising caution for gas pipelines under construction. Don’t drink the water. Don’t fish in the water. Don’t swim in the water. Don’t get anywhere near the bloody water. A chat with a local revealed that 2 months ago one of the famous trains that unsustainably transports dirty energy across the country) had derailed and dumped oil onto the land. Even though the spill was actually quite far from the water, the rail company delayed containing it and soon the whole lake was covered in that sickening slick oil. By now the oil has killed off a lot of life, frozen, and sunk to the bottom of the lake. Even though it looks picturesque again, don’t drink the water.

All in all, a great place for a camp to get young people to learn skills so that they can find community solutions to Alberta’s environmental problems. As I write this some people are harnessed and learning how to safely climb high up into trees (i got a chance yesterday and it was pretty amazing- the view and the connection I felt to the incredible, life-sustaining Boreal forest that the corporations are trying the darnedest to descimate). Others are providing free child care, cooking delicious lentil soups, and reviewing corporate campaign materials for the weekend workshops.

We finalized the schedule last night and if you are anywhere near Edmonton you should get your butt on a bus an join us. There’s going to be visioning for the future we want to create, activist storytelling around the fire, workshops on legal rights, non-violent direct action, political theater, and (facilitated by lovely RAN staffers Brianna and Jess) grassroots organizing, corporate campaign strategy, media relations, and video activist training. There will also be panels on oil and the Boreal, delicious food cooked by extremely kind organizer’s parents and lots and lots of amazing, inspiring people.

For more information visit www.earthjustice.ca.