Guest Post by Sharon Malloy
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| Lighting 47 candles |
On Sunday, July 6, I organized a Longmont vigil to honor the 1st anniversary of the oil train tragedy in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, where 47 people were killed when a train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded.
This action was started by 350.org, Sierra Club, Forest Ethics and Oil Change International. T.he purpose was to stand in solidarity with the residents in Lac-Mégantic and other grassroots activists/vigils across North America. The giant oil boom of the last 6 years has resulted in a 4, 111% increase in oil by rail. This dramatic increase dramatically increases risk... Lac-Mégantic’s struggle is a grim reminder to us all: Big Oil will stop at nothing to extract, transport, and burn every drop of oil in the ground. No matter the risk, no matter the cost to public health, safety, and the climate, the oil industry will jump at every opportunity to profit.
In Longmont, the train that runs along Atwood is just a few yards from Columbine Elementary, Twin Peaks Charter (formerly Spangler Elementary), St. John's Catholic school, and hundreds of homes and dozens of businesses on Main Street.
The point of the vigil was to honor those who died by marking this anniversary and moving forward toward reasonable solutions and policies.
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