The European Voice published today an op-ed by Council of Canadians energy/ climate justice campaigner Andrea Harden-Donahue and chairperson Maude Barlow responding to a recent piece by a representative of the Fraser Institute.
Harden-Donahue and Barlow argue, “The EU should continue to set an example for countries like ours that are failing to take the steps needed to reduce emissions. Adopting the European Commission’s recommendations for the fuel-quality directive is the responsible choice.”
The European Voice is an English language newspaper that gives an account of the activities of the key European Union institutions – the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of Ministers. It is much like the Hill Times in Canada. The newspaper is available by subscription or at newsstands in London, Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg.
To read the op-ed, please go to http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/imported/getting-it-wrong-on-oil-and-human-rights/72724.aspx.
Harden-Donahue has also been involved in organizing the tour of a Member of the European Parliament that started in Ottawa yesterday, is in Toronto today and Montreal tomorrow. She attended a number of meetings yesterday with Greek MEP Kriton Arsenis that included NDP leader Nycole Turmel, Green Party leader Elizabeth May, and relevant Liberal and NDP critics. You can find out more in her blog at http://canadians.org/blog/?p=12223.
We also have an action alert that is collecting photos of Canadians sending a message to Europeans challenging the Harper government’s lobbying on the EFQD. Plans are underway to creatively deliver these to MEPs, EU embassies in Ottawa, and we are working towards the photos being used by EU allies in the UK, France and Netherlands (key countries we need to sway on this) in the lead up to another important vote that may take place on January 19. To see this action alert, please go to http://canadians.org/eu-fqd.
And next week, the Council of Canadians logo will appear in ads about the tar sands in newspapers in these same key countries. These ads will encourage those governments to ignore the Harper government’s lobbying and support the EFQD. More on that soon.
