Yesterday, I caught a glimpse of what it takes to power the
American way of life. I think, judging by this sign we encountered, you can
tell it wasn’t pretty.
We did a poor job of following the sign's instructions. Sorry not sorry.
During our first day out of Denver, a 15.5 mile trip to
Prairie View High School, we passed through Suncor Energy and the industrial
park in which it is housed. Suncor’s name is deceiving; it actually has nothing
to do with sunlight. Suncor is a tar sands oil refining company, the same stuff
that would be pumped through the KXL Pipeline if built, and the same stuff that
is destroying Alberta, Canada via the extraction process.
When we arrived at Suncor’s main office building, 4.8 miles
into our walk, we staged a small performance. We were all wearing surgical
masks over our faces, and my fellow marcher, Berenice, started to cough. Saying
that she couldn’t breathe, she went to take her mask off, and everyone yelled:
“No, Berenice, no! The air is polluted! Keep your mask on!”
But she took it off and coughed harder, and then
collapsed to the ground and “died.” Someone held a sign over her that said
“Suncor-pse,” and we all grieved around her. This all took place on the lawn in
front of Suncor’s company sign.
We carried Berenice to the cemetery across the street and
laid her to rest in front of a tombstone, and I gave eulogy for her.
“Here lies Berenice Tompkins, dead from pollution from tar
sands oil refineries like Suncor. She breathed the air and it killed her. What
world are we living in where we have no clean air? Let Berenice’s death be a
reminder to all of us of those who have been silenced, sickened, and killed by
air pollution, and other forms of pollution that come from the oil and gas
industry. Rest in peace, Berenice, you beautiful martyr.”
