Watch the tar sands doc Neil Young calls the most devastating thing that you will ever see

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      Earlier this week, Neil Young kicked new life into Canada’s debate on the environment when he called the Alberta oil sands a “devastating environmental catastrophe” and “an embarrassment to many Canadians”.

      In a heavy speech delivered in Toronto on January 12, the singer-songwriter of “Rockin’ in the Free World” fame said he stood by previous remarks that described the area under industrial development as “Hiroshima”.

      “[It is] probably the most devastating thing that you will ever see,” Young added in reference to a film about the tar sands. “That this exists in Canada…is the greediest, most destructive, and disrespectful demonstration of just something run amok that you could ever see.”

      If you’re not sure what Young was talking about, here’s that documentary, called Petropolis.

      Comments

      2 Comments

      rockin' in the free world

      Jan 15, 2014 at 2:02pm

      neil sez it like it iz

      DavidH

      Jan 15, 2014 at 3:22pm

      The typical Lib/Con response is pretty funny.

      Rock Stars not only have the right to speak out, but they also have the freedom to speak out. Stardom means the normal shackles of life (employment, wealth) are no longer confining, and the ability to speak truth is theirs.

      Should "stars" say what they mean? Why not? Highly paid politicians claim to do the same ... but only at the expense of taxpayers.

      It is also amusing when politicians bang the resource-extraction drum. One BC politician wasn't the first recently when he said that Canada's future depends on natural resource extraction.

      Ummm ... and what happens when we've extracted all the fossil fuel and mineral resources? Will we depend on tree farms, or beaver pelts? Where is the future, really? Why is the future not renewable?