The Sierra Club and the Texas Environmental Justice and our partners at Advocacy Services (T.E.J.A.S.) are using the July 19 Manchester Festival to release the Spanish language version of our "Tar Sands: Dirtiest Oil on Earth" video.
The festival is hosted by the Houston, Texas, neighborhood of Manchester and organized by Latino community activists, environmental justice advocates, and students to raise awareness of the dire consequences the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline would have for Latino communities in Texas and throughout the country.
The Keystone XL terminal is planned for Manchester, which is 95 percent Latino and the most polluted neighborhood in one of the country's most polluted cities. Manchester is already burdened with one of the country's most concentrated clusters of petrochemical facilities, and its residents suffer from high incidence of asthma, other respiratory diseases, and cancer.
The construction of the Keystone XL terminal in Manchester will add insult to injury to a barrio already disproportionally punished by environmental injustices. That's why the Sierra Club is cooperating with the Festival to highlight the launch of our Spanish language "Dirtiest Oil on Earth" video -- to put the record straight on tar sands and the threat that the Keystone XL pipeline brings to all Americans.
As our press release notes: "The animation, created by Sierra Club Productions, illustrates the dangers of spills, destruction of natural areas, contamination of air and water supplies and political influence exerted by the oil industry to build pipeline projects designed to transport tar sands across the U.S. to reach foreign markets."
The Sierra Club is determined to stop the development of this dirty fuel and to support Latino communities such as Manchester in their fight against Keystone XL and other dangerous oil schemes.
View the video here: El Crudo Más Sucio del Planeta (English version: The Dirtiest Oil on Earth).
By Michael Marx and Javier Sierra, Sierra Club