Chinese New Year of the Snake 2013

Press Release     Feb.12, 2013

On Sunday, February 10th, 2013 a group of Comox Valley, BC residents opposed to the proposed underground Raven Coal mine in Fanny Bay attended a banner drop to commemorate the Chinese New Year of the Water Snake.



The 40 foot banner reading "Solidarity- No Coal!" was hung across the railway bridge over the Buckley Bay connector, by the adhoc Water Snake Alliance.



"This small scale, spur of the moment action was timed to coincide with the 2013 Chinese New Year to commemorate a much larger rally held in the same location on the 2012 Chinese New Year ", said Denman Island resident Mike Nestor, who attended the event dressed as a raven opposed to coal.

Last January the Year of the Dragon was ushered in with hundreds of BC residents gathered together in Buckley Bay to both protest Compliance Energy's plans to mine for coal on Vancouver Island and to stand in solidarity with the thousands of demonstrators who had been recently marching in the streets of Haimen, China against the expansion of coal-fired plants in that country, explains a press release from the Water Snake Alliance.



“Over the past year we have seen environmental protection gutted by the Federal Government”, says Fireweed, a spokesperson for the group. “Our need to protect land, air and water for present and future generations and to respond to climate change internationally has inspired allegiance building here in the Comox Valley. This year our solidarity also extends to the Idle No More movement."




On hand for the banner unfurling on Sunday in Buckley Bay were activists united through the newly launched Raven Mine Action initiative - Delores Broten of Comox Valley Water Watch, John Snyder of CoalWatch Comox Valley, Mike Bell of the Sierra Club Comox Valley, along with members of the Comox Valley chapter of the Council of Canadians, Denman Opposes Coal (DOC) and other concerned members of the regional community who showed up spontaneously to lend support.
                                                                   
                                                                            -30-

For background information please checkout the preceding press releases on this page. For indepth information about opposing the mine in general, please visit the following sites: Raven Mine Action initiative, Comox Valley Coalwatch , Denman Opposes Coal . 

Scroll down to other links of interest on the right hand side of this page, and speak out!

    all photos courtesy of The Water Snake Alliance