Attention all South Africans "A call to arms!"

The following is a transcript of a speech made by "The Human Polar Bear" Lewis Gordon Pugh OIG. This email was sent to myself and many others with a request that we bring it to the attention of as many people as possible and as far as I am concerned the best way to do that is for it to appear on ATS. I hope that I am not breaching any of the ATS rules by posting the entire speech and there is not much that I can say about it as, if you'll excuse the pun, "it speaks for itself".
I do believe that it is important for this to reach further than the general public of South and Southern Africa and I hope that you agree!

This is the content of a short speech given on Friday night 25 March
2011 in Cape Town by Lewis Gordon Pugh OIG (a.k.a. the Human Polar
Bear) about the proposed fracking for gas in the Karoo, by Shell Oil.

He received a sustained standing ovation !

Please read it and pass it on if it matters to you.
----------------

Ladies and gentlemen, thank for the opportunity to address you. My
name is Lewis Pugh.

This evening, I want to take you back to the early 1990's in this
country. You may remember them well.

Nelson Mandela had been released. There was euphoria in the air.
However, there was also widespread violence and deep fear. This
country teetered on the brink of a civil war. But somehow, somehow, we
averted it. It was a
miracle!

And it happened because we had incredible leaders. Leaders who sought
calm.. Leaders who had vision. So in spite of all the violence, they
sat down and negotiated a New Constitution.

I will never forget holding the Constitution in my hands for the first time.

I was a young law student at the University of Cape Town. This was the
cement that brought peace to our land. This was the document, which
held our country together. The rights contained herein, made us one.

I remember thinking to myself - never again will the Rights of South
Africans be trampled upon.

Now every one of us - every man and every women - black, white,
coloured, Indian, believer and non believer - has the right to vote.
We all have the Right to Life. And our children have the right to a
basic education. These
rights are enshrined in our Constitution.

These rights were the dreams of Oliver Tambo. These rights were the
dreams of Nelson Mandela. These rights were the dreams of Mahatma
Gandhi, of Desmond Tutu and of Molly Blackburn. These rights were our
dreams.

People fought - and died - so that we could enjoy these rights today.

Also enshrined in our Constitution, is the Right to a Healthy
Environment and the Right to Water. Our Constitution states that we
have the Right to have our environment protected for the benefit of
our generation and for the benefit of future generations.

Fellow South Africans, let us not dishonour these rights. Let us not
dishonour those men and women who fought and died for these rights.
Let us not allow corporate greed to disrespect our Constitution and
desecrate our
environment.

Never, ever did I think that there would be a debate in this arid
country about which was more important - gas or water. We can survive
without gas.... We cannot live without water.

If we damage our limited water supply - and fracking will do just that
we will have conflict again here in South Africa. Look around the
world. Wherever you damage the environment you have conflict.

Fellow South Africans, we have had enough conflict in this land - now
is the time for peace.

A few months ago I gave a speech with former President of Costa Rica.
Afterwards I asked him "Mr President, how do you balance the demands
of development against the need to protect the environment?"

He looked at me and said : "It is not a balancing act. It is a simple
business decision. If we cut down our forests in Costa Rica to satisfy
a timber company, what will be left for our future?"

But he pointed out : "It is also a moral decision. It would be morally
wrong to chop down our forests and leave nothing for my children and
my grandchildren."

Ladies and gentlemen, that is what is at stake here today: Our
children's future. And that of our children s children.

There may be gas beneath our ground in the Karoo. But are we prepared
to destroy our environment for 5 to 10 years worth of fossil fuel and
further damage our climate?

Yes, people will be employed - but for a short while. And when the
drilling is over, and Shell have packed their bags and disappeared,
then what? Who will be there to clean up? And what jobs will our
children be able to eke
out?

Now Shell will tell you that their intentions are honourable. That
fracking in the Karoo will not damage our environment. That they will
not contaminate our precious water. That they will bring jobs to South
Africa.

That gas is clean and green. And that they will help secure our energy supplies.

When I hear this - I have one burning question. Why should we trust
them? Africa is to Shell what the Gulf of Mexico is to BP.


Shell, you have a shocking record here in Africa. Just look at your
operations in Nigeria. You have spilt more than 9 million barrels of
crude oil into the Niger Delta. That's twice the amount of oil that BP
spilt into the Gulf of Mexico.

You were found guilty of bribing Nigerian officials - and to make the
case go away in America - you paid an admission of guilt fine of US$48
million.

And to top it all, you stand accused of being complicit in the
execution of Nigeria's leading environmental campaigner - Ken
Saro-Wira and 8 other activists.

If you were innocent, why did you pay US$15.5 million to the widows
and children to settle the case out of Court?

Shell, the path you want us to take us down is not sustainable. I have
visited the Arctic for 7 summers in a row. I have seen the tundra
thawing.

I have seen the retreating glaciers. And I have seen the melting sea
ice. And I have seen the impact of global warming from the Himalayas
all the way down to the low-lying Maldive Islands. Wherever I go - I
see it.

Now is the time for change. We cannot drill our way out of the energy
crisis. The era of fossil fuels is over. We must invest in renewable
energy. And we must not delay!

Shell, we look to the north of our continent and we see how people got
tired of political tyranny. We have watched as despots, who have ruled
ruthlessly year after year, have been toppled in a matter of weeks.

We too are tired. Tired of corporate tyranny. Tired of your short
term, unsustainable practices.

We watched as Dr Ian Player, a game ranger from Natal, and his
friends, took on Rio Tinto (one of the biggest mining companies in the
world) and won.

And we watched as young activists from across Europe, brought you down
to your knees, when you tried to dump an enormous oil rig into the
North Sea.

Shell, we do not want our Karoo to become another Niger Delta.

Do not underestimate us. Goliath can be brought down. We are proud of
what we have achieved in this young democracy - and we are not about
to let your company come in and destroy it.

So let this be a Call to Arms to everyone across South Africa, who is
sitting in the shadow of Goliath: Stand up and demand these
fundamental human rights promised to you by our Constitution. Use your
voices - tweet, blog, petition, rally the weight of your neighbours
and of people in power.

Let us speak out from every hilltop. Let us not go quietly into this
bleak future.

Let me end off by saying this - You have lit a fire in our bellies,
which no man or woman can extinguish. And if we need to, we will take
this fight all the way from your petrol pumps to the very highest
Court in this land. We will take this fight from the farms and towns
of the Karoo to the streets of London and Amsterdam. And we will take
this fight to every one of your shareholders. And I have no doubt,
that in the end, good will triumph over evil.

If you do agree that this is worth the bandwidth, please I am not asking for flags and stars, what I AM asking is that you copy and paste this and send it all your friends, all over the planet and maybe, JUST MAYBE we can make a difference!

Thanks for your time!

I found a link to the speech here:
External Link
I think the world needs more people like this to stand up for what is right for our planet.
S&F

What a beautiful speech! I've never felt more inspired, I wish there were more like him!

Jamie

Oh thought they found lol gas there?

reply to post by wiser3


Good one wiser3. I got this via email this morning, didn't think of posting it here though.

I am hoping we can make a difference here in South Africa, the corporates haven't managed to mess the place up too much yet. I for one will be boycotting Shell (as well as BP as usual). Keep your hands off our country - seriously. We're doing fine without Dutch multinationals closing off unspoilt natural areas and stuffing up the environment. Check out Nigeria!

reply to post by wiser3


Awesome, thanks for this!!!

Came across a petition on facebook the other day (link below) for this. Mods please remove if I'm not allowed to post links to petitions. Can't seem to find the rules page anymore......

Say No to Fracking

Wow! Thank you for bringing this to our attention. S&F!!

It is great to see strong leaders, stand up and speak on behalf of their people and peoples future. To Big Oil, especially in South Africa, life is expendable.

Here's to hoping they make it out alright! I will keep updated on this topic!

reply to post by wiser3


This guy is a complete idiot. He does not comprehend fraking, and he buys the elite lie of global warming, even after it was exposed as a hoax. You wasted my time spent reading this crap.

good stand up for yourselves!!!!!

reply to post by Gregarious


you think he's an idiot for wanting to stand up to the oil companies who don't give a flyin' *snip* about this world or the countries they drill in? I'd like to shoot that statement right back at ya...

reply to post by here4awhile


I totally agree with you about Gregarious as he is exactly what is wrong with the world.
Obviously he is not concerned whatsoever with his fellow man and could care less about the world.
Wonder what he would do if he were actually living in Africa but as long as he gets his to hell with the rest.
It's good to have these dregs of life on here as well to make us realize what is sooo wrong with humanity.

One of my favorite ATS members is from SA.. I wish you all the best and that was one hell of a speech! Your take on these issues is unique and I wish we heard more out of the South Africans here on ATS.


Oh yeah, and BTW... funny thing happened the other day you may get a chuckle out of... in chat a guy insisted that all South Africans were black skinned and no whites were native South Africans. Like I said, we need to hear more out of you South Africans here on ATS.

Originally posted by Gregarious
reply to post by wiser3

 

This guy is a complete idiot. He does not comprehend fraking, and he buys the elite lie of global warming, even after it was exposed as a hoax. You wasted my time spent reading this crap.

Seems you have a lot of waking up to do my friend. This is not a speech about global warming, it is a speech about greed and absolute corruption. I kindly suggest you re-read that speech and realize you are jumping to judgment.

The sooner we realize that our current paradigm is dead, that the status quo has seen its last days, the sooner we can begin to prosper again.


GREAT SPEECH!!!!!

Our Afrikaans Rapport newspaper (April 3rd 2011, p.6, article by Julian Jansen) reported that not only Shell, but other companies are lining up to apply for applications from PASA (Petroleum agency of SA). Until now only Shell is clear about using fracking to mine the gas, a process that apparently employs the hydrolyzed breaking of rock by pumping high-pressured water and chemicals into the ground. The fear is a wastage of scarce water resources in the beautiful but arid Karoo, and the chemical pollution of land and water, which could poison the boreholes.
Other interested companies include Anglo, Shell, Falcon Oil and Bundu Gas and Oil Exploration. Two-thirds of SA sits on a former ancient ocean of what is now gas, and conceptually they've already divided up an area that reaches from Pietermaritzburg (in the East) to Springbok (in the West), and almost as far north as Klerksdorp. So what Shell aims to do is only the beginning. The gas exploration in the Karoo covers an area of 90 000 square meters.
To sink a borehole for fracking takes 900 cubic liters of water. Vertical fracking takes 100-2200 cubic liters of water, and horizontal fracking takes 6000.
This may not leave much for farming, and the communities of white, and indigenous "colored" people descended from the Khoisan (the Karoo has several mysterious sacred sites).
It threatens to destroy farming jobs just as much as it promises temporary jobs.
They even admit it is not sustainable (maybe 5 years) and might leave a permanently ruined landscape.
Considering Shell's history of corruption one can only doubt the claims of jobs and benefits to the local community. It reminds one of the promises made concerning the ANC's corrupt R60 Billion arms deal.
That also promised jobs and didn't deliver, only to multi-nationals and corrupt politicians.

Afrikaans article (can be translated): www.mysubs.co.za...

Shell and their cronies already appear to be on a propaganda campaign. The exploration will take years (so we must all just relax until they start drilling) and the gas is clean-burning. They also claim that non-drinking water will be used (or even sea-water). Natural gas development is however not clean (nor will it replace oil and coal). The groundswell of frack-water will contaminate drinking water, despite the fact that frack-waste needs to be trucked away (I wonder where it will be dumped?). The waste water contains an astounding array of toxic chemicals, and carcinogenic levels of radium.
So, they'll have to ship water in, and truck deadly waste water out. The constant trucking traffic will be immense, and spillages cause untold damage en route to where ever they dump it.
I think our farmers, both black and white are respectively driven from the land to make way for this, well at least it gets one thinking about what is going on long term.

All South Africans should watch this clip from Earth Focus about the drawbacks of fracking in the Marcellus Shale.
Fracking Hell indeed:

Uh oh, reducing dependence on foreign oil, there it is!

reply to post by Gregarious


And you live where? Are there any oil companies planning on drilling or fracking in your backyard? I pity your children and grandchildren with an attitude like yours! Hopefully there will still be a planet worth inhabiting left for them!

Fantastic speech, great find!! S&F for you

reply to post by wiser3


As a Libertarian conservative, I felt a bit of myself in the first half of that speech. As a person who loves the environment I feel that we do have to balance the need with the cost. Fracking for 5, 10 or 100 years worth of oil when we DO HAVE truly sound designs for real alternative energy becomes criminal to me. Someone does hold back the type of remarkable designs on engines and energy sources. I have had the opportunity to witness first hand as an environmental chemist things like a hydrogen on demand car and studied a magnetic motor by Joseph Newman that simply HAS been proven to work over and over. I know a professor of Ag at a local uni that built a car that was designed to run on water and I will not quit spreading the word of these people.

We all need to know thess facts and find a way to inspire others. Our collective lack of knowledge about these things is making those in the Middle East who would want us dead and our families their personal sex slaves filthy rich from oil we don't have to use in such qauntities. Plus they are bankrupting the whole planet for their lucre. I have had enough! Al Gore still sucks for the global warming hockey stick lie that did more harm to science than lay people could imagine, but he does have it right about getting us off of oil.

A great speach and i wholeheartedly agree.

We all know that the Karoo is a dry and arid landscape. Massive drilling and mining activities will cause these allready limited water resources to dry up quickly.

Sure they might pump some investment into our economy, but is the price we pay for this really worth it.? Will the average man on the street ever see any of this money? I strongly doubt it.

We do not want Sa to become another country like Angola, where it is basically run by foreign corporations that seem to wield all the power in that country.

Keep it local, keep it lekker!!!

VVV