Yesterday morning, UBC students assembled in the AMS Nest to create signs to protest the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline. Students then proceeded to bike or bus to Vancouver City Hall, where a larger protest was held with the Greater Vancouver community. A final decision from the federal government on the pipeline’s approval is expected in the coming weeks.
“We are just trying to encourage a little more student activity by having a meet-up beforehand with a little bit of a breakfast and sign making, and make this something that everyone can get involved in,” said Regan Eberding, an event organizer from the environmental advocacy group, UBCC350.
Grace Hermansen, who also organized the event, explained that their goal was to make a strong coalition of students to demonstrate that the youth are opposed to Kinder Morgan.
“The increasing pipeline infrastructure really puts our future at risk in terms of having a clean energy future and that’s something that we really want to demonstrate as people who voted in our current prime minister,” said Hermansen.
“I’m here today to take a stance and express my voice as a student. Especially as a member of a youth community, I think it’s really important that we voice our futures,” said Julian Villafuerte, a UBC student attending the protest. “These decisions are being made mostly by people who won’t have to bear the cost of these kind of decisions.”
Julian Yeo, another UBC student attendee, expressed the importance of student engagement.
“Even though the problem is on a global scale, we engage with our communities on a local scale and I think that’s beautiful.”
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