Nurses Urge Support of Clear Skies Ordinance,
Host Screening of Film, This Changes Everything, Dec. 7

The Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses United will hold an event Dec. 7, featuring the film This Changes Everything, to raise funds for the City of Portland's Clear Skies Ordinance Defense Fund.

What: Fundraiser/film screening - This Changes Everything
When: Wednesday, December 7, 7 – 9:30 p.m
Where: Nickoldeon Cinema, 1 Temple Street, Portland, Maine
https://www.facebook.com/events/1831804783744812

“If the quality of air is compromised, there can be a marked effect on human health. It can cause breathing problems, trigger asthma, and cause lung diseases. That's why this issue is so important to nurses. We are also very concerned that, if the Montreal-Portland pipeline is allowed to transport tar sands, Maine’s water sources will be at risk.  We cannot allow this to happen. The public health of this region depends on the Clear Skies Ordinance,” said Cokie Giles, RN.

Corporate Oil Terminal Project Stopped in its Tracks by Passage of Clear Skies Ordinance

When Portland Pipeline, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil and Suncor, tried to build a tar sands export terminal on the shores of Casco Bay in South Portland, Maine, the community banded together to launch a successful effort to block the oil industry. The oil company wants to reverse the flow of an aging pipeline to transport tar sands oil from Canada. This pipeline passes through many water sources including Sebago Lake, which provides drinking water to 20 percent of Maine’s population. The plan also includes construction of two 70-foot smokestacks on the shore of Casco Bay. These stacks would emit toxic carcinogenic fumes into surrounding neighborhoods. The proposed terminal and pipeline project also puts at risk the rich sea life and shoreline.

In 2014 a groundswell of opposition to the proposed pipeline project and terminal resulted in the passage of South Portland’s Clear Skies Ordinance in 2014. The ordinance prohibits the bulk loading of crude oil onto tankers in South Portland where the pipeline terminates and essentially stopped corporate oil in its tracks. It was a battle and victory for a community determined to protect its citizens and to protect the planet from the dirtiest oil on earth.

As expected, the oil industry is suing the City of South Portland, a city of 25,000, to nullify the airtight ordinance. The litigation is extremely expensive and the oil company's pockets are very deep. The Clear Skies Ordinance Defense Fund was established to raise funds and awareness to fend off this legal assault.

This Changes Everything

Filmed over 211 shoot days in nine countries and five continents over four years, This Changes Everything is an epic attempt to re-imagine the vast challenge of climate change. Directed by Avi Lewis, and inspired by Naomi Klein’s international non-fiction bestseller This Changes Everything, the film presents seven powerful portraits of communities on the front lines, from Montana’s Powder River Basin to the Alberta Tar Sands, from the coast of South India to Beijing and beyond. Interwoven with these stories of struggle is Klein’s narration, connecting the carbon in the air with the economic system that put it there.

Throughout the film, Klein builds to her most controversial and exciting idea: that we can seize the existential crisis of climate change to transform our failed economic system into something radically better.

Supporting organizations include:  Physicians for Social Responsibility, Natural Resources Council of Maine, 350 Maine, Environment Maine, Maine Association of Naturopathic Doctors, The University of New England, and the Toxics Action Center

Event organizers request that cash or checks only donations be brought to the screening and note that on-line donations can also be made to: http://www.southportland.org/clear-skies-legal-fund

Protect South Portland is a grassroots non-profit 501(c)3 organization founded in early 2013 to promote actions and practices that serve to protect the environment, health, and welfare of the citizens of South Portland.

Maine State Nurses Association represents over 2000 nurses who work in facilities and agencies throughout the state of Maine. MSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United, the largest organization of nurses, representing 185,000 RNs nationwide.