There aren’t many human beings who can go through life without relying on Big Oil for their daily needs. I, for example, do not own a car. But the food I buy in the store or the goods delivered directly to my home are shipped with vehicles that are most likely running on gas. And the condo I live in is heated with natural gas. As much as I like to think I don’t need Big Oil, until serious infrastructure is changed, I do.

That doesn’t mean that people can’t stand up to Big Oil now before governments get the courage to finally mandate other clean energy sources. So until that day happens, these are the stories that caught my eye of brave souls who inspire us to push forward to that day sooner than later…

Prof Quits After McGill Refuses To End Fossil Fuel Investments
A tenured professor says screw the stability of a nice pay-cheque instead of ethics? That’s pretty awesome! As an environmental philosopher, he really practices what he preaches.

Indigenous people blocked Ecuador oil auction in growing fight to save Amazon
This story caught my attention as I will be visiting Ecuador later this year. So many parallels here with my home country of Canada – resource rich and a complete disregard for the wishes of those Indigenous peoples who oppose the building of pipelines on their ancestral land.

Harvard law students ramp up protest against ExxonMobil climate firm
If a stodgy institution like Harvard is producing future lawyers who are taking bold steps to stop Big Oil, how can we not feel optimistic? These will be future leaders. I find the youth of today are masters of calling out hypocrisy. I hope this continues as they move on to positions of influence following graduation.

National Theatre to end Shell membership from next year
As some artistic orgs are disgracefully accepting gifts from Big Oil (like here in Canada at the Banff Centre), other institutions are saying “no more”! Yes it is dirty money and even though arts orgs need as much help as they can get, it’s still not right to accept.

These are just some of the many stories of amazing people doing amazing things. If you read these stories and think it’s not in you to do something as dramatic to make a difference, don’t worry, there’s still much you can do that doesn’t need to be newsworthy. Here’s a pretty awesome list to get you started.

“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
― Robert F. Kennedy